Working in a Series.
Several years ago I attended
a lecture by Odette Tolksdorf where she addressed the subject of working in a
series. The whole idea did not appeal to me, as I am the type of person who,
when something has been tried, likes to move on to the next process or
technique. However, I made one quilt which then seduced me into a second one
using the same idea, which then led onto the next, and before I knew it I had a
series named "Facets".
"Facets 1" was the
first in the series. I wanted to use some silk fabrics I had bought, and wanted
to work with a three-dimensional image I had found. This quilt hung in our
lounge for a while before being claimed by my son. While it was in our home I
would pass it and see other interesting lines and shapes. Eventually I designed
"Facets 2" exploring those ideas.
"Facets 2" went on
to win a second prize in the Theme category of the National Quilt Festival
2011. It was also accepted for the World Quilt Show-2011.
"Companion (Facets 3)" came about
once again when I studied the previous quilt and saw new lines and shapes. The
"what if" question led me to totally re-arrange my colours, and bring
a different shape into focus. I also added black and white fabrics as a
counterpoint to the saturated primaries. The size of the diamond and square
units was also reduced. This quilt was exhibited at the 2012 TAGG exhibition in
Johannesburg in
October of that year.
I now decided that I needed a
brownish quilt that would "go" with our lounge. So, "Facets
4" came into being. I love sunflowers so added that to the design as well
as emphasizing the heart shape that can be seen in the piecing. This quilt went
to the National Quilt Festival in Bloemfontein,
2013 and then to the 2013 TAGG exhibition where it was sold.
I still needed a brownish
quilt for our sitting-room, but was feeling slightly bored with the
nine-patches in the Facets series. I kept the basic design of squares and
diamonds but inserted Crazy Patches into them. I tried to keep it brown, but
couldn't help myself, and the colours crept in to "Facets 5 -The wheels of
Change Turn Slowly". This quilt was exhibited at the International Quilt
Convention held in Johannesburg in 2014, and
then at The Pink House Gallery in the Western
Cape.
"Facets 2", in the
meantime, had returned home and is hanging in our entrance hall. Once again I
was asking "what if" as I passed it each day. And soon I was
designing and creating "Facets 6", changing the colours as well as
the orientation. I loved working with the bright colours again, but did not
enjoy the hand-quilting. I tried something different and found it rather
tedious. This quilt went on to win second prize in the 2015 National Quilt
Festival Innovative Masters Category as well as the special Bernina prize for
Best Traditional Piecing done by a Machine. It has also been selected for the
Eighth South African Travelling Exhibition.
Am I finished with the Facets
Series? Maybe not. With each of these quilts I have tried something new.
Sometimes it was in the design focus; sometimes it was in the quilting. One
even had machine embroidery on it. So, although the basic design remains the same,
I have grown as a quilt artist. Yes, I would recommend quilters to try working
in a series. It is not boring after all.
