Wow, I hope this is not a new habit–posting once a month. I have been in such a creative spell that I’ve found it hard to stop and post. Add to that that I wasn’t particularly happy with the quality of the photos I was taking, and I just wasn’t motivated to stop and write a blog. So I bought a new camera, but I haven’t read the instruction manual (too busy creating!) so the quality of the pictures is still the same. Hmmm. Perhaps the problem is the photographer.
Anyway, this is one of the quilts I am currently working on. After my housetop exhibit, I had an idea to do a series of quilts called “The Signature of Jesus.” That is the title of a book by Brennan Manning, and I had referred to it in my descriptions of a couple of the housetop quilts. The signature of Jesus is the cross. After I had the idea, I had second thoughts. The cross is a serious subject, and I did not want to take it lightly. But I finally decided to go ahead and see where it led me.
This started out as a collection of little improvisational squares with some beautiful fabric I bought on a recent trip to Sisters, Oregon (not during the quilt show!)
I enjoyed piecing the squares (constructed as wonky square in square blocks with some thin strips inserted.) And then I enjoyed creating the background out of mostly neutral fabrics. I used some textured cotton and linen too, and I really like that. I liked it so much I went and bought some more from Joanne’s Fabrics!
I am adding some perle cotton embroidery in the cross squares, just to accent them. I chose mostly matching thread in pale colors. Choosing threads for a project is as fun as choosing a palette of fabrics for a quilt.
After stitching for quite a while, I put it on the design wall, and realized that the stitching was barely visible.
So I added a few darker colors, and hopefully that will draw the viewer in so that they will enjoy the stitching close up.
Right now I’m still planning on adding a lot of hand stitching with the perle cotton to this quilt, so it is slow going. In the meantime, I started another quilt! And of course, I have quite a few in various stages of construction.
debby quilts 