Improv String Quilt: ‘Deepening’

Deepening

A strange title for a quilt maybe, but it means a lot to me. Someone recently told me that they thought the second part of life (in which I now have a very firm foothold!) is “a deepening”. It resonated with a lot of things in my life; not least asking myself ‘what have I done so far that I can deepen?’. Knowledge? Self understanding? Creative practice? I think, for me, creative practice helps deepen self understanding; knowledge helps deepen practice.

‘Deepening’ August, 2015. (Quilt top approximately 58″ x 46″)

This is my finished improv string quilt top; I showed the 5 ‘string sheets’ that it’s made from in my last post. I’ve not been able to get a photo that does the nuances of colour and tone any justice. The one above is over exposed trying to show some detail in the darker tones and the one below is a little under exposed to try and retain some detail in the lighter areas. I think I failed. The light hasn’t been great and I confess photography’s not my strong point – the technicalities of it don’t interest me. I hope the images give you a flavour of it though.

‘Deepening’ August, 2015. (Quilt top approximately 58″ x 46″)

It was a revelation to discover that I could capture a mood that was so strongly in my mind with fabric and thread (other people do, I just wasn’t sure it was my medium to do it in). My intention wasn’t to create something ‘pretty’ or practical. It wasn’t simply about experimenting. It wasn’t about pattern or fabric prints. It was about using colour and line to evoke a mood to capture moments I spent sat in a field drawing earlier this year (these are a few of the drawings: Hedge, Paul Loder’s Field, It’s Complicated (Winter Birch) ). Or the way the light changed behind the bare tree branches as dusk fell. Or, more abstractly, a state of mind: the light and darks, the richness of fading colours, the dullness, the meandering lines going nowhere in particular. Rhythm.

Part of me feels ridiculous describing it like that. Pretentious. Lofty. Then I ask myself why. If it were paint on canvas it wouldn’t feel pretentious. Fabric and thread is still deemed feminine, and the feminine, it still feels, is not allowed to aspire to high art. Instead it’s dismissed as ‘less’, somehow.

So, my thoughts are deepening. Still.

Detail – thin slivers

Detail – light and dark

Linking up with Finish it up Friday over at Crazy Mom Quilts. By the way, have you heard about the new improv link party being organised by Ann and Kaja of Fret Not Yourself and Sew Slowly? I believe it kicks off next week (1st September), so head on over for details.

If you’d like to know more about making an improv string quilt using some of the techniques I employed for this one, you need Sherri Lynn Wood’s book The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters on your bookshelf! I’m using some of the improv ‘scores’ she describes to help build my improv repertoire so that I can express my own thoughts and ideas more fully. Next up is the Patchwork Doodle. I don’t know if it’ll beat my feelings of string sheet satisfaction though… This improv string quilt ‘Deepening’ has captured everything I wanted. Even if my photos haven’t.

Have a stitchy weekend!