Santa Cruz de Tenerife

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

For years I have had a photo of Tenerife, torn from a travel magazine, posted on my design wall. I have always loved Mediterranean hillside towns, the way they have developed so organically, adapting to a twist of the road or an outcropping of rock. They look a bit like termite nests, though more picturesque, of course.

The 12 by the Dozen blogging group of art quilters has decided that our next challenge will be "Lily White". This is very much a challenge for me, as I find it difficult to work with white. So often in nature, white reflects the colours around it, and when in the shadows, it turns into violet, or blue, or grey. Nevertheless, I decided this was the Moment for the Mediterranean Hillside Town.

I chose a printed cotton, a mottled green-and-brown, to suggest the vegetation and rock that serves as a background to the dwellings, and then blocked in the large white shapes with a facing of white cotton, so there would be minimal show-through of the dark background. Then I cut small squares and rectangles of white, beige, grey, tan and orange to serve as the buildings themselves. The windows are so small they are indicated with ink, and the stitching in grey thread goes all around the small shapes to secure them.

I am happy with this piece, which serves to remind me of a visit to the Canary Islands a few years ago, but have settled on another scene I want to translate into fabric for our 12 by the Dozen challenge. So, I am now free to post this image. The challenge isn't due until the end of May, so I will have to wait until then to reveal my official response to "Lily White".