I’m on a mission. I have a pile of UFOs and pieces completed that I don’t think are quite right. Translation, they have no zing, no zap, no pizzazz. They need to be taken further. Sometimes a piece falls in place and I race to finish it with great results. Other times, not so much. Then I’m left figuring out what I need to do with it.  When I have taken some pieces further, there have been good results. One piece was  featured in a Quilting Arts Community Spotlight article.

The first one I have a re-do on is The Red Wall. I loved the piece just the way it was. It was one I used to jury for the Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts .  Since I was juried onto the list by one of the curators at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, I thought it must have some redeeming qualities. But I have since juried it for 3 separate exhibits and it was rejected every time.

I presented my problem to the critique group I belong to and with the exception of 2 people, the suggestions were not helpful and ranged from ” change the color” to ” add some beads and bling”. Neither of those were going to happen. What I did was add more foliage, darken the vines and tendrils with thread and shade the background so the foliage advances in the composition. Here are the before and after shots. You be the judge if I should have left it alone.