in search of imperfection

Connie Colton is the force behind the Quilt Qua website.

This article by me was posted on QuiltQua.com today under: Articles.

In the Fall of 2007 I saw two quilts shows in Tacoma. I drove down I-5 from Seattle to view the internationally acclaimed Gee’s Bend quilts at TAM (Tacoma Art Museum). Then I walked a block to the Washington State History Museum to see a show of contemporary quilt art.

At TAM, I paid my money and went straight upstairs to the Gee’s Bend exhibit. The show spanned early quilts to ones that had been made in the last decade. The most graphic of the quilts were my favorites. I was surprised that the craftsmanship of the quilts hadn't improved much over the years. Some of the newest ones were just as slipshod as the vintage examples— with sloppy stitching and bulky seams.

Down at the History Museum, I was wowed. The contemporary quilts were exceptional in all ways. I liked the innovative use of colors, shapes and finishes. In fact, I was so inspired that I went home and immediately mimicked one of the patterns for a pillow top.

Not being impressed by the Gee’s Bend show troubled me. If everyone else was gaga about the work, I needed to give it more consideration. I decided that the exhibit had given me a gift—permission to be as messy as I wanted with my quilts.

I’ve taken this signal to heart personally. In the last year I have abandoned my rotary cutter. Instead I cut my fabric with scissors, sometimes merrily whacking away. I piece randomly. I want to sew fabric together until I know I am done—like Jackson Pollock who threw paint on his canvas.

There is real excitement in approaching a quilt project with a vision instead of a pattern. I often think for a long time about the fabric before I make my first cut. Other times I get experimental and just want to see what will happen when I start piecing willy nilly.

The acceptance of imperfection pleases me. It allows me to appreciate anything that I create. “Keep moving forward” I say to myself instead of being overly critical of my work. I am not perfect and neither are my quilts these days.

artist inspired

Crow Barn Quilt, 75" x 52"

This month’s Art Chix theme was “Artist Inspired.” Our assignment was to create an art piece inspired by a well-known artist.

I chose quilting superstar Nancy Crow. Nancy has transformed quilting into a modern artform with her work exhibiting in high profile museums.

Partially finished with some hand stitching, my project was a twin-sized quilt. The three dramatic areas of black and white piecing in the center were created by Maurine Noble at a one-week workshop led by Nancy Crow. Maurine had tossed the class samples in her scrap bag and forgotten all about them.

I don't expect to finish this quilt until Spring. It will be given to a high school graduate at Plymouth Church. There are a lot of young men in this year’s senior class, so I assume this will be a big boy quilt.

imported from africa

Out of Africa, 2007, 72" x 48"

I made this twin-bed quilt from fabrics that Maurine Noble bought home from a teaching gig in South Africa.

The top is very colorful with quilt-as-you-go horizontal strips. The back has a black-on-beige pattern in the center area and a beige/rust-on-black pattern on the sides. Lime green sashing connects the sandwiched and machine-quilted fabric.

Note how the 1/4 inch binding changes where the background fabrics meet.

chinese coins

Batik Baby, 2007, 42" x 26"
GIFTED TO MIA AGUILAR

This is Quilt No. 3 for me. A sampler really, as it isn’t very big. The fabrics are from Maurine Noble’s bags of scraps. The inspiration was a set of pre-made squares I found in the collection of castaways—mauve triangles with coral heart-design batik triangles. I added some sashings of hand-dyed fabrics and a wrap-around border of random-width Chinese Coins to finish the quilt top.

I can’t find the origin of the name, Chinese Coins, anywhere. Instead I have found that there are other quilt patterns with similar names, such as Roman Coins and African Coins.

The quilt was machine-stitched “in the ditch” to make the triangles and Chinese Coins puff up. It was the first time I used Dorrit’s Pfaff with a running foot to stitch a quilt together with the batting.

Baby Aquilar is the recipient of this stroller-sized quilt. Her mother, Laura, worked at Belyea before getting pregnant, selling her condo and moving to Arizona. With only two week’s notice before her departure, the baby-to-be received an existing quilt instead of a new one made specially for her.

marbled fabrics

At The Beach, 2008, 37" x 13"

Through Piece Makers I took home a thick stack of marbled fabrics. Most of the pieces are a foot square and while many have matching dye colors, no two are alike.

