Young Self

I made two quilts for this prompt. The first one sort of began back in the spring, when I took a class from Paula Kovarik about machine quilting on a domestic sewing machine. Here is a picture of me showing some of my stitched assignments from that class.

One assignment was to stitch whatever pops into your head, without preplanning. I thought I would meander about with some childhood memories. Here is the result of that endeavor. These are symbols representing some of my early strong memories, when my identity was beginning to be formed.

When I was ready to begin the work for this prompt, I brainstormed a list of words that relate to me and who I am, beginning with ‘Human’. I then decided to work with solid fabrics (which is unlike me), and stitch all the words by machine.

This took some courage, as it is a large piece, and I am rather shaky with my machine skills, being more accustomed to quilting on my longarm machine. It’s quite different to have to move the cloth under the needle, instead moving the machine over a stationary quilt. Here are the words stitched in.

I used a variegated thread, so I needed to bump up the contrast in several areas where the words were unreadable.

I began adding hand embroidery to spice the piece up a bit. As I continued hand stitching, I soon realized that I probably would not finish this quilt before the deadline. In fact, here it is, still in progress.

So, I made the decision to begin again. I zeroed in on just one of my tendencies, which is to see life as a child might. I’m easily amused, and find joy in so many things that surround me. I get excited without much provocation, and my daughter will tell you that I get ‘happy feet’. For this quilt, I chose to use some of the black and white prints I’ve collected, including some Project Runway fabric. (I’m a long time PR fan.) For this version, I used a raw edge collage technique that I am more comfortable with.

As I designed this ‘young self’, I thought about my small grand niece, who I saw in June, roaming through a garden with arms open wide. There is music in her throat, because I’m generally humming something. Her skirt is loose in case she decides to twirl around. And, like me, her hair is in a bit of a wild tangle.

I am still plugging away at the first version and plan to finish it. I enjoyed analyzing who I relate to, and what my personal characteristics are. I found myself confessing the truth in places, so I may add ‘honest’.