Constellations, 2019
This design utilizes shapes that can read as roofs, trees, flying geese, roads, or rows of crops; a birdseye view of a fantastical community. The back of the quilt is hand dyed with indigo, the bubbles and folds in the liquid created flaws that suggest the night sky. The front and back are united with long swoops of machine quilting and improv Sashiko stitching; inspired by starpaths, petroglyphs, and the metaphysical connections of community.
Starting out as a improv mini quilt, I had challenged myself to combine colors I wouldn’t normally use. The more fun I had piecing stripes and funky triangle pieces, the larger the mini quilt grew on my design wall. Eventually I had to take it out to the deck to finish piecing it because it was so big. I knew I wanted to combine machine and hand quilting, and after I had done the large swooping machine quilting, I hand quilted with chunky sashiko stitches using sashiko thread on long car trips, starting out in New Mexico where the improvisational hand quilting was inspired as much by the petroglyphs as by my own floral drawings.