Maurine Noble is the person who marbled the fabrics. When I asked her how many months it took her to dye them all, she said “One afternoon.”

The fabrics are truly inspirational. I used some of them in a table topper for an Art Chix project entitled “At the Beach.” I liked how the swirls in the marbled patterns reminded me of waves in the ocean. I made the edge of the runner wavy and cut the binding on the bias so it would stretch around the curved edges.

art chix

Visionary Landscape, 2008, 40" x 14"

“Visionary Landscape” was the theme for last night’s Art Chix meeting. From our group of eight women, projects ranged from a 3-D photo with homemade 3-D glasses to monoprints to paintings to color photos to an unfinished quilted table topper by me.

Presenting a fabric piece was a bit of a stretch for the theme. I was working hard to complete the table topper and ran out of time to do something different. The whole-cloth runner is hand-stitched with a metallic thread and skinny hand-dyed silk ribbon.

One of my early ideas was to color and collage on top of a landscape blueprint. When I called my inside connection at an architectural/ environmental firm, I couldn’t get a drawing. That squashed that concept instantly.

I had a few other ideas but none of them inspired me much. Just maybe my desire to spend my free time quilting overcame all other creative urges. And can’t an intriguing runner transform the landscape of a mere table?

piece makers

The Plymouth Piece Makers met at my home tonight. The ministry team, founded by Maurine Noble, is nine years old. Our small group makes quilts for babies being born into the church, youth who are graduating from high school and companions for Plymouth Healing Communities. This evening seven of us gathered to chat about our favorite activity and show our recent projects.

scrap quilting

Homey Squares, 2008, 48" x 72"
COLLECTION OF MICHAEL STONE

It’s a symbiotic relationship—a veteran quilter with lots of scraps and a neophyte with a need of fabrics.

Maurine Noble, my generous mentor, had tons of scrap that she gave to me. (Okay—about forty pounds.)

I picked up the two bags on a Friday night. That evening I began sorting them out, trying to make decide how to organize the little pieces of fabrics. By colors or patterns? It took me all weekend to get through the project, including ironing the most wrinkled ones. My collection looked almost impressive, filed by color hues in big ziplock bags, inside black plastic milk crates from Fred Meyer.

Not only is Maurine an expert quilter, author and teacher, she has great taste in fabrics. No calicoes, novelty fabrics or chintzes. Maurine loves global fabrics that are hand printed or hand dyed. So my stash is a wonderful and inspiring collection of great materials.

My fourth quilt is a green and gold scrap quilt. The square within square pattern took longer that I had expected. Each outer square is made up of four pieces. Once I made all the double squares (77 total), I trimmed them so they would line up well (308 cuts!). Then I hand stitched the quilt together.

I love scrap quilting—as the final effect has an appealing organic quality. And, as 100% cotton fabric is not cheap, it is a great way to access quilting fabrics.

big jane

Many people call me Little Jane. That is because my mom, Jane Belyea, and I are quite alike. That is a compliment as I have the greatest respect for my mother’s ways and accomplishments.

In recent years Big Jane splits her creative time between knitting mittens for the Red Cross and making quilts for young ones. All her quilts are bright, happy and fun!

quiltfest!

Two things overwhelmed me today at Quiltfest in Seattle. First, there were so many quilts to examine. Second, the winning quilts were the work of maniacal artists.

My hope of ever creating a quilt worthy of a ribbon is lost. The level of detail, design and craftsmanship incorporated into the winners’ quilts was remarkable. All the same, I took lots of pictures so I can continue to be inspired by the show—especially the quilts from South Africa.

Sharing the display area were row after row of vendors with quilt-related goods and sewing machines. Two of the sellers got some of my dough.

Elin Noble, the daughter of my quilting mentor Maurine Noble, sold me a beautiful piece of hand-dyed fabric (see Elin and Maurine above). Elin also dyes threads.

At Lorraine Torrence’s booth, a collection of pieced jackets caught my eye. One jacket in particular, with polka dot and jaguar fabric, came home with me. Coincidentally the seamstress for my jacket is Diane Roubal. Diane is a leader of Plymouth Piece Makers, my quilting group at church.

Quiltfest happens every two years. I wonder what my level of quilt making will be like in 2010?