Stitching from the Soul

A few months back I was delighted to get a request from Quilting Arts Magazine asking if I would be open to writing an article on my Work Quilts. They wanted me to talk about what my inspiration was and a bit about my process in creating them. I was more then happy to do so, and am very pleased to announce that the article is now out and can be found in their current June/July issue! (I loved the title that they gave to the article, as it truly sums up what I am trying to do.)


Thanks Quilting Arts!

Also, I wanted to let you all know, in case you hadn't yet heard, about the new Online Quilt Museum which was created by the amazing Karen, of Selvage Blog.


This site will no doubt prove to be a valuable and educational resource to quilters and quilt lovers. Karen contacted me a bit ago while she was building the new site, asking if I would allow her to feature my Hurricane Katrina Quilt in the Online Quilt Museum's Exhibit section. (Speaking about "stitching from the soul"... this quilt poured out from my soul.)


When I saw Karen's presentation, I was so honored and impressed... she did such a fabulous job, really bringing out the emotion that I felt in creating it... even typing up a section of the words that I wrote on the backside. The whole site is truly a wonderful! Please be sure to visit, and also of interest... Karen is offering Gallery space to individual quilters for a mere $4.95 a month. Go here for the details.

Have a great week!

Work Quilt #2 - Finished!

Finally finished my 2nd "Work Quilt"! (My fingers are very relieved!)


Now, I have tried sooooo hard to get the colors accurate.... almost to the point of insanity. Proving very difficult as the shot cotton seems to constantly change and shift colors depending on the angle it is viewed and how the light hits it. Some days it looks more green to me and some days more blue. But that is one of the things I love about shot cotton!


Looking at my monitor, the red squares are showing up more bright then they actually are... in truth they are more of a brick red, actually being woven with a rust weft and a purple warp! (who-da thunk?) I believe that quiet purple warp helps this particular red fabric get along very well with the surrounding blues and greens.


This photo above seems to be the best as far as color accuracy.... of course every monitor is different. (I am working on a Mac, but just looked at these pictures on my daughter's PC and surprisingly they looked very accurate on the PC. Again... who-da-thunk? Never-the-less, I love my Mac!) ...But I digress... back to the quilt...

With a little math I have estimated that there are approximately over 15,000 hand stitches in this piece, which after washing now measures 40" x 41.5"



Not wanting to use up my shot cottons on the back side, I instead choose solid Kona fabrics, giving the back a more contemporary feel...


If you look closely at the back, you can see small patches of horizontal stitching where the patches on the front have been quilted down. I like that subtle variation.

This "Work Quilt", at least for now, is another keeper.... I want the Work quilts in my possession so I can refer back to them as I continue on this series. The next one is in the planning stages, but I also want to make some smaller, related pieces to put in the shop.... Oh my. These are a bit more labor intensive then I am use to. If only I could get by on 2 hours sleep!

Layer by Layer

Remember the shot cotton quilt I was working on from a few posts back? Well, what I didn't explain in that post was how I am approaching its construction...

Because my muse for this piece is old work quilts, (which I am not trying to duplicate, only be inspired by) I thought it'd make sense to build the quilt up in various layers...


I first started off with 9 12.5" x 12.5" base squares of fabric and appliqued various patches on each one. (These squares were to represent the various patched fabrics that would have been recycled into a work quilt.) Then I sewed them all together for the quilt top and did the first layer of quilting, (which is what I showed in the first post.)

Now I've moved onto the 2nd layer. This finds me sewing on more patches, (such as the ones in both of these photos) some overlapping patches from layer #1 and some overlapping the seams joining the base squares. (This is to represent the patching that would have been done after the work quilt got used and worn even more.)


Along with the shot cottons, I'm also starting to incorporate bits of really lovely woven cottons that have an aged look to them. (The white thread will be removed, as it was just used as a preliminary basting stitch until I could machine applique the patches in place. The brown threads will also get trimmed off.)

More long rows of quilting come next, (this time in a zig-zag stitch I think, just to add some interest).

After that I move onto layer #3... probably more of the same, just slowly building it up until either I have the look I want, or I have made a complete mess... hoping it's the first! More to come later!

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There's a new quilt blog recently started called Modify Tradition. It's about the journey of marrying the look of a modern quilt with the techniques used in traditional quilt making. Discussion is encouraged and I am finding the posts and the conversation very entertaining. Check it out, it deserves a look!

Shot Cotton

Here's a peek at what I am currently working on. It's a small quilt inspired by old, patched work quilts.


I'm using shot cottons, which are probably my favorite of all fabrics.


They are woven with two colors, one for the weft and one for the warp. This creates great subtle shifts in color as the fabric moves and the light hits it.

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By the way, the photo of my daughter from the post below was taken at the White Chalk Cliffs at Brighton-on-the-Sea, England. And yes, my heart momentarily stopped when I first saw it, as my head screamed, "Are you CRAZY! What the $#@^%!! are you doing up there!!??!!" But then my fear was replaced with tremendous pride. I admire people who live full lives.

Thanks also, for continued well wishes. I have good days and bad days and a heating pad is my constant companion when sitting or lying. Ben Gay and I are getting to be pretty good friends, too! Back is slowly improving, but shoulder keeps wanting to pop and dislocate with even the slightest movement, (ouch). Taking it a day at a time. But today's a good day. After a week of rain the sun is shining. Sometimes that's all you really need!
xo