Intent for this piece

Although the garden topic is full of possibilities, I settled on the depiction of a window plants in a city, and the sub-title hints at the care lavished on plants which are grown in the only space available. I wanted to depict simple colourful plants against city textures.

Approach

I wanted the plants to be in complete contrast to the background. Therefore I chose rich colours for the plants and their pots and stark black and white for the background. I used the background piecing to give the outline of the window, on which to rest the pot plants. Coloured fabric at the side of the piece hints at curtain fabric.

The fabric used is a mixture of commercial and hand-dyed fabric, and the plants and their pots are appliqued to the background. I used machine quilting in a straight geometric pattern and brick-red thread, to suggest the masonry of city walls in the background. I left gaps in the quilting to further suggest the angular lines of buildings. I added beads and a few hand stitches to give definition and detail to the plants. I wanted to keep the piece simple and fairly uncluttered as I think that gives a more striking contrast between the main design elements and the background, and emphasises the harsh lines of the city-scape.