I started working on a series of these in February, mostly as a way to use up scraps, and experiment with colour. I have a habit of using my standard off-white for the background and the shapes and patterns to be naturally dyed, but I wanted to branch out a bit because that was starting to feel old. Also it’s a good way to not be so precious about what I naturally dye. It feels like you should be precious about it, but I’m of the belief that things that go unused are not fulfilling their purpose, and therefore are pointless.
If you use something precious, then screw it up, at least there’s a lesson in there somewhere. But likely you’ll use it and like the result generally anyway, so bite the bullet.
This is one of those projects that’ll never be “done” because it’s something you just kind of do forever.
Calling them “Quilted Things” isn’t terribly creative, but it’s what they are. They could be any number of things, and I really like the idea of creating something that gives the end recipient the choice to decide. They can be functional – places to put things, doll quilts, “mug rugs” (which is a term I don’t really like, but I’m at a loss for something better since it’s an easily recognizable term). Or, because I’ve added hangers on the back, they can also be purely decorative. I’ve added corners to all four corners, rather than just two so the recipient can also decide which way they like it best if they do choose it to be decorative.
This one above started life as some improperly cut HSTs, so it didn’t fit into the bigger project. I took them instead and created this chevron pattern which I quite like. I liked the arrows pointing down, but somebody else might like them pointing any of the other four directions, so have at it. I’m certainly not so precious about the finished objects that I want to dictate how it’s used or displayed.
This was the one that started the whole process, and I really liked this one. My husband said that this one reminded him of the 90s, and I guess the colours do. This one does actually have one hanging direction, for all my blah-blah-blahing above about that. Had I thought of it before I sewed the binding on I likely would have put four hangers on it in each of the points, but here we are.
This is one I’m definitely keeping. I randomly started making these Ohio Stars from some of my smaller scraps, and realized that I had enough to make something larger – this piece is about 18 x 18″. Everything was scrap except for the central crosses, which I cut from a larger piece of yardage of cutch. The other colours were made with a mixture of indigo, madder, marigold, cochineal, and sumac, along with various modifiers including iron and overdyeing.
I have a few others all done up and ready to. The chevron and the purple ones already found their new homes, I have no idea what I’ll do with the rest, or the rest that I’m sure to make in the coming months. Sometimes it’s good to just do.
