Lady in Waiting

I am taking yet another online class with quilt artist Pamela Allen.  This one is called "Figures and Faces."  I could not resist this one, because I love all the narrative and figurative quilts that Pamela is known for.  Our first assignment was to create a piece of furniture in some sort of setting, and place a figure on the furniture.  Then make a narrative by adding props to the setting.

Since I had just spent almost a week by my father's bedside in the hospital and then nursing home, this idea came quickly to mind.

What I was going for was the lady looking at the pretty mountain view outside the hospital window, and longing to be out of the boring hospital setting.  But, I thought this made a rather boring quilt.

Pamela suggested that bored people typically have slumped posture, supporting their head in their hands.  The setting needs more clues to reveal that it is a hospital room, not just a bedroom.

Back to the drawing board.  Here was my second attempt.

This one got better praise from teacher.  She suggested only to darken a few elements such as the end of the bed for more contrast. 

The next lesson should be more fun.  We are to make a head-and-shoulders portrait using fabric elements to make the eyes, nose, hair, etc.  You can bet that I will be departing from the muted neutral colors in Lesson 1 to something much more exuberant!