How does one go about creating a art quilt? I won’t get into the details about discovering your creative voice, love of fiber, personal symbolism and bizzare fabric fetishes for now. I just want to give you a idea of what goes through my mind.
First I had the creative urge. Then I fell in love with Jude Hills’s quilt, Hearts in the Wind. This quilt got me thinking about what I wanted my next quilt to be. Hearts have meaning for me. They don’t represent love for me, but emotions.
There is something very primal yet delicate about Jude’s work. Her work feels personal. What might be considered flaws for some quilters (tears, holes, loose threads, illregular shapes) are what give Jude’s work soul.
So when I started to create my quilt there where certain elements I wanted to keep in mind. I wanted to use the symbol of a heart. I wanted my quilt to scream handmade. And I wanted the stitches to provide texture and a kind of humanity.
Then I saw The Silly Bodilly’s Work Quilt. I just melted for the playful use of colors and shapes. I personally have trouble dealing with such a large compositions, so I decided to stick with a simple composition. Like the Hearts in the Wind quilt, this quilt has great texture provided by the quilting. Bodilly’s quilting is a bit more formal yet she is able to keep the humanity in her stitches.
The color’s Bodilly used are strong and natural. They convey a strengh that isn’t forced.
From Bodilly’s quilt I learned that I wanted a quilt that was strong and solid. I also wanted abstract shapes. And, like with Jude’s quilt, quilting stitches that add a zesty texture.
This is my Quilt. Quite simple. Not finished yet. It has a heart. It is hand quilted with texture in mind. It has a couple abstract elements. I believe the colors give a feeling of strength, even though the yellow applique has a softness about it. It looks very handmade. It’s small, about 30″ x 30″ since I find that I don’t enjoy doing large quilts. The fabric is soft to the touch. There is a small bit of embroidery (clck on quilt images to see the details better).
Sometime soon I will go into the actual steps of how my designs evolve into the finished design. Just so you know, it took four false starts to get to this design.
Also, did you notice that I was able to use the word zesty in this blog? I believe that I have never, ever used this word in any of my writing.
Jude Hill’s Blog: http://www.spiritcloth.typepad.com/
The Silly Bodilly’s Blog: http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com/
Like the texture of your quilt! I’ve never done a quilt or art quilt, but would like to (been too afraid of committing to anything large). Looking forward to seeing it progress! Please show us how you go about your design — even your mistakes would be informative.
oh, i love it.
Love the colors and design. Can’t wait to read about the steps you take to come up with your designs. The word zesty does fit the description you want to convey about the texture…it is exactly that, zesty!
Love this zesty heart in the cloud. Really, I do. The colors, simplicity of design and the strength appeal to me. The lines radiating from the heart and the cloud formation around it say, “Bursting with love.” to me. Looking forward to seeing how this finishes up.
Andrea- I saw both of those quilts and agree with your assessment. Boo Dilly’s quilt gave me such pleasure in her use of colors and Jude always thrills with her heart and soul in each piece. Your work is so well done, it’s wonderful to have a peek into your process. I love the aqua and red and hearts are meaningful to me as well- my birthday is the day before valentines day so I have been collecting them for a long time…usually they are damaged in some small way. cracked, tarnished, broken. stitched up.
Hope you have a happy holiday season! and a wonderful new year!
xo, kim
I have been following jude and boo dilly’s work as well and I love how you took the inspiration from the two quilts featured here and created something wholly other… nice work. (i’ve been making heart quilts for a long time — not even sure why!)
ha! a gem. beautiful!