Production

People often ask me how I am able to complete so much work. There are a number of factors, but one thing I do is work in "assembly line" process. Over the last several weeks, I completed a number of designs, which were ready for the next phase - quilting. The past couple of days, I cleared my work table (which was piled high with fabrics that had been pulled for the design process) and spent several hours pinning quilts - six of them.

I stretch the quilt back across my giant work counter and clamp in place. Then, I layer the batting and finally smooth the quilt top over all. I then use safety pins - placed about every 3 inches to keep the layers together until it is stitched.

While I am pinning, I am planning the quilting of each piece. While I am quilting, I am thinking about the next images, concepts, and designs I will be working on. I do sketches when I take a break from sitting at the machine so I don't forget the ideas that come to me during the mostly mechanical process of quilting.

Today, I started quilting on this piece - Leaves and Twigs - which is made up of a group of gelatin plate prints. It has been on my design wall for several months. I really needed to get it done, but I have been "stuck" - unsure what to do next. I want to add leaves, but I love the beautiful delicate texture of the gelatin prints, and do not want to obscure that with either the quilting or the Tyvek leaves I plan to add.

After I finish the quilting, I will applique leaves made of the same fabric as the border, layered with painted Tyvek, which will create interesting textured leaves when I iron the quilt. Stay tuned.