I have a preference for solid fabric. Probably it stems out from the pleasure of getting full access to a large amount of color in a glance.
Indeed, graphic designer Falcinelli writes something about this in his essay Cromorama: he observes that the natural world offers to us the experience of a flat hue almost only in the vision of the sky.
I’m so happy to have the opportunity of talking of my favorite colors in a dedicated video appointment called “The palette of the month”, thanks to a new collaboration with the local quilt shop Patchworkvictim. You can see my choice of solid fabrics for this month on their blog article at this link.
All the palettes I will propose have been tested in some quilt of mine. I chose iris colors as a starter, because I’ve always loved to shoot photos of irises in all their development statuses, with wrinkly petals or unusual shapes. Irises are in full bloom now: they are a good inspiration source for this month!
It’s now time to unveil the destination of the blue and white quilt, result of the beautiful patchwork marathon of previous months, with more than 50 sewing contributors. As promised since the beginning, purpose of the project is to aid the center for protection of women from violence, G.O.A.P. Trieste, which helps women in need since 30 years ago, offering them protection, support, a shelter home.
Thus, we invite you to make donations to G.O.A.P. through their PayPal account: goap.info@gmail.com. The first 90 donations, having value of 20 euro or more, delivered to G.O.A.P. since today with PayPal, will be associated to a number from 1 to 90, chronologically assigned as per order of donation arrival. As soon as all 90 numbers will be assigned, a list with donor name and associated number will be published at the following link of Patchworkvictim blog.
The blue and white quilt will be delivered to the person whose name is associated to the number that will become the first drawn by “Lotto Venice” lottery wheel on April 6th. It is possible to follow, on G.O.A.P. and Patchworkvictim social channels, the moment when the number of 90 donations will be reached, but we hope that this charity quilt project becomes also an occasion to sensitize people on the importance of supporting structures that help women in need, beyond the possibility to win the quilt.
For clarity purposes, the name and surname of donor (or, as an alternative, the name and surname of another person to whom a donor wishes to dedicate and to assign a possible win) has to be specified in the moment of PayPal donation submission; numbers will be assigned only to donations submitted through PayPal channel. Patchworkvictim will take care of quilt delivery expenses in case the destination address is located within Italy.
Be generous! Reinforcing the activities that help women, done by groups such as G.O.A.P., it is of utmost importance in this complex period of history, and your generosity may be rewarded with a wonderful quilt!
Today, March 8th 2021, it’s the International Women’s Day. And I’m so happy to celebrate it in good company of a wide quilting community!
The social sewing initiative, launched by local quilt shop Patchworkvictim, aimed to create a charity quilt dedicated to the women in need, has just reached its milestone: a wonderful king size quilt has been completed, thanks to the hands of many volunteering participants, and it is full of beauty!
I’m honored to have handled almost two hundred pieces, combining them into a wide improv composition, together with Francesca. It was an occasion to learn more about several people. Francesca’s precious common sense, bringing me again to practicality when I was flying too strange; Tiziana professional ability, which transformed raw material into real thing overnight. And I felt the personality of each participant. The fantasy of so many different improv small creations expressed it well. And also tiny details revealed a lot of the hidden beauty of so much work.
Behind each white and blue square, looking at the back of each work (which I was lucky to access while assembling it all), I could see, like in a movie, the different choices of each participant. Sewing margin linear, or wavy? Pieced curves, with small cuts to let the margin be adapted? Open seams? Closed seams? Margin turned towards the dark fabric side?
All these contributions found their place, in a double-face king size quilt: it was great to understand how every input, similar or odd from the others, could find a perfect fit in some point of the map! And it was a good gymnastic exercise, for Francesca and myself, to go tens of times up and down the stair, to position all the squares on a gigantic design wall! I admit, it took three appointments in different dates, to decide the final combination, but it was a wonderful dive into fabric waves of light and blue! When I finally took the photo of the completed work, a more than 100 inches tall blue wall, I felt like a queen in front of a tapestry of majestic preciousness.
The charity recipient, local center for protection of women from violence, G.O.A.P., will be involved in the next phase. This combination of secret and explicit beauty will soon find its way: stay tuned to hear more!
I’m happy to announce the start of a social sewing initiative, launched by local quilt shop Patchworkvictim, dedicated to the women and aimed to create a king size charity quilt.
We’ve been talking in the background of this project for several months, and now it’s ready to start. Quite on purpose, the initiative connects two dates, as the start and the finish of a quilting marathon, that are: November 25th 2020, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and March 8th 2021, International Women’s Day. Since my experience of some years ago, when I worked in my city council as a member of gender diversity and equal opportunities committee, I care that not just a single day is used as a celebration for such important themes, but a continuous practice is adopted, together, collaboratively. The charity recipient of this initiative will be a very effective working group: the local centre for protection of women from violence, G.O.A.P., a team well equipped to act both on the cultural change and on the practical needs.
