A Bag of Stuff, Sérusier, & A Thought for a New Quilt

"Clam Cove" was made for the Quiltart "2004 Bag of Stuff" exchange. It is based on a photo I took while vacationing on the New England coast. It was made while I was transitioning from traditional to art quits. I spent a couple of years making what I consider "inovative" quilts. This is the first "art" quilt that I made. It began as an appliqued landscape that was very stiff and unnatural looking. I decided if realistic wasn’t working, then I would abstract it. I got brave and stenciled designs across it with acrylic paint. Then I got extra brave, cut it up, and pieced it back together. It now lives in Alaska with the owner who put together the bag of stuff that I worked from. I was surprised after I did it that the more abstract version seemed more lifelike than the original version. Making this quilt taught me that it's okay to cut things freehand and allow things to happen. To respond to the piece I am working on, and allow it to change.

This is my interpretation of Paul Sérusier's Le Talisman which I made for a Fast Friday Fabric Challenge a few months ago.

I think it could be interesting to reinterpret the Clam Cove photo using a style similar to the Sérusier piece. This idea will be filed away for another day. I have some Christmas sewing I thought I might do, and then there will be another Fast Friday Fabric Challenge coming up Christmas week, and January I will doing work for Pamela Allen's class.