I've always loved barns, especially the slighty derelict versions that lean and sag and proudly show their character/age.
I love the stories and imaginings of events and situations those barns have witnessed (and survived).
I love the juxtaposition of rural and urban where "mall sprawl" has crept close but not yet gobbled up farmland.
I've been a liberated, free-piecing quilter for quite a while now, but I'd never done any "wonky houses" (they just didn't intrigue me quite enough).
But, when the "lightbulb" went off and I connected the idea of free-piecing "houses" with free-piecing "barns," I was hooked.
Mixed in with this ongoing thought process were Lynne's blog posts as she created her Four Seasons quilt.
Eventually, I decided to create a series of 12 unique barns using a variety of sky and ground fabrics to represent the look and feel of each month where I live near Memphis, Tennessee.
Little did I know how those initial decisions would manifest themselves . . .
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| Photo will supersize if double clicked |
Free Piecing Thoughts
I've lost track of how many times I've been asked if I would develop "a pattern" for this quilt?
Reality check: Trying to create an actual pattern for a project like this one would be the total antithesis of free piecing.
Process notes, yes - but a pattern, never.
Even attempting to explain early into the project using spoken words, scribbled sketches, facial expressions, and hand gestures, it was almost impossible to adequately describe the ideas and vision I felt in my heart and saw inside my mind.
Free pieced work can be silly or serious, incorporating elements from many other forms of quilt making including "liberated" and "improvisational" styles.
Sometimes termed "winging it" or "quilting without a net," it is very important to understand that free piecing does not mean haphazard, careless, or sloppy.
Free piecing is messy work - lots of scraps everywhere.
And free piecing takes waaaay more background fabric that you might think (plan ahead or plan to go scrappy).
Here's my overall "take" on the free piecing process:
The first phase is coming up with an idea (or an interpretation of an idea) that means something to YOU, that you connect with on multiple levels, and that you know without a doubt you must act upon. This decision cannot be forced, coerced, or demanded. The idea will most often find its maker, not the other way around.
Warning: the concept may arrive in layers, so be prepared for the original idea to evolve along the way.
Next, it is time to contemplate, consider, research, gather fabrics, sketch ideas, and make notes to yourself. (Note: weeks or months can and probably will be involved here.)
At some point, you will need to take everything from above and set it aside (literally and figuratively). After taking a few deep breaths and a giant leap of faith, simply begin to work.
Cut, stitch, change your mind, cut and stitch some more, edit, refine, walk away, come back, change direction(s), cut and stitch, stop and listen (to yourself and your work), cut and stitch, revise, re-arrange, cut and stitch. Repeat, in any order, as needed, until you are utterly satiated and content with your work.
For me, this is the best kind of
It is open-ended, unrestrained, and joyfully dependent upon individual interpretation.
It demands mental/emotional/physical involvement in every decision, willingness to wait and listen, and interaction from before the beginning to beyond the final stitches.
Best of all, free piecing fosters the creation of a unique, deeply personal piece of art.
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| Photo will supersize if double clicked Detail photos of twelve See Rock City barns |
The links below will take you to the various posts shared during the creation of See Rock City.
November, 2011 - Lightbulb moment (see "Why" above)
January 1, 2012 - Initial blog post
January 8 - January barn reveal
January 10 - February barn reveal
January 11 - March barn reveal
January 13 - April barn reveal
February 1 - May barn reveal
February 17 - June barn reveal
February 21 - July barn reveal (later destroyed by fireworks)
February 25 - August barn reveal
March 1 - July barn re-build reveal
March 7 - September barn reveal
March 26 - October barn reveal
March 28 - November barn reveal
March 30 - December barn reveal
April 16 - Preliminary layout reveal
April 20 - January and February barn upgrades
April 24 - Flimsy reveal
[Flimsy and back handed off to Chris for quilting]
May 23 - Phase II announcement
[Flimsy and back retrieved from Chris for re-design]
June 2 - Blue Skies Part I
June 4 - Blue Skies Part II
June 10 - Phase II's Row 1 reveal
June 16 - Phase II's Row 2 reveal
June 20 - Phase II's Row 3 reveal
June 25 - Phase II's Row 4 reveal
June 27 - Back and label reveal
June 28 - Flimsy reveal (Phase II)
Insert long pause here
(due to Chris'a knee surgery/recovery and the fall holiday season, not to mention life in general).
March 9, 2013 - See Rock City has returned home!! Fabulously custom quilted by Chris Ballard
Quilted Month-by-Month Reveals ~ 2013
March 13 - January
March 14 - February
March 15 - March
March 16 - April
March 17 - May
March 18 - June
March 19 - July
March 20 - August
March 21 - September
March 22 - October
March 26 - November
March 27 - December
March 28 - The Back Story
March 29 - Finished Quilt Reveal
April 1 - Presentation of Custom Award Ribbons
April 6 - Official Photo Shoot (Dandridge Equipment, Somerville, TN)
June 24 - Notification that See Rock City has been juried into AQS Grand Rapids 2013
August 14-17, 2013 - AQS Grand Rapids semi-finalist
November 1-3, 2013 - Davies Manor Quilt and Fiber Show (Memphis, TN) - BEST OF SHOW
(Two different links)
December 17, 2013 - Confirmation received - See Rock City will be included in the 2015 Quilt Art Engagement Calendar (published by AQS)
February 24, 2014 - It's official - See Rock City is going to AQS Paducah !!!!
April 24, 2014 - My copy of the 2015 Quilt Art Engagement Calendar arrived - See Rock City is featured during my birthday week of September 21 !!
July 2014 - Book proposal submitted to AQS
September 12, 2014 - Julie and Larry visit Rock City, Lookout Mountain, GA -- near Chattanooga, TN (inspiration for my quilt's name)
January 14-17, 2015 - AQS Albuquerque
April, 2015 - Manuscript and 18 quilts for the book hand-delivered to AQS in Paducah, Kentucky
July 29-August 1, 2015 - AQS Syracuse
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