Bugs Into Features, Quilting Style

I read about a contest and actually had an idea for a submission. I don’t remember anything more about the contest. I think the deadline is in January so I have plenty of time to find the piece of paper with the information on it. This blog is about the quilt, however, and how I am turning a quilting bug into a feature. I want to include some hanging beaded strings to represent roots, but that tends to weigh the quilt down. With a piece this small, that could cause quite a bit of distortion. “Self,” I said, “why don’t you put a wire in the bottom and attach the beaded strings to that?” So I did.

The backing and batting for the roots are wired. I left the top free so I can twist it around and still have a flat surface on the front. That’s the solution I came up with for cutting the top root fabric so narrow that I couldn’t turn any of it under to make the facing. Yes, I turned that bug into a feature.

Beading to the point of encrusting will distort a quilt in odd ways. That’s the second bug I turned into a feature. Since this quilt is supposed to be about nature and organic things, I cut a gentle curve into the sides. Now I won’t have to worry about odd pulls, because I meant the edge to be wavy. At least that’s the story I’m going to tell.

Luck and wisdom!

Style = Story + Strata

I’ve said before that I wait for the fabric to speak to me before I start a project. I’ve also admitted that very often my color choices depend on what I can reach. This week I accepted the truth – my style is determined by the story behind the materials and where those materials are in the layers of stuff around my studio. Rather than fight the reality of my cluttered creative space, I will embrace it and turn that bug into a feature.

 

Another reality I have embraced is that I have no space for another quilt anywhere – not the walls, not the chairs or couches, not the beds – but I can always use another tote bag. I made two.

 

 

I had an eighth of a yard of bright pink fabric with either flying birds or flying bats (I think they’re birds), some hot pink purse handles, hot pink chenille on a spool, and a yard of flamingo fabric.

 

 

The is tote is big enough to carry my sharing to quilt guild meetings, which is why I attached my name tag to it.

 

 

I finished the small, square tote from the fabric that Margaret Misegades gave me. The celtic fabric really is from Ireland.

 

 

The dove is not from Ireland, but I thought it went well with the celtic pieces.

 

 

I bought the button embellishments in Santa Fe at the SAQA conference. They are made by Robin Pascal of Perfect Buttons. When I bought them, I had no idea how appropriate that name is, as I think they really are perfect for this project.

 

And so it is with my new-found label for my style. It doesn’t really describe what comes out of my studio, but it certainly describes my process. For the moment, that is as good as I’m going to get.