05.11.09
Look what I found!!
I’ve been trying to weed out my studio over the past several months. And in the process, finish off and get rid of several projects that have been the bane of my existence for years. (OK, in some cases over a decade, possibly two. I’m not too big to admit it.)
Dora on 1/2 quilt
While going through a cupboard in said studio I found this… And yes, Dora DOES think it belongs to her! This is a whole cloth crazy quilt that I started in 1990 as a wedding present for my heart-sister, who is now divorced. Note that it is not finished. And this is actually only 1/2 of it, and I finished piecing it this weekend. The other half is about 3/4 pieced, and on my table now. Not one piece of fabric in it relates to her ex-husband, which is interesting, since I had access to a bunch of it that she had made clothing for him out of… including his wedding vest fabric. Maybe I always knew.
It’s based on a historic quilt that a friend’s grandmother made – she let me examine it in detail when I lived with her. Oddly, all of the pieces are stitched down with ONLY herrinbone stitch in primary colors. None of them have the edges turned under, the stitching just covers the raw edges of the fabric. My version is a mixture, because I realized in the middle that with the fabrics I had on hand that just wasn’t going to work.
It’s 6 feet by the width of the muslin (calico) wide (I think it might be 45″, but don’t quote me, it’s not in front of me right now to measure.) There are two pieces that I intended to stitch together either with sashing in the middle or not, I hadn’t decided. Right now I’m leaning to not, and then just putting the black and forest green edging around it to make it bed sized.
Yes. I’m still giving it to her. It’s now her “I’m on my feet again and people love me because I’m worth it” quilt. And I’m not afraid of posting it here, because I already told her. The herringbone stitches are mostly done by me, but several friends of ours in Oregon worked on it as well, and every one of them knew what it was for, except for the person for whom it’s intended (and yes, she stitched on it, too!). The bulk of it is done by me, and all of the embroidery on the fabric is from samples I worked for other projects. There is a bit of printed fabric that my heart-sister did in a textile design class in college and gave to me for “doing something with.” Other fabrics range from pieces of clothing we both had during college and a bit beyond, fabric remnants that she was allowed to bring home from her job as a stitcher in a soft interior business… and other various stuff. I’m immensely pleased with the fact that there are spots in this quilt where fabric that sold for $500.00 a yard (yes, the decimal’s in the right place) is right next to fabric I bought at a discount outlet for $1.00 a yard or less. LOL wonderful irony.
A few more details:
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- Dora on 1/2 quilt
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- A small detail of part of the piecing
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- Trim I started for a medieval gown… Those things take A LOT! (I got bored)
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- This was a sample for a wall hanging I did — I ended up going with a different design and color scheme completely!
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- A silkscreening experiment done in college by the quilt’s recipient
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- Dora DOES think this belongs to her. Doesn’t it?
