Work from the Summer

 

And a Spot of Red

Haven't had the time to post this quilt before, so here it is now,- "And a Spot of Red." Hand appliquéd and hand quilted, it measures 82 x 61 inches; much larger than I've worked in a long time. 

In 2023 I found myself expanding my horizons, exploring opportunities to show my work at unfamiliar venues. This open attitude led to new encounters and new inspiration for me. Really that shouldn't be a surprise, but sometimes I'm amazed at how often I need to be reminded that exposing ourselves to different experiences and influences helps us grow and feeds our creative impulses. And it's so exciting when that happens.

During one of these adventures, I was at a show and fell into a conversation with a fellow quilter, sharing perspectives, exchanging ideas. At one point she casually offered "You need to work bigger!"

That was the encouragement I needed to finally get to work on an idea I'd been contemplating. I pulled out the scraps from these two wall hangings and got to work.

In "And a Spot of Red" the remnant cutouts playfully fall across the quilt top of solid black which has been given texture with the rice grain embroidery stitch. 

There were several challenges here. Beside the bulkiness of working this large, there was the problem of "bearding," when the batting pulled through to the front of the quilt. And obviously it took much longer that usual to finish it off. 

In the end, I couldn't help adding a spot of red as a call out to that "quilty" friend who gave me a nudge to work outside my comfort zone.