What are "Strip and Tumble" quilts?
They are designed with a quilt system I developed, inspired by the rules of a design game M. C. Escher played with his son,
in which they cut and carved potatoes and used them as stamps. The basic unit is a square with three lines
(strips of fabric) across it. Some of the squares are rotated, or "tumbled", so I call
it "Strip and Tumble".
You say some of your quilts are "tessellations." What is a tessellation?
The word tessellation is derived from a Latin word referring to the small cubes of glass or ceramic used
to make a mosaic. Martin Gardner, who for many years wrote the mathematical puzzles column for
"Scientific American", described tessellation this way:
"Imagine that you have an infinite supply of jigsaw puzzle pieces, ALL IDENTICAL (caps added). If it is possible to fit them together without gaps or overlaps to cover the entire plane, the piece is said to tile the plane, and the resulting pattern is called a tessellation."Some years ago I became interested in the process by which these interlocking shapes are devised, and have researched, lectured and taught workshops in the techniques, in addition to creating an on-going series of fine art quilts from my own and some mathematicians' tessellating shapes.
Quilters call a pattern for which there is only one template a "one-patch," and all of us are familiar with traditional quilts made from hexagons, squares, equilateral triangles and diamonds (rhombi). These, of course, are the simplest tessellations.
Are the quilted paintings watercolors?
No, I use an acrylic-based permanent paint designed specifically for use on fabric finer than canvas. I paint from my head or from photographs, add the borders and other fabric elements, and hand-quilt the piece. It is then mounted on the same stretcher bars used for canvas-based paintings.
How should I take care of a wall quilt?
In general, treat your wall quilt the same way you would treat any painting. The most important thing for any art is DO NOT HANG IT IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT, because over time sunlight fades fabric and paint. Vacuum it occasionally. Normally, that is sufficient cleaning. If someone throws a plate of spaghetti at it, it can be washed gently in cool water. If your quilt is on stretcher bars, remove the staples on the back, take it off the wood and wash only the fabric. Lay it flat to dry, where direct sunlight will not fall on it. Your painted quilt was made with permanent fabric paint and heat set. Nevertheless, if you have to wash it, test a spot with water before you plunge in (so to speak). If the whole idea makes you nervous, contact me about sending it back for me to clean.
You talk about "the quilt" and "the quilting." What's the difference?
A quilt is a sandwich (nutritious to the soul). The piece of fabric on the top, the designed part, can be one big piece (a whole-cloth quilt), it can be made of many small pieces sewn together (a pieced quilt, also called patchwork) or it can have small pieces of fabric sewn on top of a larger piece (an appliquéd quilt). The middle layer is the filling, or batting. It may be made of cotton, polyester, wool, silk, or a combination. On the bottom of the sandwich is the backing, or lining, which is another piece of fabric. There is usually a "binding" to cover the raw edges of the quilt.
Quilting is the stitching that holds the three layers together. It can be done by hand or by machine. Small, even stitches have always been a matter of pride among quilters. Another technique involves taking only one stitch, tying the ends of the thread or yarn in a knot and cutting it off. This does hold the three layers together, but quilters call this "tied" and not quilted.
How long does it take you to do one of these pieces?
I always want to answer this question by saying "thirty years." I started making art quilts in about 1971, and already had degrees in studio art and fashion design at that time. The real answer is usually "I don't know." This is a very labor-intensive art, and some techniques are more time-consuming than others. The small quilted paintings can be done in one or two days, if I do nothing else. The large pieces are sometimes on my flannel-covered design wall for months, while I consider, try different things, move pieces around, or cut new pieces, before I even begin sewing. And, naturally, small pieces may be under way in the meantime.
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