Nearly seven years back, I blogged a post titled “Insights Into A Gridaholic’s Process” with this illustration of a grid of squares I printed off and filled in with various pencil markings to build patterns and fillings for future consideration. I photographed the sheet, then tucked it away somewhere, and I’m sure it will come to the top again, but in the meantime I have this image of it.
Hand drawn marks for patterns or fillings in surface decoration, including quilting.
Rediscovering it yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to see I’ve used quite a few of them either as hand stitched parts of a surface design, or as hand quilting patterns. (I don’t do much machine quilting now, except for occasional non-decorative quilting that isn’t seen or obvious) Clearly some of these things are glued in my mind, and several could be really interesting as part of a repeat block/grid design; others could be adapted for ‘sashing’ boundaries outlining grid units.
“Spirogyra” 12″ x 12″, 2024 SAQA Auction quilt (September)
My 6″ x 4″ submission for SAQA’s 2024 Spotlight Auction (online, April) All pieces are presented ready for framing, in a cellophane envelope showing through a 3.4″ white matt border, hence the ‘rough’ looking edges!
I have another sheet template I can print off for larger units, with six squares to an A4 page, that I use for improv repeat unit diagram ideas, and these examples to show how I use this –
An arc, add another, add a line, add another…
Further more complex variations of the above – all of which and more I used for this new quilt for our own bed, 2019.
It’s always interesting to look back occasionally and see how things including my views, issues and fashions/fads have changed. In April 2005 I wrote on this blog “When Is A Quilt Not A Quilt?”, raising an issue I still have a problem with: that there seems to be no lower size limit for an object to be called ‘a quilt’.
When a piece of quilted textile is so small as 1″ / 2.5cm inchies or 6′ x 4″/15cm x 10cm postcard quilts, to me it feels ridiculous to refer to that as ‘a quilt’, considering all the images associated with that word. Even the 7″x9″ samples SAQA periodically gathers up from members as a useful technical resource are hardly ‘quilts’, either. I feel as strongly about it now as I did back in April 2005 when I wrote that post. follow those links and you’ll find masses of these tiny textile units, many quite wonderful. Inchies and postcard quilts are often swapped in the mail by afficionados.
I’m not talking about miniature quilts, those technically amazing and often exquisite little textiles, as they are a legitimate thing. Despite my strongly held views and less than a year after venting on it, I allowed myself to be sucked into a postcard swap between members of a small group of Aussie and Kiwi textile artists I belonged to. There are fads and fashions in every area of fabric and textile art.
In 2006 I made these 10 cards and mailed one to every participating member of the group, but it seems art quilt makers weren’t so diligent as the more traditional quilters (who probably still meticulously carry out such swaps) as I only received 3 or 4 back. I’m not sure what happened to them, but they probably went into a drawer in my Australian sewing room which is still all packed and in storage as I write.
Postcards in a 2006 swap between some art quilt makers. Machine appliqued black or gold leather on each, and machine quilted. Approx 6″ x 4″.
In 2008 website underwent a total redesign, part of which was incorporating my blog to where it is today. A few of the earliest posts did not survive the move intact, but I found the photo for the 2006 post, and I love these long forgotten little pieces. The 10th postcard is pictured separately, because apparently after photographing them and placing them in the addressed envelopes, I found I was one short – so hurriedly made another, photographed that and managed to get them all to the post office down the street just before closing time. I’ve always been a bit of a last minute wonder.
Though colour ways and design units are different for each, they show
A design motif/unit I’ve used repeatedly over 20+ years
I’ve used leather in surface designs for 20+ years
Blocks/repeat units in grids are an enduring influence from traditional patchwork on my textile art
I think this was the last artist swap thing took I joined or was invited to take part in, which is fine by me 🙂
English