Where Memories Mingle

ACreativeCorner

Sep 26

4 min read

The finished piece measures 21½" wide by 16" long. — The finished piece measures **21½" wide by 16" long**.

Sometimes a quilt begins with a design. This one began with a memory.

Where Memories Mingle was inspired by my childhood memories along the Warwick River in Secretary, Maryland.

I remember sitting near the water, dangling my feet and looking for turtles.

I wasn't trying to recreate one particular day or photograph.

Instead, I wanted to combine bits and pieces of memories that have stayed with me throughout my life.

Building the Water

I started with the water, using different shades and values of blue batik fabrics. I cut flowing, irregular shapes to create the currents, ripples and reflections of the water.

I used Steam-A-Seam lite to fuse the water pieces in place and then stitched each piece down before adding the the next layer. I did this intentionally because I wanted to avoid as much bulk while stitching as possible.

Tulle, Thread and Lots of Texture

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/74c82d_802342a892b84841971c333554ae8ebf/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I used a Babylock Clear View Free Motion Foot this prevented my foot from catching the tulle.

Once the fabric was in place, I began adding different color blue tulle that was cut into pieces. This made layers underneath one large piece of tulle that held it all together and then I added my free-motion stitching to it using different color blue threads as well.

The sheer tulle helped soften some of the edges between fabrics and allowed the different blues to visually blend together. I stitched flowing lines, ripples and curves rather than trying to perfectly outline every piece. I also added a light tulle over the little girl's foot as if she was dipping her toes in the warm water.

I wanted the thread to add movement to the water instead of simply holding everything down.

Once the water and tulle were secure, I added Bosal in place of traditional batting. Because Bosal is thicker and gives the piece so much structure, I only quilted through all the layers where I needed to. This allowed me to keep that wonderful depth and dimension rather than quilting it completely flat.

A Little Paint Never Hurts

Fabric alone doesn't always give me everything I want, so out came my Inktense pencils.

I used Inktense with aloe to alter areas of the fabric and add shadows and highlights. This helped give the little girl's legs some life to them. And I'll admit another reason I love Inktense: it fulfills my need for quick dopamine!

Sometimes I don't want to wait until I've added another 10,000 stitches or searching for more fabric to see if an idea is going to work. A little Inktense can make a change almost immediately. Shadow here. Highlight there. Ahhhh…much better.

Creating the Child

I deliberately wanted the figure to have the proportions and softness of a young child.

You never see her face. You only see her little legs and feet hanging from the dock, which leaves room for the viewer to become part of the memory.

I added stitched details to suggest the toes, knees and ankles. One foot reaches into the water while the other hangs just above it. I member often at this moment I would wish I could just go swimming... but I had never learned how to swim.

While playing around I flipped the quilt around and was amazed at the view.

Of Course There Had to Be a Turtle

I couldn't make a quilt about my childhood without including a turtle.

I loved collecting and watching turtles as a child (I still collect turtles... just not the live ones), so I tucked one under the edge of the dock. He isn't meant to be the first thing you notice. He's a little surprise waiting to be discovered—much like finding a turtle was when I was young.

Fabric With Its Own Memories

The little yellow floral dress isn't just fabric I chose because I liked the color (however, it fit the color scheme so well).

It is the same fabric I used to make a dress for my daughter, Autumn, when she was little, and I've incorporated that same fabric it into other art quilts over the years.

Then there is the lace. The lace was given to me by my late mother many years ago.

That makes this little section of the quilt especially meaningful to me. The dress carries a memory of my daughter, while the lace carries a connection to my mother. Those pieces now live together in an artwork based on memories from my own childhood.

Three different parts of my life quietly meet in one little dress.

And that is really what gave this quilt its name.

Where Memories Mingle

This quilt isn't one memory.

It's spending time on the Warwick River dock.

It's searching for turtles.

It's little toes dangling into the water.

It's fabric from Autumn's childhood dress.

It's lace that once belonged to my mother.

And it's me now, taking all those pieces of different times and places and stitching them together.

Different memories. Different generations. Different moments in time—all mingling in the same water.

Want to Learn with Me?

If you enjoyed seeing how Where Memories Mingle came together and would like to try some of these techniques in your own work, I also teach classes through Creative Spark.

My three classes explore the techniques I use in my own art quilts:

Watercolor Pencils on Fabric — learn how I use color on fabric to add details, shading, highlights and personality. (https://ctpub.com/products/3144418?ref=ACreativeCorner)
Thread Sketching for Beginners — a great place to start if you want to learn how to draw with your sewing machine and become more comfortable with free-motion thread work. (https://ctpub.com/products/3295405?ref=ACreativeCorner)
Thread Sketching Appliqué — take thread sketching a step further by combining fabric shapes, appliqué and stitching to create more dimensional textile art.
(https://ctpub.com/products/3295406?ref=ACreativeCorner)