I was so excited about the "South" theme, especially since moving to Central Texas 18 months ago. My first thought of "South" was the delicious food we have here, the wonderful savory flavor, the incredibly hot spices, and one of our favorite Southern side dishes...spicy & hot Salsa!
This little quilt is comprised of hundreds (perhaps thousands !) of 3" x 1/2" strips of fabric. Using several different fabrics, I fused 2 layers of fabric together using Heat & Bond (light), then rotary cut the fused fabrics into strips using a wavy-edge blade. Now the sewing could begin ! I chose a heavy-weight red & purple fabric for the background, a medium weight batting, and a "salsa-y" type fabric for the backing. These were quilted together, and the edges finished.
To attach all the strips, I randomly gathered 4 strips, placed them on the background fabric, then stitched them in place. There were 5 rows; 17 sets of strips in each row. After attaching all those little pieces, I threw the quilt into the washing machine with a hot water wash and warm rinse. After that came the hot dryer. Yep ! All those little strips just went wild ! But still... the quilt needed more depth. I added 4 more rows in between the original 5 rows, and repeated the process. Still not "fluffy" enough.
Now came the hard part....hand cutting each of those little strips in half lengthwise. My poor scissors... my poor hand! The quilt went back into the wash for its 3rd hot water, warm water processing; then back into the dryer for the last time. Voila ! A 3-dimensional 12" x 12" art quilt that's 2" thick from all those little fluffed up, fused together strips :-)
As I look at "South" I think about a rich, savory, fragrant, super-hot bowl of salsa, and how much we enjoy this incredible / edible gift from our neighbors to the South.... Mexico !
What a fun, hot & spicy quilt! Thank you for the detailed construction info...all new to me!
ReplyDeleteKathy, You are one spicy gal yourself! I always wondered how you did this so thanks for the detailed 'recipe'. I'd like to cook up a batch of salsa throw pillow for the living room. Love the texture.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I thought of was also - spicy. What fun - I hope your washer and dryer did not suffer too badly.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun quilt, Kathy! You really need to give it a name,
ReplyDeletethough--like Salsa or Spicy! Just as Sara said, before I even read your explanation, the word spicy came into my head--amazing! All the work you did, too, to create this unique quilt--truly, it blows my mind.
Kathy, I TOTALLY appreciate the labor and beauty of this burst of color and flavors. What a lot of work but worth it for the fittingness to the topic and surprise to all who view it. Art makes us look at things differently. You did that.
ReplyDeleteYour interpretation of the theme is so unique and clever. Love it! The texture you've created with the fabric is amazing.
ReplyDeleteKathy, hot and spicy it is! What a lot of work to fluff, but it sure was worth it. You did a great job and welcome to the south!
ReplyDeleteOh Kathy - I LOVE this! I was born in El Paso and grew up on the hot, spicy foods from our neighbors to the South, so I immediately thought of spicy when I saw your quilt. Thanks, too, for the great explanation of the execution. I had never thought about throwing a quilt in the washer and dryer, but you make me want to try this technique. Gracias!
ReplyDeleteHot, hot, hot. It so represents the salsa that is so common here. However, my Yankee tongue is still offended by food that hurts!
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