Saturday, December 27, 2014

Carving Mother Nature



Carving Mother Nature

There is a definite hierarchy of fabric in my stash. Most favored are the Shibori and Hand-Dyed. Commercial fabrics aren’t even a close second. At the bottom of the heap are Fat Quarters. I sometimes wonder why I ever bought them.

But I must’ve had a reason, right? I must’ve seen something I liked or wanted. Some potential. And so began my initial idea for Betty’s Tet challenge: unleash the hidden potential in my least favored fabrics. 

I figured the only way to have a successful quilt with undesirable fabrics would be to choose a desirable topic. I’ve always wanted to do a canyon quilt and I love all things water-related; it seemed logical to combine the two. Which, interestingly, represents another nuance of hidden potential.

Think of a water drop: clear, small, amorphous. No one’s afraid of a drop of water. And yet, it is the source of life. 50% to 75% of the human body is comprised of water. 3-4 days without water and a person would perish.

If asked which were stronger, water or rock, I imagine most would say rock. But drops of water can create rivers and currents and waves strong enough to carve rocks. In its seemingly innocuous, liquid clarity, a drop of water holds limitless power.

 I used the hidden potential of both water and fabric to create “Carving Mother Nature” 18” W x 27” H. Made exclusively of commercial cotton fabrics from my stash of strips, scraps and lowly fat quarters. The words water source of life are quilted into the foreground.


Water Source of Life

6 comments:

  1. I love the colors in this piece! Great idea to consider "undesirable" fabrics as a source of inspiration and potential.
    Well done :-)

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    1. Thank you Kate. I have struggled with my stash before; one time I even created an "Ugly Fabric Challenge" to force myself and friends to re-examine our collections. Ironically, one of the ugliest got promoted to "really useful".

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  2. I agree, Kate. It is an interesting, unique take very well executed. Beautiful!

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  3. I love the potential of water idea, Lisa-Marie. I always feel that when I look down into a damn - it's daunting. Great use of your stash potential!

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  4. Lisa-Marie, happy New Year! I like your idea of creating with “undesirable fabrics”. Water is the source of life. I like your interpretation of clear water, which is very different from my previous work, Dry Gorge. Beautiful!

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