Whole Cloth

Whole cloth quilts are made from one piece as opposed to quilts pieced together with many colored pieces. The beauty of the whole cloth quilt is usually the intricate quilting stitches that make up for lack of piecing design.

I had the pleasure of helping the talented quilting artist and teacher Marquetta Johnson with a class for teenage art students. We all worked on a whole cloth that started out as a blank canvas. The students were so creative. They drew fantastic art onto the cloth with fabric markers by Crayola Crayons. I didn't have time to work on mine during the class because it was an example piece. I taught the young adults how to quilt by hand on the cloth. I started mine by showing them a little design of stitches.

I brought my cloth home and did not have the heart to throw it away. It got added to the pile of "I'll get back to someday." One day it called out to me. I haven't figured out why but I picked it up and started doodling with shapes and stitches. I had no idea where it was going but it felt good. It felt real good to just relax and sew by hand.

I added a woman with wings in the center of the quilt and finished quilting the entire top. I put some brown cloth on for the woman. At that point I didn't know where I would go next. I knew I wanted to color with the Crayola Fabric markers. I also knew that I didn't have any, so I ordered some. In a few days they came in the mail and I was on my way. Painting on the colors was equally as enjoyable and relaxing as it was to quilt by hand.

First down was blue, next the center started out red.  Light green seemed like a good idea, but when I finished it I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the last space. More light green of course.  I put some yellow highlights on the center and that tinted it orange. Dark green rounded it out. I can't say that orange tint was where I wanted to go. I wanted more of a gold glow. I have one more thing to try for the effect.

The next thing was the wings. That was virgin territory. I learned a new technique from Tony Williams. He made some beautiful feathers on a quilt. Tony's feathers were so impressive that I thought they were real feathers. I don't think I quite mastered it but I can say I tried it anyway. And I should do better next time I do it.

I still have to put hair on her and bind the edges but I love the way it is turning out. My final goal is to find a nice frame for this one.

Thanks for taking this little journey with me from a blank canvas to a work of art.