Ahhhh.... Canyons ! In a past life, I worked for ARCO Alaska, Inc. (a subsidiary of ARCO Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Company). Among the incredible jobs I had at ARCO, the most fascinating by far was working for the Exploration Department which was tasked with finding new deposits of oil and gas. To accomplish that, brilliant teams of geologists and geophysicists explored surface and sub-surface areas of the land and sea looking for specific types of rocks and strata (stratigraphy) that could or might indicate the presence of hydrocarbons (aka oil and/or gas).
In the late 90's I met Dr. Richard L. Brooks, a Paleontologist on our staff, and my concept of geology was turned upside down ! Dick introduced me to the fascinating world of "Foraminifera" (forams) which are the skeletal remains of microscopic sea shells, plants, vertebrates, etc. Put in simpler terms, he allowed me to view these ancient relics also known as Fossils.....which lead to "fossil fuels" which are known as oil and gas !
The different types of strata are like layers that are 'sandwiched' in and among many different types of rocks, minerals, etc. As you might imagine, these layers are present in canyons all over the world ... above and below the earth's surface. In my quilt, I chose to delve into a very specific portion of a canyon that illustrates a Geological Strata.
My inspiration was a 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" picture from of all things, a Sherwin Williams paint color book. As soon as I saw that picture, I knew it was to become my Canyon quilt.
Using chalk, I drew a few significant lines onto a piece of "strie" fabric and added two layers of pale yellow tulle to soften the lines in the fabric. [Prior to quilting, I layered the fabric/tulle with batting and 2 layers of stabilizer.] Then came the fun part ... selecting threads (there are about 20 different types of thread in the quilt), and free-motion "thread painting" my interpretation of the picture. I didn't keep track of the time I spent on quilting, but lots and lots of hours were devoted to this phase of the quilt :-D
For the back of the quilt, I used a "Key-hole" type of binding (one of my favorites). The backing fabric is a "canyon-y" type fab that Maven Judy W. and I 'rust dyed' when I was still in Anchorage, AK.
I hope all of you enjoyed this Challenge. "Canyon" is one of my most favorite pieces !
How lovely and how unique, Kathy! I can't wait to see this in person. I hope you're planning to bring it to our next Guild meeting for Show and Tell! Your theme word has really resulted in some gorgeous quilts!
ReplyDeleteYour quilting on this is just incredible. Very different strata than I've ever associated with canyon but how beautiful. Of course, your background certainly help with this one!! :)
ReplyDeleteWell done.
Kathy, that was so very interesting...the back story. I learned a lot. I also kept wondering if you had read The Snow Child, set in Alaska. You really had fun with the stitching and I enjoyed enlarging to photo to see how very much you did. Thank for relating your odyssey before, during or throughout this assignment. A fine trip!
ReplyDeleteI agree Kath, this is my favorite Maven piece of yours to date. You excel at thread work and I find it ironic we both used some of our rust-dyed fabric for this project. I wonder if you knew I worked for a competing oil company (Union Oil) in the mid-70's (also in the Exploration Dept.), where I computer plotted the field data in search of oil and gas reservoirs. Small world huh. The graphs reflected strata findings and I never even thought about that for this challenge. Duh... I have to admit, Canyon was a tough theme for me but I've sure enjoyed the results.
ReplyDeleteI love the simplicity yet the complexity of it! Elegant execution!!!! Just love it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! It is my favorite of all that you have done. 20 threads? Oh My Gosh. Do you have a plan before you start, or does it grow as you go?...........And, would you please share the 'key-hole' binding technique sometime?
ReplyDeleteHi Rita - RE the thread painting ... I have a general idea of where I want to go with the design, and 'chalk-in" or draw some basic lines on my fabric to set up the design boundaries. After the lines are drawn, I stitch over those lines using the different threads I've chosen. From that point on, I'm in free-motion stitch heaven as a fill in all the empty spaces with beautiful thread. I'd be glad to demonstrate sometime if anyone's interested :-)
DeleteWill also be happy to share the "Key-hole" binding technique and demo it too for anyone whose interested. You can also check Vicki Pignatelli's books for this technique.... I learned a great deal from her while taking one of her classes in Anchorage, AK a few years ago.
Kathy, I love this interpretation. When I left graduate school and moved back to Texas, I joined the paleontology section of the Houston Gem and Mineral Society and went on many fossil hunts. I would delight in finding teeny forams while everyone around me found macro sized fossils.
ReplyDeleteRock infra structure can definitely be beautiful and you captured it well.
Hi Sara - Are you going to IQF in Houston later this year ??? Would love to get together with you while we're all there and talk about forams and geological structures !
DeleteYour thread painting is so perfect in this quilt. I love how soothing the colors are!
ReplyDeleteMesmerizing & melodic. I love your source inspiration...I will never look at a paint book quit the same way from now on! Your multi-thread stitching is so satisfying to linger over, as it looks like you really enjoyed creating it.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea ! Interesting that you used the word 'melodic' in your comment. I'm also a musician, and just about everything I do involves some kind of melody and rhythm. Maybe that's one of the reason I'm so drawn to thread painting.... it allows me to be in my own rhythmic zone :-D
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