Y’all know I’m inspired by the moon, she is a recurring theme in my work. The moon makes an appearance in: Twilight in the Bronx, Moon Over Manhattan, Moon Set, and new piece, that is in need of a name (hold on, I’ll show you.) As I stitched the facing on the quilt this afternoon a memory popped up, sweeping nostalgia like a gentle summer breeze, refreshing and comforting all in the same moment.
In Junior High School our English teacher had us keep a diary for so many days as part of an assignment. This memory keeping, way of processing information stayed with me and I kept a diary in a variety of forms for years. In my late 20’s and early 30’s I attended journaling retreat at a local monastery. At one retreat my room looked out the window facing the Appalachian mountains. Looking out one night the bright, beautiful full moon set between two peaks. Having some art supplies with me I put pastel to paper and saved that moment. I kept this for years wanting to do something more with it, unsure what. When I dropped the image of Moon Set into the post I realized that this moment became a quilt. As I applied the facing onto this new quilt realization swept over me in a wave of nostalgia for these retreats. The wall in front of my machine and cutting table is covered with words, drawings of quilt ideas, words, to inspire. The drawing of the moon set over the Appalachians popped into mind when I noticed the trees I’ve been doodling for years.
Here is the as yet unnamed quilt.
These are the trees from my wall, the ones doodled over, and over again. This whole thing is free motion stitched. By drawing the trees over and over again my brain figured out how to stitch in the texture. The metallic thread is reading very bright at the moment, however it is reminiscent of the moon from that retreat weekend.
Then I thought about And Now What?! (Doodle Your Way to Better Quilting) the more I practice the more likely things that I’m doodling are going to end up as parts of my quilts. Just like the moon and the trees. And of course now my mind is thinking about the details of the quilt and what I’d change if I had it to do over. I don’t so I won’t over think this by too much. I think what I’m going to do is enjoy the quilt I made.
I also think that I’ll share some details with you:
Top Fabric: Oakshott Cotton
Backing Fabric: American Made Brand orange
Facing Fabric: Oakshott Cotton
Batting: silk
Top Thread: Superior Metallic, Silk (Kimono and Tiara)
Bobbin Thread: Superior Kimono Silk and Micro Quilting thread (80 wt. poly)
Quilting Hours: approximately 40 +
Now onto finishing a few other quilts, and working on a project idea for a Generation Q Magazine blog tour. That one kind of excites me in a way that can only be described as fun.
Happy Quilting!
Teri
