When the prompt was selected, I thought I'd make a quilt I've been wanting to make for a long time. But then, I realized I could use it for a different upcoming prompt. Never fear. You'll see it eventually. Instead, I went in search of something else. Eventually, I came across a photograph I'd saved at least two years before. It was an illustration from the NYTimes by artist and illustrator Angie Wang.
When I saw her illustration, I knew right away I wanted to make a quilt from it. I wrote to the artist and requested her permission. But then, so much time passed, that I felt it was important to ask again...just to be sure. She responded saying she was "excited about it!" Okay, then. So off I went. Here is the quilt I call "Fantasticat."
Usually, when I make a quilt like this, I start from the center and make my way outward. For this one, I did just the opposite, starting at the outer edges and making my way inward.
My stash is not heavy with solids, and I was trying to stay fairly true to the colors she'd used.
Even with borders, my quilt ended up at 19 x 19 inches. So you can see that some of the pieces were very, very small.
As I reached the middle, it was hard to decide which pieces went over which.
Any color could have served as the background "foundation" piece.
When all the color was added, I settled on white as the foundation, peeled the color off my teflon pressing sheet, and fused the whole of it to a white background.
From there I added borders. That inner purple is a hand-woven fabrics brought to me from Guatemala by a friend of my son.
And then I quilted it using a microtex needle and monofilament thread.
The outer border was quilted with a variegated thread in a ribbon motif to finish it off.
The quilt back was made using some fabric I'd used in another quilt. The colors were just right, and so that was a lucky find in my stash. I added hanging pockets and a center loop.
For small quilts, I like this method of running a dowel through to keep everything straight and flat.
And now it has a place of honor among the other cats in my stairwell "Mewseum."
I hope you like my quilt. I had so much fun making it. Working with so many bright colors was a delight for the eyes.
You made it look so easy to do, although I know it is a lot of work to get all those little pieces in the right place! It looks great on your wall!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wendy. Originally, I hung it in the upstairs “Mewseum,” but I moved it down where it had better light.
DeleteA lot of work but the result is beautiful. Thanks for all the pictures of how you did it. I like your cat wall, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I’m a cat lover. It was fun.
DeleteThat is just so much fun. Great design and fabulous to make it in a textile version.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ruth.
DeleteThat is gorgeous! When I first saw it, I thought, Oh, did she print the picture on fabric and then quilt it? but NO, you did all those tiny irregular shapes!! So impressive, a great interpretation of the original, and a great response to the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I’m so glad you like it.
DeleteThis is fabulous Barbara, you always come up with such intricate and time-intensive work I think you must never sleep :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Fiona. I got a chuckle from your “never sleep” comment. Just an early riser.
DeleteThis is incredible! The picture is great and you've done a brilliant job of recreating it in fabric. It looks like it was very tricky to make but the end result is wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteWendy, this Humingbird is so beautiful. Fantastic job!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, you captured the artist picture perfectly! I hope you sent her a picture and this article. I so enjoy your work.
ReplyDelete