"Our Roots Run Deep"

Greetings!  I am waaaaaay behind with my blogging, but I have been chasing my tail back and forth across the country for the past 6 weeks.  I'll try to put together a photo diary of what has been happening.  Before I left for the first (of three recent) trips to NY I created this quilt, which is to be auctioned off next month as part of a fundraising event for the Quilt Alliance.  The Alliance is celebrating 20 years, so each of the entries were to be 20 inches square.

My piece is created from "leftovers" from a larger quilt made earlier this year, "From The Redwood Forest:  A Moment In Montgomery Grove".  I'll show you some of the cloth as it was being created.
I wasn't as good about documenting my process with this quilt as I should have, so apologies in advance.  Sometimes I feel like I need a 3rd limb to photograph work-in-progress!

The background cloth (silk broadcloth)

is being created using thickened dye spread with a palette knife

stenciling with thickened dye...

Here is the first quilt prior to finishing.

I trimmed a significant portion from each side.

It was with these "trimmings" that I created the Quilt Alliance piece.

This piece was constructed by trimming the remnants from the larger quilt,

then piecing them together using monofilament and a zigzag stitch

Once pieced, I imagined I could see portions of a tree.

Using paint, I accented the negative space behind the tree, and

singled out portions of the base to resemble roots.

I mounted the construction onto a piece of green silk-cotton Radiance wrapped 

around felt.

If you have a QR scanner, you can listen to me discuss the quilt.

This label is created by Stkr.it

I love these!!  Article coming in a future Quilting Arts magazine issue.

Now, I admit that it is more than a little terrifying to paint over a quilted construction, at least the first time you do it.  I'm reminded of a favored quote by the wonderful dancer & choreographer, Twyla Tharp:

"Venturing out of your comfort zone may be dangerous, yet we do it anyway because our ability to grow is directly proportional to the ability to entertain the uncomfortable."