I returned over the last few days to my Sonoran Desert quilt, which I haven't touched in weeks, and laid out the blocks on a piece of batting. The five-inch squares are layered with torn raw-edge pieces of fabric and slow stitched with perle cotton. I loved doing the stitching and ended up making 24 blocks based on the colors of Tucson's Sonoran Desert: blue for the sky, tan for the sand, and green for the cacti.
First I arranged them touching (above), then I tried giving them some breathing space (below). I like the second arrangement better.
Then I played around with borders and also considered just leaving the exposed batting as a border. I still haven't decided on this step. I think a colored border takes away from the center, but I'll ponder it for a few days or weeks. The white border lets the eye really focus on the squares. Opinions?
My work table is covered with fabric that I pulled for different borders.
Next I had to decide how to attach the squares to the quilt sandwich. I was afraid that machine stitching would be too jarring next to the hand stitching and my poor arthritic hand couldn't take sewing them all down by hand. I ended up going back to my signature step of the past 20 years of tacking the pieces down with a tiny zigzag with gold thread and leaving the thread tails hanging to reflect light and add movement.
The raggedy threads and uneven stitching suit a quilt about the wild, tough desert.
To see what other quilt artists have been up to this week, click here: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com
Have a colorful day
6 comments:
Sherrie,
Love the colors and the stitches! How inspirational!
That quote speaks volumes!
i love the quilt in progress and her colors and that you shared how you think about next step in the progress. i love process part of making...your art.
Sherrie - Nice piece. And good to hear about your process. I think the white border works best, but I don't care for exposed batting. Try some white fabric as the border. Keep creating. Del
It's good to see your work in progress, and I love your dialog about your process too. I look forward to seeing your final piece.
What a fun project. I like your little squares of blues and browns. I also like your colored borders better than the white.
Necessity is the mother of invention here. Loved the decision process that lead you to dangling, loose, golden threads.
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