Pride Quilt - Compelled to Make

Two weeks ago I got it in my head that I simply had to finish this quilt top. I couldn't put my finger on why I was so fixated on getting it done Right. Now. I eventually assumed it was because June is Pride month in many cities (but not mine). And I have been calling this my Pride Quilt. The rainbow portion was started a year ago. It was my way of processing the Pulse shooting in Orlando. What I didn't fully realize that today is the anniversary of that horrific attack. No wonder the quilt was front of mind.

So the top is done, the back is actually nearly done, and the quilting plan fixed and determined in my brain. If all goes well I hope to be at the long arm in a week or two so I can finish it up. 

This is what I call a Statement Quilt. You may say it is political, and I am okay with that. I welcome that. I call it a Statement because it is a quilt that has something to say. Sure it is pretty and I hope it snuggles many in its lifetime. It will hold secrets and have stories to tell. But right now, as I am making it, it has something to say.

Love is Love is Love is Love. Period. And I will support, defend, and celebrate the right of all to that exact sentiment. I will mourn when people are attacked for simply being themselves. I will talk to my kids about sex and love and companionship and respect. I will embrace every single member of my family, and yours. I will not tolerate hate in my life or yours.

Yes, a quilt really can say all that. It isn't the only way I communicate.  But, as a quilter and writer and a human I can choose how I make my public statements. This is merely one of them. 

Pride.

March On - Improvised Quilt Inspired by Gees Bend and 2016 US General Election

March On

65'' x 50''

You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. The purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.

Martin Luther King Jr. Excerpted from Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Quilt Details:

• March On quilt block. Inspired by a trip to Gees Bend and Birmingham, Alabama. Tutorial to make your own block. 
• Quilted on a HandiQuilter with Wonderfil Silco.
• Fabrics - Blocks are a range of corduroy, selvaged denim, linen, cotton scraps, and linen blends. Backing is the Textured Solid from Andover in Cherry. Binding is a Robert Kaufman Chambray

March On - Free Improv Quilt Block Tutorial

In the wake of the US election I, like many others, felt compelled to make. I needed the comfort of sewing more than anything else. The familiarity, the creation, the time alone with my thoughts. Rather than start something new I decided to pull out some very meaningful blocks. After sharing them on Instagram I had a few requests for a block tutorial. With my compulsion to create in overdrive I decided to make a video tutorial.

Feel free to make your own March On blocks. Any shape, any size. These instructions are for roughly a 9 1/2'' square block, but they will vary.  If you want smaller, start smaller. If you want bigger, start bigger. They go together quickly so without any trouble you will have yourself your own solidarity march in no time. 

Screen Printing Lesson and Coincidences at Maze and Vale

On my Australia trip I got the opportunity to learn silk screening printing from the wonderful Leslie Keating at Maze and Vale. We were in Melbourne for 48 free hours in between the two retreats. Jules McMahon arranged for us to go meet Leslie one morning. I'd interviewed Leslie for a Modern Patchwork/Quilting Arts article before, but this would be a treat. We were in for far more than we expected!

Leslie invited us into her shared warehouse studio space. A number of different artists working on their painting, printing, sewing, and making in a sunny, crisp warehouse. Divided by plywood walls and mixed with creativity. The Maze and Vale space is long and narrow, perfect for a printing table. Perfect for Leslie's gorgeous drop cloths (which Jules and I really, really want), a cabinet with her base cloth, and shelves of inks. Not to mention the true value of her unique screens stacked under the window.

We, admittedly, thought we were going to have a cup of tea, a short tour, and a little chat. But no! Leslie gave us that and so much more. She gave us lessons, stencil papers, a blank screen, and access to her beautifully custom mixed inks. Before our tea was cold we were cutting stencils with an exacto knife.

To be put on the spot for this was momentarily disconcerting. Thank goodness for my nearly full sketchbook that I always carry with me! I flipped through the pages and came across these sketches. In an older issue of Uppercase Magazine there was mention of a paper folding technique called Kawasaki's Theorem. While me drawing it out has nothing to do with paper folding I loved the lines of the illustration. It screamed quilt block to me. And, on this day, I used it as my inspiration for a stencil.

Now, the last time I used an exacto knife I nearly sliced my thumb off and my brother had to practice his eventual doctoring on me. So, I was a little nervous. But with some good chit chat I calmly got through and got to the exciting part of the process - printing.

There is something wonderfully meditative and quite exciting about screen printing. You think you know what it is going to look like, how it will finish, but there is still some uncertainty at the beginning. I could see this being addictive for me. At least in the summer at home because I'm not sure I could appropriate the dining room table for this in the winter months!

My prints dried, we heat set them, and last week I put together a small quilt top with my fabric. We used Essex Linen as out base cloth. With a bit more of the blue colour and a paper piecing pattern drafted to take advantage of the prints themselves I made 4 blocks. The blocks themselves are the Kawasaki's Theorem on repeat. All very meta. I think I will continue that with the quilting.

Leslie was a wonderful host and teacher. If I lived in Melbourne I would hope we could hang out a lot more. If she lived back in her native Canada it is likely we would too. Then again, we may have in the past! It turns out that not only is she Canadian, she is from the same Prairie suburb as I am. We know mutual people and even now, her sister and my sister in law are friends! We discovered all this while chatting and printing. It was a crazy coincidence and I can't believe I had to go halfway around the world to discover the connections. My little quilt and my prints mean that much more now.

This day of printing was an excellent creative retreat for Jules and I. Working hard for others and doing all we could to nurture their creativity was decidedly fantastic. But getting a chance to play and nurture our own was such a welcome and needed break. Thank you to Leslie for providing the space, inspiration, and guidance to do so.