This dimensional piece is one result of a week long workshop with the talented Paula Kovarik @yellowbrickstudio at Woodland Ridge Retreat @woodlandridgeretreat in Wisconsin. After going through several free motion quilting exercises, I found that some of my pieces were not very flat at all. So, I took that as an opportunity to make a purposefully dimensional wall piece… going with the flow of the wave! I call this piece 波 Nami (Wave).
Details
In the workshop, Paula Kovarik guided us through several prompted free motion stitching exercises. I achieved two goals I had for the workshop: to get more confident with free motion quilting, and to have time to explore 3-dimensional quilted work. Yay, mission accomplished! Thank you, Paula.
Initially I worked in black thread on off-white fabric. That was great for starting out. I also tried stitching white-on-white, which was subtle and cool. Then I flipped the palette, using white thread on black:
Once I had several small sample pieces, I couldn’t resist the urge to make something out of them. I cut into them with curvy lines, then joined the quilted pieces with free motion quilting going over the join area. The back-and-forth scribbles became another cool texture in this piece.
Once I had a nice wavy final shape, I added binding. The binding fabric I used is a print from Marcia Derse, one of my favorite fabric designers. I have a lot of her B&W fabrics in my stash, and love how the painterly pattern works on the edge of this piece. I stitched it to the back with my sewing machine, then hand-stitched the final edges to the front.
This piece looks great in our primary bathroom. The light coming in from the window constantly highlights different elements in this piece and brings out the surface texture nicely.
I added my quilt label after finishing. My round label was printed on inkjet printable fabric, then hand stitched to the back like an appliqué. I have a lecture called Quilt Labels to Love! which quilt guilds can book as a virtual or in-person event.
You can see more details of this piece on Instagram @davidowenhastings
“I search for the realness, the real feeling of a subject, all the texture around it… I always want to see the third dimension of something… I want to come alive with the object.”
ANDREW WYETH
波 Nami (Wave) is not available for purchase, but I do take commissions to create quilts like this one. To discuss a commission, contact me and please mention this quilt by name in your message. I deliver to the Seattle area, and ship within the U.S.