Let’s take a break here from garment sewing and have an interlude of hand stitched art quilting. I really needed a hand stitching project. Like really badly. There was a fabric swap and picnic that I was planning to attend in Port Moody, BC called the #SewistsPicnicYVR. I wanted to bring a hand sewing project with me in case I ended up sitting down and chatting with someone. Well, it rained the entire time and we mostly huddled under the small shelter overhang, so this entire foray into art quilting lost its original purpose, but I’m still at it.
My first instinct is to attribute the idea to IG, where most of my inspiration comes from these days, but actually, the idea came from an article in Threads Magazine. There was an excerpt on Heidi Parkes who is a textile artist. The article focused on what she calls her Diary Quilts. This got me on the idea of a story quilt and how I could use my stash to hand sew something meaningful to me. Cue Instagram where I searched for story quilts and stumbled upon the Scavenger Hunt quilt by none other than Heidi Parkes! Haha, what a small round circle I was navigating.
Many of the quilts that caught my eye mentioned Heidi and her Scavenger Hunt quilt pattern. The pattern is for purchase as a PDF and there is also a YouTube series which takes the viewer on her decision process for each of the steps.
So I started right away! The quilt is 40 x 40 inches, not large and very manageable. While I hoard loads of scarp pieces, I don’t have large pieces that aren’t earmarked for sewing projects already (I actually WILL make these, I promise myself!). My lack of large pieces led me to my mending pile which also contains a couple old sheets. And the winning piece is…. the only piece big enough for the project! My torn, wine colored bed sheet! Yay! Just what I had dreamed! Hopefully you can read the sarcasm. I wasn’t too impressed with my singular option.
Unimpressed as I was, I chose not to iron the thing before cutting into it. Perhaps I was being a bit petty trying to punish my fabric but really making it harder on myself? It was actually harder to avoid the hold than I thought, so it resides in the corner of my working piece. I’ll either trim it off at the end or patch it, as that seems fitting with the project as a whole. It’s funny though, I’m starting to really love the super soft, very lived in feel of an IKEA sheet I slept in for almost 10 years.
As I have completed a few more of the steps, I have noticed a few things.
- Hand-stitching the pieces on is a practice in mindfulness. I feel the cloth, the gathering and spreading out, the accidental pokes of the needle. I see the crooked stitches, the straighter stitches, the longer and shorter stitches. I remember how the fabric was first used, where I got it from, its story as its been in my possession. I am present when I hand stitch in a way that I haven’t felt before. The tedium, the repetitive motion, the rhythm, are all full of healing and replenishing. Ten minutes of this process and something is happening in my body that I can’t quite understand but I can feel it. And it’s whole.
- I suck at hand-stitching. In part, that’s why I’m doing this. I’m going to improve. I’m going to experiment. I may never want to throw it in the wash. I may have to mend it if I do. But that’s all part of it. I’ve added lace with a blanket stitch, I’ve attached a piece of ribbon by using a couching stitch. There are running stitches and satin stitches. It’s fun, and you don’t have to look closely to see errors or gaps or imprecision.
- I can’t go wrong in my decisions. This Scavenger hunt quilt is reflective. Every decision is my own to make. There are prompts and boundaries within the project but the ultimate decision is mine. I can choose the fabric, the size, the form. I can follow the guidelines literally or vaguely. Sometimes the fabric will really represent the object or idea I’m trying to portray, other times it will be very far fetched or remote. Both can be in the same quilt.
I’ll post again about it when it’s finished. Perhaps I’ll explain some of my choices. I hope you’ll check out some of Heidi’s work and read or hear her explain some of her decisions.
Happy Sewing!
