Alice's Element Quilt: The Four Basic Elements

The Four Basic Elements:  Air (Sky), Water, Fire, and Earth

The ancient philosophers believed that the world and everything in it was composed of four basic elements: air, water, fire, and earth. My quilt is an abstract design using batiks that represent these four. One of our Mavens commented last time (and she meant this as a compliment, certainly NOT a criticism) that I often used realistic images in my 12 x 12 quilts. "Ah ha," I thought, "time for me to try an abstract!" So the inspiration for this Element quilt was two-fold--the ancients' beliefs about these elements and a fellow Maven's comment!

I first made many sketches using free-flowing and curving lines, with only the flames hinting at realism. When I finally came up with a design I liked, I used it for my cartoon. I traced the resulting shapes onto tracing paper to make templates.  Previously I had chosen four sets of batik fabrics that spoke to me of air or sky, water, fire, and earth. These I had then prepared with Wonder Under. I cut out the shapes using the paper templates and fused them down onto polyester felt for batting. I used the original cartoon to guide me in placement of the many shapes. I added in a few others where I felt more were needed. Finally, I echo quilted inside each shape by machine.

Actually, this quilt, fortunately begun well before our tragic family event in February, is two-sided. I first tried a technique I've long wanted to try, string piecing. I used the same batiks that ended up on the front and many other fabrics as well.  I thought it was striking, but it didn't have quite the look I was hoping for.  It seemed too structured, too traditional. It was too pretty to discard, though, so I decided to use it for the backing.