Chantal Guillermet – Series #1 – The Romantic garden”
My chosen theme is Botanical and my starting point my quilt “Hydrangea Macrophylla”.
I will use the Language of flowers as a common thread. Because of the flowers I have selected I will call my series “The romantic garden” : growing wild and old fashioned these flowers belong to the kind you can find into a grand mother’s garden …
I will have 3 different flowers, with two quilts for each one (I know I will have to withdraw one at the end …) I want to keep thread sketching as a technique for a more traditional representation on the first quilt for each flower; I will work more freely for the second one.
Two years ago I listened to Susan Lenz in Birmingham and was interested by her use of vintage linen and precious items from previous generations, and her concern about lost stories and family secrets. That is why I will try to use, as well as possible, my grand mother’s linen, lace, monogramms etc … I really like how these old fabrics, washed and rewashed so many times, take dyes.
I don’t know the evolution of my work for the series yet, and which techniques I am going to use… but I would like to keep some freedom and experiment.
Hydrangea in Winter. Quilt N° 1
I have chosen a picture taken in my garden in late November to show the sadness of winter when everything is dry and dead.
Material : Hand dyed fabric and tarlatane – acrylic paint – Inktense pencils – Platinum Inka acrylic wax (frosty flowers) – satin finish acrylic wax – lace for colographs.
Small squares of fabric are fused on the background, then the flower heads are drawn on a piece of stitch and tear and free motion quilted from the back. The petals are painted with platinum Inka acrylic wax to give them a frosty look.
Prints are made with collagraphs made with cut out shapes from lace glued on a piece of cardboard. They are used like stamps with white acrylic paint and embellished with inktense pencils.
I added another layer of flowers cut out from tarlatane to give more texture. They are sealed with acrylic wax to prevent them from fraying and to give a satin finish.
Close up View:
FIFTEEN BY FIFTEEN 
What an elegant piece! I love it so much and look forward to seeing more. The use of language of flowers is brilliant.
Great subject and a brilliant way to produce a series. Your work is always so coordinated and well composed. Look forward to seeing the whole set!
I LOVE this piece and I like the idea of using vintage textiles for it a lot. The design of your quilt is beautiful and I love how the colors and the printing of the background are so different from the elegant flowers but do complement them in a wonderful way. Bravo!
A lovely piece, Chantal…and I thank you for sharing your technique re: the blossoms; I might refer back to it sometime when considering aspen leaves. 🙂 On my monitor, the front piece with the blossoms is very clearly outlined with a dark edge, as if it is situated behind the printed border, framed by it, as it were. Perhaps this is because the ‘frame’ has been created on cardboard? It certainly gives the focus of the piece a great deal of depth — very effective!
This is a lovely piece which is full of colour and is beautifully balanced. I like the way you have layered your fabrics to create the flowers and have worked the background details. I think your approach to the series is very novel, and the use of vintage fabrics is a great idea. It should be well worth seeing!
Botanical as theme for the series and the way you work it out will be a great combination. The way you created your winter garden and all the different techniques you used make this a well thought and wonderful piece. Great idea to use the old sheers and fabrics, love to see the next ones.
Lovely quilt and a lovely theme for your series. I particularly like the idea of making 2 different pieces for each flower.
Quilts with flowers are more or less your trademark, so this theme will fit you very well. I like the idea of two quilts with the same flower.
I love how you created the background and flowers with the stamping, stitching, painting and layering. What a lovely piece Chantal.