Santa Cruz de Tenerife

It's been more than a month since Jinnie threw down the gauntlet with her "Lily White" challenge, and I thought I would share with you my first response to the subject. Not to worry: "Santa Cruz de Tenerife" didn't make the cut, and another one is waiting on the sidelines for the official reveal.

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.

"Lily White" 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. Nevertheless, I decided this was the Big Moment for the Mediterranean Hillside Town.

I chose a printed cotton, a mottled green-and-brown Stonehenge, 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, to minimize 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. Meanwhile, this will make a nice addition to the dozen cityscapes I have made in this 8.5" x 11" format.