Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Broken Windmill

I made a few quilts before QuiltCon to use as samples for classes and my demo.  This is the Broken Windmill quilt which is a gift for a special person in Kansas.  It was inspired by an old, bladeless windmill that sits in a partially dry pond on my parent's property.
I showed it to my oldest son Ben before I left and he immediately said, "That's the Hancock building, Mom."  It wasn't meant to be, but it sure is a close relative.  The similarity of the two structures emphasized again the lines and shapes that are repeatedly used in architecture. I love some lines!!
This is the quilt that I matchstitck quilted.  The hardest part was seeing the lines in the gray Heath fabric.  They simply disappeared as I was quilting them.  Yikes!
I almost gave up half way through on the quilting, but I'm happy that I persevered.  The quilting creates an amazing texture and changes the color of both the gray and the cream fabrics.  It almost creates a screen over the quilt.  I love that look.  It's quilted with light gray thread.
On another note, Yoda has welcomed a new friend to the studio.  Batty Bat came home with me from Austin.  He's a fun addition to the studio and a reminder of the bats that flew out from under the Congress bridge as we drove to Heather's house to stuff goodie bags.  Another great QuiltCon memory.

20 comments:

mjb said...

It's funny, because this looks like an oil rig to me! Beautiful either way.

Sequana said...

Before I saw any of the text of your post I assumed it was the Hancock bldg too. I wonder if someone else will see a 4th image.

Kat said...

This reminds me of something in one of my psychology or linguistics classes. I've been searching for the image, but I can't find it. Basically it's a line drawing with only the barest details of a family sitting together. They showed to people from "Western" cultures like ours and people from traditional African cultures. People from "indoor" cultures interpreted the vague lines of the drawing to see the family in a house, sitting on chairs, with a picture hanging on the wall. People from "outdoor" cultures looked at the same drawing and saw the family sitting under a palm tree, on the ground. The picture on the wall became a pot the mother was balancing on her head. Interesting how our perspectives change our perception :) Personally, I see an oil derrick.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

So cool how different people see different things in the same quilt!

Irelle@JibberishDesigns said...

Love the matchstick quilting on that quilt but you needed boatloads of perseverance for that! It was a great example in your Architecture class and great to see in person! I've been redesigning my architecture quilt in my mind every night with no solution yet! I'll keep at it - your quilts are my inspiration!

Jenny M. said...

Wow, awesome patience! No wonder you're such a great parent.

Charlotte said...

that quilting is amazing. I really want to try it, but I think it might drive me crazy. Straight lines are not exactly my forte!

Valerie said...

Another winner, Jacquie! Love the structural tone of both the piecing and the quilting. And the unexpected binding! It's all great.

lindsey said...

I love this, the design, the colours and the quilting....I went to the top of the Hancock building when I was 16 :)

MariQuilts said...

It's fabulous, Jacquie....I might have to try some of that match stick quilting. That was what you called it, right?

MalinisQuilts said...

Love this quilt and your quilting. Roughly how long did it take you to finish quilting this? Just curious.

Oh, love the bat!

SusieDW said...

I was thinking oil derrick, too. I bet the texture of the matchstick quilting is nice, sturdy, strong... like a metal structure. AND, we just can't have too many healthy bats in our world. Cute little animals and hungry for mosquitoes.

Live a Colorful Life said...

Beautiful quilting.

Aliceart said...

Oh, Jacquie, I so love everything you make! This is so wonderful, all your choices executed your idea so perfectly. Love, love, love it. Thank you for sharing it. Lucky special person!!!

patty a. said...

The quilt is great! Another wonderful piece! Sometimes when I run into the situation with the thread disappearing into the fabric I adjust my lighting so that I get a shadow across the previous lines of quilting so I can kind of judge where I need to go next. I do a lot of what you call matchstick quilting and the texture is fabulous!

Samantha said...

The matchstick quilting is truly stunning! BTW, I didn't see Hancock building, I saw an oil well.

Dana said...

I like that quilt! Great colors and lines.
Isn't it amazing to see all those bats come out at dusk?! Whenever I am in Austin it is one of the things I HAVE to see. I just can't get over how many and how cool they are.

Peggy said...

Yup, the Texan in me says "oil derrick" too. Isn't that funny how we all see something different in something that seems so obvious?

Glad you got to see our bats while you were here! They fly around my yard every night. I love them.

AmberCake said...

Beautiful quilt, and I love the yoda! Love your graphic style. Just web surfing and got here via "That crazy quilty girl" via "cauchy." Thanks so much for sharing your work and even just the pictures you took at QuiltCon. Love your aesthetic. This quilt and the bridges quilt remind me a lot of the photographic work of Bernd & Hilla Becher. Just thought I'd share that - the pics may be fun for you to look at. I've wanted to quilt them since I first saw them, but haven't gotten there yet.

Stevens Family said...

I also saw an oil rig at first - ha ha ha - fun quilt