Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Unquiet Dreams


I finished Niece #2's coming-of-age quilt, officially titled Unquiet Dreams, back in early December, but thought it polite to hold off showing it here until Herself got a chance to see it.  She's had it for a few weeks now, so now it's ready for public inspection.


In terms of design (which I wrote about here) I think it's about as close to unique as you can get with parallel strips at this point in the history of quilting.  In terms of construction, it's a mitigated disaster.  You can tell that I had terrible problems with cutting on the bias and in getting my geometries lined up properly, and that great bowing in the lower left-hand corner would cost me my quilting license among some serious practitioners of The Craft.  The mitigation is that it was intended and received as a quilt for use; it is (despite its look and title) pretty soft and snuggly, with a very cozy flannel back.  A very cozy, cherry-red flannel back.

Along with the color palette, the quilting was to Niece #2's specs.  I used my own "doodle" style of free-motion machine quilting, which with a seam-spacing of a little under half an inch renders a very comfortable texture.  That the quilting is in the form of a single uninterrupted line of extreme convolution and length is also an invitation to the obsessive-compulsive in all of us.

The Specs

Serial Number: 58

Dimensions: 61" x 92", with unfortunate deformations.

Batting: Purpose made medium-loft, 50% cotton, 50% bamboo fiber.
Backing: Red mottled flannel.

Begun: September, 2010
Finished: December, 2010

Intended Use/Display: Gift.

3 comments:

Rebel said...

So. Much. AWESOME! It's amazing, very true to your original plan, and it's just stunning how the angled red stripes play against the black and white.

I see no unmitigated disaster in the construction...It's absolutely wonderful.

jovaliquilts said...

Wow. Unfortunate deformations? Looks intentional to me, part of the art. Lucky niece #2!

gl. said...

yes, i really. really. love this. and i love all its contrasts & contradictions: cozy & pointy. red & black. white & black. straight & winding. outrageously confined.

and one single line to bind it all together? hells yeah! nicely done, sir! nicely done.