Jacuzzi Jazz #1

This vortex was inspired by the spiraling designs found in many fractals.

The design begins with a very light center and as the spiral gets larger the colors become darker and more saturated against a background of virtual black. To create an eye-dazzling effect, I have used rainbow colors alternating with their compliments (opposites on the color wheel), an arrangement I call "intersecting color and value gradations".

Half of the fabrics are from various commercial collections I have designed, and the other half are one-of-a-kind fabrics that I hand dyed in rainbow gradations, hand painted with dye, or designed and printed digitally.

The quilting was done with dozens of different colors of #30 and #40 top-stitching thread. The smaller, sharper templates were quilted in "feather" patterns and the larger templates were quilted with a flowing pattern that incorporates a few spirals to suggest eddies within the vortex.