So, here we are! The initiative calls for quilters that contribute by sewing one (or more) squares having 10 inch size each, up to a total of 132 squares. All those pieces shall be made using the technique I love most: improv piecing! I’m so happy to contribute to this project with local discussions on improv, and in the final sewing phase of more than one hundred pieces into a unique quilt top!
Improv can be defined in several ways, but in this occasion its main feature will be: composition! Indeed, participants are invited to experiment with minimalist composition improvisationally done, within own 10” square block. Isn’t it a nice challenge? To try graphic effects with the smallest possible number of elements? Minimalist composition can be both difficult and very simple: how to find elegance with tiny piecing and a wide negative space? There is a lot of room of expression with abstract mark making!
The rules to keep a uniform approach within the overall quilt are simple: use solid background, and choose light blue and white colours. Our quilting marathon looks forward to an arrival into the fresh air of new year Spring, and our community quilt can talk the language of clear white clouds running in a light blue sky!
If you wish to participate, all that is needed is to book your participation writing to info@patchworkvictim.it ; on Patchworkvictim blog all the details of the initiative are presented, including address for block shipment, key dates and initiative contributors. I’ve already started to make a few improv blocks… come and sew with me!
Last Autumn I discovered the extraordinary work of Leslie J. Riley. Her quilts, full of textures, secondary motifs, and swinging colours, suggested me the idea to make systematic exercises in textured piecing. I started preparing blocks with different texture types, such as: striped columns and rows, log cabins, high contrast colours, low contrast colours, and so on.
Last Winter I joined the local quilt guild “Biechi Mati”, mainly focused on traditional patchwork, but open to trying any type of technique. According to their request, I carried my sample texture blocks, they put on the desk all their sewing machines, and we spent one afternoon playing with improv piecing together.
Last Spring it was planned to repeat the textured improv exercise at local quilt shop Patchworkvictim. Francesca made the Zoom platform available in order to keep the discussions on improv virtual and interactive. During the first session I have been sewing some pieces of the column and rows texture, and this sample is shown in the first video resumed at this page (visible also on Patchworkvictim you tube channel).
This Summer I took my textured samples out from the demo bag, and I decided to grow one of them wider. Now that I’ve finished the columns and rows quilt, I’m aware of how many people has influenced this year long work!
The secret of steelmaking is based on the possibility to change the crystalline structure of steel in many ways. I’ve spent several professional years looking at the microscope, and flying above wide landscapes of abstract metallographic images. May quiltmaking be infused with the beauty of precious crystals? Next week I will tell something about cristallography, in the opening of the zoom live session dedicated to improv patchwork, arranged by local quilt shop (Italian language). Information and link to join the talk of next July 2nd can be asked to Patchworkvictim.
I’ve just finished the top started during the on-line workshop by Sherri Lynn Wood on improv wedge curves. This has all been improvisationally made: no drawing prepared, no measures taken.
It’s been a great exercise on the distinction between graphic line (followed by the eye) and sewn line (may be the same or a different one).
Tomorrow I will talk about graphic compositions, small and large, in a zoom live session hosted by local quilt shop. Italian language. For link to join, please contact Patchworkvictim.
I’m reading an essay from influential Italian designer Riccardo Falcinelli, Critica portatile al visual design. I love all his books. In the chapter about “screens”, he talks about the use of the body during design making: “to sketch, to paint, to attach, to photograph, all of those are actions that should be kept alive, in order not to limit ourselves to few repeated moves done in front of a screen, to shift pixels, otherwise we risk to repeat a type of graphic design that looks all the same”.
I have to say that, when I sew, it’s a pleasure to stand up from the sewing table, to go to ironing board, and then check the result at the design wall, in order to return to the cutting mat with a decision in mind about how to go on. It’s true: the physical gestures required by patchwork have a great influence on the result.
How to cut fabric? When do I piece fabric? Before or after having sewn them? (After? Really? Well… what’s wrong with sewing first, and reduce pieces by cutting them, only later?).
Tomorrow I will talk about this: in a zoom livestream session. The good part of this platform is interaction. How and when do you cut your fabric pieces? I wish to see you then, and to talk about that!
If you want to join, you can ask for Patchworkvictim newsletter (italian language), and you will receive the meeting link.
Improvisation stories will be the subject of virtual chat on improv, starting from April 25th 2020, arranged by local quilt shop Patchworkvictim; for further information: ask to shop owner Francesca and you will be inserted in the newsletter providing session link; event will be in Italian langauge.
The quilt described in the virtual chat are on display at local quilt shop , and work in progress is visible on the Instagram profile The cult of quilt. Video sessions are interactive and include sewing demo, composition stories and improvisation tricks.
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