Something About Nothing

 Once everything was done (well except the sleeves and label) I took the quilt to my friends at Atelier A.F.A.    They do a wonderful job of scanning and photographing my art quilts, as well as other art. Front: Back: And just a couple of detail shots: While I was disappointed to not be accepted in to Quilt National 2025, I felt okay about it. There are other shows. I feel confident that Murder in the Garden will make her way somewhere one day. Step in to the garden with me and enjoy the pandemonium. Explore the flowering blossoms. Gaze at the pollinating bees. Appreciate a murder, of crows.

 Despite having drawers full of mostly Wonderfil Eleganza perle cotton , I found I needed more thread. Most of my perle cotton is an 8 wt, or 12 wt but I wanted some 5 wt (a little heavier) too as well as some other colors in the 8wt. I put in a large order with Wonderfil and waited for the gloriousness to arrive.  Every night I sat in my recliner and stitched until my hands gave up. The numbness of my carpel tunnel could sometimes be miserable. Buzz, buzz. I knew the deadline for entering at Quilt National would be coming up quick so I decided to put a binding on the quilt before I was finished stitching. Everything was quilted down at this point, but I still had a lot of flowers, French knots and other details to add. My thought was that even if I couldn't finish up all those tiny details the quilt would be done "enough" to photograph and submit.  Now with the binding complete I could finish all the embroidery work without worrying it wouldn't be done by the entry d...

 Deciding on the right colors of perle cotton is usually one of the hardest parts. Sometimes it's just best to try a complimentary color and go for it.  After stitching this flower, I decided I should get everything down by quilting going around all of the hexagons. Of course, my sister's cat, Ellla, was there to help me through every stitch. After consulting with my friend, Liz Kettle , I was grateful I didn't have too many shades of gray to use on my Murder of Crows. The shades of blue made for a much more interesting crows. After all the glossiness of a crows feathers are usually a purply-blue. My crows are everything from Turquoise to Cornflower. I always love stopping and having a look at how the stitching is looking on the back. Gratuitous cat supervision photos: I miss this little face. She is now back at home with her mommy. 

 Putting the blocks together was an interesting process. I really hadn't planned any of it.  Some of the blocks were just too busy so I couldn't use them.  As I said in the last post, I had to print a few more. I could have made this a giant rectangle but I love the shape of the hexagons. I felt I needed to leave some of them hanging out. I made the backing by using up a number of already mixed dyes and a few yards of wide cotton pfd. Love how the piece came out. There is a little peek at the corgi puppy flannel I used as a batting. Once everything was basting together using basting spray, it was time to quilt.

I printed my blocks at Saltgrass Printmaker studio with the help of Stefanie Dykes. First things first, a sample print on paper. And then a bunch of prints on my hand dyed fabric. I only had one block carved when I went in the first time so we used it to make a whole cloth print. I was printing on my own when I went back to the studio to print the rest of the blocks,  so of course I forgot to take photos. When I decided to make a large art quilt with the blocks I realized I didn't have enough blocks. I ended up printing more blocks at home using Speedball Fabric printing ink and a hand brayer. They turned out okay. I was pleasantly surprised. Part 3: Putting it together

 Over the past year and a half, I learned to carve on MDF wood (medium density fiberboard). It was incredibly satisfying. I carved three 18" hexagons and then printed them on hand dyed fabric. I printed them as a whole cloth piece as well as on individual pieces of cloth. Once they were printed I decided to piece them together in to a large art quilt. It's 46" x 84". I sandwiched the printed pieces with a flannel batting, and a hand dyed cotton fabric backing, and then proceeded to hand quilt with perle cotton thread. I had the piece professional photographed and then entered it in Quilt National 2025. It was one of 600 and something entries and sadly, it did not get in. I'm hoping to find another show to enter it in so it can be shown. In the meantime, let me blog about how I made it. Everything starts with an idea, and a drawing. Why a hexagon? Because that was the shape my friend Stefanie at Saltgrass Printmakers had cut for a community print project.  Influe...