Tag Archives: “textile art”

Lining up

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lower right section of Global Warming 7-footer

I keep going back and forth on this project.  Should I complete it as intended (roughly 7′ x 4′), or break it into sections and move the thing along?

This little section (photo above) floated upstairs today and looks complete to me.

But I’m not quite willing to give up the big design yet.


Because I am not a planner, at this stage of production I often find ‘log jams’, or areas where the rectangular pieced sections are not lining up and where I am not willing to chop or add to accommodate completing a rectangle.


Once I pinned up some green grosgrain to divide sections, it suddenly seemed (seamed?) do-able.  Note to self: remember that this is a visual process and that you have a visual sensibility (“DOH”).

There have been quilts that undergo enormous changes at this phase… quilts where I find myself swapping out some of the larger chunks.  This has been partially in service of making the rectangles fit (think “Tetris”) and partially  because it can be fun to see how things look when the design is a little less conscious.

This particular piece, however, has been in formation for well over a year and I am eager to get to the final stretch.  And, I am feeling a strange loyalty to the design as I have constructed it.

The edges will pose problems.  My plan is to use some of the cool-toned patterns (the Anna Maria Horner large blue floral and a shimmery green near-solid) to fill in and frame the edges where I need another inch or two.  I will TRY to avoid the temptation to keep piecing/adding complexity.

What will be fun is to create a slide show of the quilt in its many phases and see how it has changed over four seasons.

For the finish — instead of using a whole cloth back and pinning the entire thing up and shoving it through my Bernina with a great deal of cussing, I think I’ll quilt it in sections.  I plan to use some overlays on the back, perhaps even with raw edges, to connect up.

Given that one of the problems with this piece is its scale — I really don’t love working this large — then it is obvious that if I want to continue producing pieces of this size, I have to figure out how to do it in a way that works with my style, studio space, equipment, and temperament.

Which reminds me that my word for 2010 is ‘congruence’.

I am so, so eager to find both the style of working and the subjects & images that really line up with who it is that stands with the needle in her hand, with the scissors at her side, and with her particular demons at her back.

Finishing small things

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Here is the word added to the small Journal Quilt.  I think of ‘freedom’ as something robust and tawny (who knows why), and yet here it is in a whispery pink. . . freedom as something subtle and fragile.

This is the finished piece.

The moon gave me a few problems.  The chenille vine upholstery fabric was thick, and seamed, even thicker.  Next time, lay flat and don’t seam?  In any case, to cover the bump, I added lace.  And, to balance things out a little, I tore some of the blue netting.

The lower lunar section reveals an inkjet fabric print of an antique map of the constellations.

“Free” has been on my mind in the wake of handling all of my free fabrics.  “Free” is on my mind thinking about what holds me back.  Something about spring sets a little piece of me free.  So grateful.

Back to it

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Finally put the taxes, a commission, a benefits process, and a series of gardening consultations behind me long enough to work on some quilts that have been languishing.

This little piece came from one of my ** New ** works-in-progress drawers and was constructed last spring, back when I was still making journal quilts.

The vertical edges needed bound, and I so wanted the blue and white swirly because of the way it picked up the floral motif and the black and white near the hut, but it was way, way, too much.

Or, maybe it wasn’t too much, but it was a different quilt in the making and I wanted to finish this one in the mood in which it began.

So I went with the soft green.

After binding it, I fiddled with the moon some more, added a word, and quilted here and there.  I’ll show you tomorrow.  The quilt reminds me of how fertile the journal-quilting-process was.  I think I’ll begin again.  Last year, I made a quilt-a-week (small, unbound) from January to about June, I think.

It rained again. Day was full, satisfying.

Script quilt in progress

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I do like it when the machine gives me direction.
There have been too many times to count where the bobbin runs out just as I’m about to use the wrong color thread somewhere… or just as I am too tired to keep quilting with any control (but would have kept going had the thread not run out).

On this script quilt and its companion piece, I keep going to add machine quilting and something goes.  After breaking TWO needles and running out of bobbin thread once, I get the hint!

First ‘Script Quilt’ in 2010

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I ‘wrote’ on the woven Journal Pages by couching cotton threads on top in cursive-like loops.  Sometimes, I stitched with ecru thread, other times, red.

I fiddled with the sides by folding over the bottom floral — which I had placed right-side up, so as to have the more subtle wrong-side showing when folded over.  On the left, though, I inserted a strip from another upholstery sample in order to pick up some of the warm tones of the sharpie and to define the edge a little more.

After the couching, I gessoed the piece, wrote on it with pen and pencil, and hand-stitched a few micro-bits of fabric.  Then, I  applied quite a lot of machine quilting in a basic grid, mostly, sometimes in a jagged, frantic tight mess, to look like another ‘woven’ strip.

I kept a lot of the quilted thread tails on, stitched them to the surface for some added ‘writing’.

Finally, I brushed some pigment (Pearl Ex super bronze by Jacquard) mixed with ModPodge lustre lightly over some areas and a little less lightly in others, mostly to give added dimension to some of the couched threads.

It’s almost done, I think.  Not sure if I’ll do anything to further finish top and bottom edges.  Maybe.

Purposefully, about the size of a piece of paper.

Many directions suggested by this initial 2010 Script Quilt — some suggested by talented readers.  Thank you for the ideas… can’t wait to explore more!

And, now, back to the BIG PIECE which keeps getting BIGGER,

bottom half of the top third?!!!

and to Danny, who feels punky today.