Ever since I made Be a Spark a few years ago, I've been wanting to make more art quilts with the same technique of using squares rotated and on top of squares with letters and sheer fabrics on top but I've been having trouble coming up with inspiration.
A few nights ago I was thinking about the Village Artisans' lobby show that we're going to hang this week, which has the theme of "All You Need is Love." Knowing I had a deadline coming up, I spent the weekend working on this piece.
Originally it was going to be on a white background and I pulled out the red fabric that I used for the background fabric thinking I could use it for the binding. The white background wasn't working for me and I considered not finishing it but then I tried the fabrics on the red background and I started to feel excited about this project. This project is this size because that is all that I had of that red fabric.
I don't have a lot of pink fabrics in my stash, but I did have some small amounts of dusty pink fabrics, which I used for the larger squares that form the heart (that are at a 45 degree angle).
Because the layout dictated that the letters would be spaced far apart, I decided to make the letters of each word the same color and have them go in the rainbow order of blue, indigo, violet, purple, and then red (and I didn't have enough room for the word "Love" so I used a heart).
It's quilted with a dusty pink thread which crosses through the squares instead of around the outside which make the sides stand out from the background.
It's embellished with a chunky, funky red/purple variegated yarn that outlines the heart (and breaks the frame by going above and below the background) and a thin red silk ribbon framing the edges. The sheer fabrics, the glitter in the yarn, and some handsewn beads add sparkle to this piece.
The "All You Need is Love" show at Village Artisans runs through March 21. Village Artisans is located at 100 Corry St. in Yellow Springs and is open M-Sa 11 am-5 pm and Sun noon-5 pm.
