Quilts in the Sun

The sun came out finally, and I was able to catch a few snaps of these quilts. This red and white quilt is one I worked on all during the musical “Shenandoah Moon.” The red is a reproduction of a vintage red from the 1930’s and the play was set in 1933 so I felt like it was a good fit. There are also ecru parts in the design that are a little harder to see in this photo. I consider it a modified Irish Chain pattern.

I hand quilted it during practices and hemmed it during dress rehearsals between my scenes. I did about half of it by hand and other parts are machine quilted, which may seem a little strange but it actually works quite nicely in person. I will keep it as a reminder of the amazing people I enjoyed getting to know. I would come in to the green room, sit down and quilt, and my new friends would come and keep me company. It was good. The show is over and I miss them.

Baby quilt for Harlen (and Misde, my constant companion)

I used the quilt during the show. I entered folding it a number of times, as if it just came off the laundry line. It turned out to be too much to wrap the baby in, so I never was actually able to use it for its intended purpose but that’s ok. The second to last show it was draped over the porch railing in one scene. By the final show it remained on that porch railing through a number of scenes. I made a rag doll for another scene in the show out of the same fabrics. I think I’ll see that back one of these days, at least I hope so. They said they’d mail it. Thankfully the character that I played is long gone but the quilt remains, along with the memories.

These two small pieces are the first ones to come out of my first experimentation with procion dyes. They are a combination of cotton, silk and linen plus some dyed white on whites and I’m delighted with what the added texture does to the composition though it’s difficult to tell any of that from the photos.

The silks... oh they are soooo pretty! They are not finished, I need to bind them and that should do it unless I decide to add something more but I don't think it's needed at this point. I would like to name them but their mood perplexes me, not sure what all is there emotionally in these two. I was surprised at how somber they looked finished.