Judith Baker Montano is one of my idols in the fiber arts field. Her diagrams inspired me when I began drawing for temari. When we went to Japan in the fall of 2011, I collected bits of fabric from the temple markets and we dyed some indigo pieces during the workshops on the tour. They have been waiting patiently for me to find time and inspiration to create a wall hanging to remember that trip and the years that I lived in Japan in the late 1980s. So, last fall when I saw her class listed at Campbell, I signed up right away to get her expert help in creating a wall hanging full of wonderful memories. I was first on the waiting list and found out in early January that I got in. Yay!
Going out on a limb and risking true embarrassment, I'll share how I've prepared and later, I'll share what I learned.
In class, we will be making four crazy quilt blocks and students will be using them in whatever project they choose. Mine will be the center focus of a wall hanging - the four squares filled with squiggles in this diagram:
Each crazy quilt block is made on a 12" square piece of muslin. The small brown squares are pieces that I purchased in Kyoto. They are resist designs dyed with kaki (persimmon) and are a lovely deep brown. The blue squares are cut from one panel, a cheater cloth of sorts also purchased in Japan.
This layout came about by trail and error - probably more errors that I know about now! Our kitchen island is just that wide and the background blue fabric is 55" wide (the length of the piece). Maybe the whole thing should be a bit wider? I hope to get lots of help next week.
Ms. Montano asked us to bring 1/3 solids, 1/3 prints, and 1/3 textures to make the crazy quilt blocks. Most textures are also solids. She recommends 12 - 16 different fabrics to complete the four blocks. I have way more than that, especially in the prints pile. Those came from my stash and my mom's stash of quilting fabric. I've decided to work with blue and brown (on the orange side) as complementary colors. This is one of my favorite combinations and is traditional in Japan.
Retreat to the mountains!
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| focus fabrics |
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| all fabrics |
