Monday, November 23, 2020

New Quilt: Cloud Rim, Summer 1991

 

I made a new smocked quilt earlier this summer and wanted to finish it for the Quilt National 2021 show.  I got it done and entered, but sadly it didn't get in.  I'll enter it in other things, so not to worry. 

My inspiration color palette cam from memories of Girl Scout Camp in Utah as a kid.  I was one of those kids who loved camp (I still love camp), and had the privilege of going to Girl Scout Camp for a week every summer (as well as other things later like church camp). 

The camp I grew up going to was Camp Mary White in Mayhill New Mexico, and I have many wonderful memories from my time there (llama camp was especially fun).  One summer though I got to fly to Utah to go to Camp Cloud Rim with my friend Tristan.  It was very much like other Girl Scout camps I'd gone to, lots of hiking and singing and other outdoor activities, but miraculously it had a lake! 

Lakes were never something we did much of as kids-  it was very dry where I grew up and I was always envious of summer camps on TV which all seemed to have lakes (the original Parent Trap was one of my favorite movies as a kid).  Anyway, it was so cool to go to camp where there was a lake to swim and canoe in.

I started this piece with those colors in mind, and as usual painted a large piece of fabric (about 60" x 85").  It was some sort of pink polyester,  from the wondrous Georgia boxes.  The pink underlying color gave everything a sort of warm tinge, but that's ok.  After painting, I quilted the whole thing and finished the edges.  A lot of the shapes in the color come from the wrinkles in the fabric on my table.




Here's the whole thing after painting, quilting, and blocking.


These two show the back-  In this case I used the same fabric for the back.  I put the backing underneath the front fabric while I'm painting.  Less paint is wasted that way and the backing has a similar (though not as paint-dense) color to the front.





It's always more interesting after the sculpting, so come back Wednesday to see the final piece!

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