New Work: Gears

Based on a collection of cogs, wheels and gears, this one is called "Unity of Purpose". The challenge was in representing a precise, sharply defined metal object using soft, slightly fraying fabric and imprecise stitches. What I couldn't do with bits of material I tried to define with free-motion thread drawing. Up close it's a mass of quilting stitches but if you back up and squint your eyes it starts to look like something.

On a side note: I'm trying not to buy new fabric for every project, so this month I've been trying to break out those fabrics & colors that I never used because I thought they were kinda "ugly". My personal subtitle for this one is "How many ugly colors does it take to make something pretty?"