The Girl I Was, The Woman I Became

In the last couple of years I have unselfconsciously be turning out what I think of as life-summary quilts. One is called I have Measured out my Life, another My Milagros.

So I wanted to share with you The Girl I Was, The Woman I Became. This quilt wins no compositional prizes, but it is full of feeling & heart. And I believe these are the main threads of my life, then & now.

Now for the eight windows.

Part 1. My best teachers.

Part 2. I fall in love with cloth

Part 3. I love music

Part 4. I like to make things

Part 5. I dance

Part 6. I am given a camera

Part 7. I read

Part 8. My family [first & next]

If you happened to notice & wonder about the discrepancy between the layout & the numbering system I have no answer for that! And maybe you didn't, no matter.

That's it for now.

Down-Dilly Progression

 I don't know how such a strong yellow got chosen, but it is the color of a favorite dress I wore at the age of 6 maybe. That was back when I felt the nursery rhyme "Daffy-down-dilly went to town in a yellow petticoat & a green gown," was a secret cousin to me. I loved yellow & daffodills. In those days was called Daffy by everyone. And sometimes Daff, & then finally by my best math teacher, Miss Louisa Alger, Daph. I loved her for that. It somehow was a dignifying of me as a growing-up person at age 11. 

Other things I have been drawn to is what I call softened rectangles. They feature in the progression.

And the last seed for the work in progress was a collage-making workshop put on by my friend Sabina. In it I found myself cutting soft rectangles in paper & creating windows for what was underneath to show through.

My beginning... the windows & the distorted rectangles!

Rearrangement  of larger shapes happened & infilling...

Elaboration begins...

& more...  I was test-pinning patch in on top before committing...

Winding down & closing in... when to stop....?

...widen margins for framing...

Commitment! 

The quilting began with my trusty Bernina 1080. I love echo quilting to enhance the shapes. Quilting is a stage where I really have to let things flow. Only occasionally to I rip out quilting stitches because they don't "work".

And now that I have come nearly to the end I have a name for the new piece, Down-Dilly Windows.

And another session quilting with darker thread in three of the larger tan & brown shapes...

I love how this kind of photo really shows what effect quilting has on the texture!

That's it for now.