Art Quilting Basics Series Part Two-foreground

     This is the second week in my Basic Art Quilting series. Last week I said the simplest background to start with is just a piece of pretty fabric, especially one that looks like it was hand painted. This week is about the simplest way ever to add a foreground, and that is to use a silhouette. Just the outside shape, no details required. Of course I'm not opposed to details, I'm just trying to give you the absolute simplest way to get from zero to a cool art quilt 😃
     Here are a few examples, and remember, silhouettes don't have to be black. Even my raven silhouettes are rarely black! I usually make them a dark version of one of the colors in my background, this one is teal. I think they look less harsh that way. (this one has a more complicated background, using collage. However, the middle third of it IS just one fabric! And this one landed on the cover of Art Quilting Studio magazine even😊) But they don't even have to be dark, as you can see here. I don't often use both of these super simple techniques in the same quilt, but the canoeing one, Seagull Lake Sunset, pretty much is. Aside from the borders, there are only two fabrics in that quilt, and two pieces of each! And the polar bear greeting card just has one more fabric in the background. The Moonlight Moose has several different colors for the shapes, but they are all still silhouettes, just the outline of the shapes. 

    So, if you did rummage through your stash and find a fun background fabric, I hope you will be inspired to put a silhouette on it, and of course, share it with me! Either in my On the Trail Creations VIP group, or the Simple Secrets group if you are in the class, or just send me an email, [email protected].
    Next week we'll talk about where to get inspiration for art quilts. That may seem out of order, but remember, I wanted to you be able to make something as soon as possible. So, if you already had an idea that would work for a silhouette, you're ready to go. There are many other simple backgrounds and foregrounds, but I think this combination is the very simplest for getting started! I can't wait to see what you do 😃
Happy sewing! Beret