Saturday, September 23, 2023

Do you think the world has enough quilts yet?

the rescued Dresden plates from my earliest quilt,
re-appliqued onto new plant dyed linen, silk, rayon, wool

The title of this post is from my journal.
I wrote it a few days ago at 2:30 am when I was in the middle of un-stoppable creativity. 
 
You Are a Single Star

the round and round one-patch quilt that uses up my remnants of dyed damask 

I've been allowing myself to make and make without a plan or purpose, just a deep need to create.
What I make with my hands is related to the rhythm and finality of a human time span.

Your Fragile Life

I usually finish the quilts I make, but sometimes I don't.
Sometimes I come across false starts and don't understand them.
Other times I come across things I've started and become excited and need to work on them again.
 
on the wall left to right:  Suvi's baby quilt, White Cross, A Sky Full, and untitled, 
the folded green quilt was made by April, on the railing is Canadian Pioneer,   
left side of sofa is a wool grid backed with red silk,
right side of sofa is New Beginning, my pandemic patchwork

Creativity is a human activity. 

hand stitched cotton

I live my life.
I make quilts.
inspired by cloth and play and by that pink doily quilt I made a few years ago 

I know myself by making my quilts. 

Labour Day weekend

My quilts make my personal daily experiences meaningful.  

Marimekko cloth I have been hoarding

American sculptor, Anne Truitt, said that her work helped her to see her own life as something between natural and abstract.  

A Sky Full

"As I live, certain aspects of what is happening adhere to me as if magnetized by psychic gravity.  I have learned to trust this center"  Anne Truitt
The Countdown Quilt


"The process of art contains my intensities but also exorcizes those beyond my endurance"  A.T.
The Countdown Quilt with one layer of gauze upon which I've gone over with ink the weekly journal notes that I wrote on the back of the foundation blocks. 
One log cabin block each week, this quilt contains 49 weeks.  
I started it on our 46th wedding anniversary.  I appreciated every week that we both kept our health. 
 I was counting down towards the 50th, which happened this year.

"I depend on objectification for defense." Anne Truitt  


The weather this month was unreal.  
It poured light and imagination every day. 

10 comments:

Liz A said...

I believe there will never be too many quilts in the world ... and here I pause to say a prayer to the universe mourning the loss of an estimated 18,000 quilts in the 1921 Black Wall Street Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma and all that they represented ... so much lost ... lives and family history and possessions irreplaceable ...

your quilts hold both the simple geometry of quotidian events and the free-form spontaneity of generations living each day ... what a gift to self it is to be alive and stitch the memory of time in cloth ... what a gift to the world that you share your artistry here

Stephanie said...

Your quilts never fail to mesmerize me. You are so generous with all you share.

iHanna said...

The title speaks to me right now as I doubt why I create at all, but I am so glad it here means you're creating like crazy because when we stop (like I did) that's when the doubt creep in. 🙄

Rikki Blitt said...

Dear Judy,
Your work speaks to me in a language I don't understand, bypassing my inquisitive mind and landing on my heart.

Anonymous said...

Judy, I confess that I don't make quilts ...love looking at them, tho'!! But far more interesting and important, to me, is your unending creativity and dedication to your art, your life and your family.
Congrats on another wedding anniversary and...OMG...that is the most beautiful portrait I have ever seen of a grandmother & her grandchild 💕💕💕

Anonymous said...

Oops...that was me, Sharron 💕

Bev White said...

So many lively neutrals !

Anonymous said...

Not yet, no. Too few quilts still.

Anonymous said...

Jill Blanchette

Nancy said...

Nope, not enough quilts yet, especially YOUR quilts. Such beautiful and meaning owrk you create.