I spent my week preparing for Object Runway and quilting. About 30 hours of standing in this exact position.
This quilt was started around the same time as TRIBE, and, like TRIBE, was put into storage for being the wrong size to work in a three by three grid format. Now that I am in finishing mode, I pulled it out of storage and plopped it onto the long arm.
Ever time I quilt a Color Grid, I think I should photograph it as each color is applied. With this quilt, I attempted to do that.
First there was a bold green.
And then came red.
Turquoise, always my favorite, was next.
At this point, I decided to stop being lazy and actually pull the quilt off of the long arm and pin it onto a design wall for photographing. This is the entire quilt with green, red, and turquoise stitching. Some of you may notice that I started to stitch in white but changed my mind.
Orange was next in the queue.
Followed by the goodness of yellow.
And blue.
I then stitched quite a bit of black.
Pink to complement the turquoise.
Finally I finished with white.
Want to know what the front looks like?
The middle of January in Alaska is not the best time to expect good lighting, so my photography experiment was a bit disappointing in that way. I will definitely try this again when we have more than six hours of daylight. (If you are curious about the amount of sunshine we have up here this time of the year, I wrote about this last month on Solstice.)
This quilt is still nameless. Well, it has many names, and I haven’t been able to settle on just one. Here’s the list.
Flower Power
Crazy Daisy
I Heart Peter Brady
Marsha, Marsh, Marsha
Come On Get Happy
Sock to Me
You get the idea. This quilt is composed almost entirely of vintage late 1960s and early 1970s fabric. I am a big believer in the power of textiles to evoke memories. Just like smell, it can make us think of a time or a place. What do these fabrics make you think of? Your miserable Junior Prom with that guy you never should have said yes to? A family gathering where your favorite aunt was decked out in a maxi dress featuring these colors and prints? The bicentennial parade in Topeka, Kansas?
I’d love to know your memories of that time.
I’m linking this post to Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Fridays.
Have a good weekend folks!
Amazing. Really beautiful! And the top side is pretty cool too.
Thank you Mary!
You are doing a fantastic job! I love the way the back looks like its own quilt in itself!
Jen- I know it may seem weird, but I give the backs of my quilts a lot of attention–its where my quilting gets to be the star. Thank you for stopping by.
Very cool quilting idea!! You are having a lot of fun with this!
Thank you Sara!
You “decided to stop being lazy”??? Maria, lazy is not a word I would use to describe you! I know from experience how hard it is to quilt that intensely. Worth it, though, it’s gorgeous!
The 70s vibe makes me think of my mother’s kitchen in the early 70s. Very “cool” huge daisy wallpaper. They were as big as dinner plates, in bright acid green and yellow on a white background. Certainly woke us up every morning at breakfast!
Thanks Heather for sharing that. I love wall paper like that. It’s so much better than the white walls the real estate agents want us to have now.
Threading lightly thru the daisies
Good one Sue!
Very neat indeed. I thought at first it was whole-cloth! Fabrics remind me of Expo ’67, and the big party Canada had for its Centennial Year in 1967…especially as that summer I was 14-going-on-15…great memories!
I know. I loved that time frame. I was 10 in 1976 when we had our bicentennial. I wish I felt the same about the 80s but I don’t. Everything was big and that Laura Ashely floral. Not for me.
tripping through the daisies.
.i should have not said yes to that first winter prom invite but his mom and mne were acquainted..besdes the stiff net on the gown gave me a rash under the arms and had I waited a few days “mr basketball star” asked
but mom would not let me back out…rash!
Oh and
Thank you for your MITT pattern, it arrived this week in the mail .
Great story Sonja! I hope you enjoy the pattern.
the wavey edge plate thing in the middle of the unnamed quilt’s top photo reminds me of grandma’s old china, the serving platter. Lordy I don’t know how you do it all. love, grandma patt
patricia garrett, lcsw box 671643 chugiak, ak 99567 907-854-7288
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 23:39:15 +0000 To: pmgarrett@hotmail.com
Patt- I got that fabric at Mood when I went to New York City a couple of years ago. I was so excited to use it.
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