Coming Together

I have had a sense of things coming together as I have worked on this piece - two worlds, machine pieced/handstitched, darkness/light, inner/outer, right/left, back/forth - the meeting or merging point which shifts and remains somewhat fluid. Like the tides advance and recede, yet basically cover a certain span of sand. Or like the rocking motion of life offering some order and stability in the fluctuation of change. To ride the tides knowing change keeps happening.

Completion

'Winter Flower Dreaming'

Seeds in the dark

earth, alive and growing

some unseen

some closer

one first.

What will spring from your belly

as Winter releases her hold?

Tree Top

I've completed this quilt now, except for a sleeve. The bottom photo shows how I've quilted it like a tree, with vertical lines for the trunk (bottom left), branches reaching out on either side and the candle at the top radiating gold thread outward. The piecing also looks loosely like an abstract tree.

Soul Map

I've completed this quilt now - the backing and sleeve are on, and I'm keeping it simple because I want to have the stitching be the main focus. I'm calling it 'Soul Map' because as I took each stitch listening to my intuition without knowing where it was leading or having a plan in mind, I thought about how that mirrors life; one choice building on another to eventually reveal an outcome or pattern.

Completion

I've signed, dated and added a sleeve to 'Follow Your Heart' and it's done! I'm so glad to finish another of the 8 or so art quilts I have on the go in various stages. This one measures about 2 feet square.

Making My Mark

With only the sleeve left to hand sew on, I'm noticing my energy for this quilt is cooling fast - in fact, I hardly like it today. Suddenly the main focal square seems much too large and over powering and I want to add more quilt onto the left side. I'm interested in how quickly my perceptions can change. I've had this happen before and I usually do resume liking what I've made, but perhaps there's something I could learn. If I explore further with this, I realize that the quilt is needing to expand - push it's edges out further and become larger. I've decided to call this 'Making My Mark' and doesn't expansion go hand in hand with that? Pushing my growth edge. It's the first quilt I've coloured and stitched without any commercial fabric and the style feels like my own. Parts of it are unquilted, there are ragged edges and even a few loose edges, so it's non-conforming - like me. I think I do like it after all... :)