quilt: 9 patch

the title 9 patch is apropos...because fundimentally, the whole quilt is just a 9 patch of 9 patches. 

i started with the made fabric, which was cut into 6 inch squares, and then rejoined into nine patch squares.  the cross blocks have made fabric blocks in the center, with prairie points pointing out of all sides.  the fabric is a mix of stuff, as usual, mostly newer bits.  the black sashing is black kona.  the peach and green are vintage solids from the 1970s.

adding some kind of dimension to my quilts has become increasingly important to me.  sometimes this just means the impression of depth or dimension via value changes and/or colors, sometimes it means the illusion of depth through devices like overlaid grids, and sometimes it means texture...actual factual tactile texture that you can see.  things that stick up and off the surface of the quilt.  quilts are typically very flat, in my observation.  it can be fun to play with the surface and do something unexpected.  i like the push and pull.  if you look it's almost like the black grid is floating above another grid that appears to be formed by the green solid crosses.  this wasn't anything i really planned from the outset but a design that came together as the quilt itself came together.  typical of how i usually make quilts.

my use of grids and my obsession with them comes from two distinct inspirations:  one, the quilts of australian quilter judy hooworth, specifically her book razzle dazzle quilts.  i found a copy of it at a chicago-area thrift store, and fell in love with her contemporary use of sashing and cornerstones.  two:  a number of the bold improvisational sashed and cornerstone-ed quilts in roderick kiracofe's book unconventional and unexpected.  it's something i want to explore more in other quilts going forward.

frank palmer, of orlando, florida, longarmed this for me.

quilt: full circle

here we have "full circle," so named because though it was partially pieced in 2015, it contains bits of patchwork i made in and around 2009 and 2010, some of which became one of my first quilts.  and it's fully covered in hand-quilted circles...duh!  *grin*

the fabric in both that early quilt and the similar bits in this quilt are solid colored silks, cottons/blends, linens, cords from my scrap bins.  i've been sewing for a dog's age...mostly clothing.  almost 30 years, if my math is correct.  and i've been hoarding bits of old fabric for nearly as long.  so once upon a time, my fabric collection skewed more toward garment fabrics.  it seemed like a natural thing to me to use those kinds of fabrics in a quilt, especially when i was just starting out.  

to be honest, i still think it makes sense!  you use what you have and what you know, and mostly it will work.  i like the different textures and sheens that other kinds of fabrics can bring to a quilt or work of fiber art.  sometimes you have to stabilize certain fabrics to get them to play nice and you may have to handle or care for the quilt in different ways.  and i am down with that, with the experience that i've accrued, it's not so difficult to manage..  but having been around in the quilting world for a while now (at least peripherally), i gather that quilting-weight cottons are the alleged "gold standard" amongst most quilters these days.  quilting cottons are what everyone wants to use and thinks they should use.  that's cool.  i just like being a little experimental, i guess.  trying stuff and seeing what works and what doesn't.  i'm not really comfortable working in a box or limiting my choices.  rules-shmules, maaaaan!  the "quilt police" (modern or otherwise) can step off!

anyway...back to the quilt in question, no?  the circles were hand quilted with a heaver weight black perle cotton, at the intersection of blocks.  there are two layers of batting:  a thin layer of warm and white cotton, and a thinnish layer of mountain mist poly batting, to give the hand quilting some loft and puffiness.  the resultant quilt is a bit thicker than a cotton batting only quilt, but it's slightly puffier which is a nice change.  the combo gives it more of both a literal and visual weight.  it was a combination i read about in my friend sherri lynn wood's recent book.  this quilt happens to be the first quilt i've completely hand quilted.  i am really proud of that...i want to use the batting combo in other quilts and also hand quilt more of my quilts as time allows.

this quilt is also faced, rather than bound in a more traditional manner.  i bound it using this tutorial from the silly boodilly.  i've faced a lot of quilts lately.  i'm liking the option not to have that line of color or pattern framing a quilt.  sometimes you want it to be about the face of the quilt and not have that line box the work in.  other times a binding can really work.  depends on the quilt, and the quilter.

manifesto: my colorways and fabric choices

If you've known me a while or are just poking around, it’s probably obvious (or increasingly obvious!) that I prefer saturated colors, and what some might think are “challenging” color combinations.  I like my color like I like my music:  loud, in your face!  Bombastic.  Like rump-shaking bass and beats.  I love old-school hip-hop, drum and bass, and house.  I want my quilts to look like those genres of music sound!

Saturated colors feel really energizing and exciting to me.  Candy colors, like I could almost eat them.  Graffiti is a major inspiration behind my color sense.  The colors of spray paint, of street art.  Think of the acid and neon colors of the 70s and 80s…those are some of my most favorite hues.

I like to literally play with color and choose my colors on the fly.  I don't overthink or overwork.  I generally don’t do a lot of planning when it comes to the colors in my quilts, preferring to work in a more intuitive or immediate manner, as opposed to a controlled, premeditated manner (choosing them beforehand and using what was planned).  What feels right as I go and at a given time, is right, for me.  I like my colors to dance, vibrate, and give off an energy.  I am consciously playing with the color wheel, and I tend to favor complimentary or clashing pairs or groups, so you'll likely see a lot of reds and greens, oranges and greens.  I also like to play with saturation, and value.  I do use neutrals in my work, they are needed for interplay and repose.

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On the matter of fabric..

Yes, sometimes I buy new fabric.  But I am not precious about it.  I'll buy things when I see them, if I happen to be at a quilt shop somewhere and I've got access to the "nicer" stuff.  But as a rule I generally don't follow designers, mostly because I honestly have a hard time keeping up with who does what  There's an awful lot of noise out there in the fabric world.  Some of it appeals to me and some doesn't.  I'll buy what does but I have a hard time associating a particular person with a particular line.  It's overwhelming to me. Chicago, big city that it is, doesn't have a whole lot of choices in the city limits for fabric, so I get fabric where I can find it.  At shows, at regular fabric stores like Jo-Ann's, and like I mentioned, rarely, an actual quilt shop (there aren't but maybe two in all of Chicago proper).

My greatest and most favorite and preferred resource for fabric is secondhand. Old scraps of fabric jammed into plastic bags, cut-up secondhand clothing, old household textiles like curtains, sheets, tablecloths, or really whatever.  I find this fabric at thrift stores, antique markets, and on Etsy.  I think of these kinds of places as my art supply stores, and they help me construct my palette.  I prefer the serendipity of finding my materials, wherever I can find them, and then recontextualizing the fabrics I've found, in a way that makes sense to me, in my quilts and other fiber pieces.  This relates to the post-modern notion of collage and bricollage.  Taking what a lot of people might consider gross trash or castoffs or ugly stuff and trying to make it beautiful in my re-contextualization via fabric play.  The idea of buying a whole line from a hot designer and using it in one quilt is really unappealing to me....they've done the work!  I would prefer to do the work of putting and pairing things together, instead.

I have a thing, a strong obsession, for adopting and hoarding old stuff, fabric and other textiles. Partially, this is because I honestly feel sorry for the things that have gotten dumped off at the thrift!  Like it's a living breathing thing, almost!  I want old things, old fabrics in this case, to be loved again and have a home and retain some use.  

We as a culture throw so much useful and I'd argue, beautiful, stuff away.  Just because it's old doesn't mean it's less valuable!  It makes sense to me, in general, to be resourceful and attempt to use what’s already out there, rather than generating a lot of new stuff to add to the milieu of stuff that already clogs our world.

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Why do you use the fabrics you use?