Vessel

Twice before, I've participated in the WELCA (Women of the ELCA) triennial gathering quilt challenge - in 2017 with Refiner's Fire; and in 2023 with Both Sides Now - so I was eager to participate again. This year's challenge was to create a quilt interpreting the I am Worthy gathering theme, incorporating the pink and yellow colors in the gathering's logo.

The finished perimeter of the quilt needed to be within the range of 100" to 320", though when the challenge was first announced month's ago, it was 60" to 100", so I was already planning for a relatively smaller quilt. Once I realized the change, I luckily didn't need to change my plans much, just making sure my finish 'fit.' Once completed, my Vessel, depicting a Kintsugi pot on a patchwork background measures 22.5" x 34" or a perimeter of 113".

The fabrics I included in my piece were Kona Azalea for the pot, Metallic Cotton in Gold by Windham Fabrics for the gold 'cracks', and for the background, a combination of Kona Banana Pepper, Essex Sunshine, Cotton Couture Lemon, two unidentified textured wovens, and quilt a few unidentified yellow solids from my scrap basket. Once the quilt top was complete, I created an improv-pieced quilt back using all the leftover bits.

For quilting, I echo-quilted the pot using Aurifil 50wt 2530 [Blossom Pink], to quilt between the metallic veins. Then I match-stick quilted lines 3/16" apart over the background with Aurifil 40wt Variegated 3920 [Golden Glow] for quilting and 1135 [Pale Yellow] in the bobbin.

Bound with Cotton Couture Lemon, Vessel is now ready to submit. 20 quilts will be selected to be shared at the triennial in July. Entries will be judged by a panel of selected quilters (full reveal, I was asked to be on the panel of judges since I apparently was a winner in 2023, but I won't be at the gathering) for originality, adherence to selected themes, workmanship, creative use of materials and overall design execution. There will also be a people's choice award and a quilters choice award. Winners and qualifying entries will be auctioned at the gathering, with 50% of the proceeds will go to Women of the ELCA and 50% to Lutheran World Relief.

As part of the entry form, I was asked to Describe how the quilt interprets the gathering theme. Here is my artist's statement:

The inspiration for Vessel came through a Lenten sermon series, 

where a pot was demolished, and used as a symbol for our lives, 

broken, yet beautiful in their brokenness. 

The vessel, repaired in the Kintsugi style, reminds us that our worthiness 

or value does not require perfection but a willingness to be shattered

and recreated. The mender comes to us, descending into our fractures and imperfections,

creating a renewed strength and purpose that didn’t exist before.

Linking up with Quilting JETgirl's Favorite Quilt Finish {May 2026}.

Both Sides Now

I was in the shower when I thought of the name for my latest finish, Both Sides Now. And no, I wasn't singing. But while the song title 'fit' in the most obvious of ways, I decided I better refamiliarize myself with the lyrics to be sure. Written by Joni Mitchell in the 1960s, the song speaks about sides to things - clouds, love, life. And I found it a perfect backdrop for this little project.

OK, so more about the actual quilt. It was made specifically for a quilt challenge for the 2023 Women of the ELCA Gathering, responding to two things: one side interprets the "Just Love" theme of the upcoming gathering; and the reverse side interprets my response to the coronavirus pandemic. Boy, when I read about the two components of the challenge, I did not see a connection at all. In fact, the two themes seemed quite incongruent to me. But let me tell you more about the quilt, and maybe by the end, you'll see that the themes are at least a little connected, at least in the way I interpreted them.

Side one focused on "Just Love." I immediately thought of hearts, and since a little side 'rule' in this challenge was to incorporate the color red, I pulled a big selection of them, a few other fun solids, and somewhat randomly ordered a reddish Marcia Derse print, Spotted Graffiti in Thimbleberry, to possible add some interest. 

I started by making a dark stripey slab and created the center heart using the Spotted Graffiti, and Konas Raisin, Sangria, Wine, and Rich Red.

Then I created another stripey slab, incorporating Konas Eggplant, Tomato, Lipstick and Painter's Palette Raspberry into the mix, and subsequently cut a second heart. 

For the outer section, I added in Konas Poppy and Cardinal, a woven from my Entwine bundle by Giuseppe Ribaudo, and Konas Quicksilver and Sheen in Tinsel, intending to make this last 'layer' lighter so the first two hearts would stand out a little more.

I debated for a while about cutting one more heart and 'framing' them, but decided in the end that what I had here was pretty true to my original idea, so I moved on to create side two, with the focus being my response to the pandemic. Yikes. You might remember that a while back, I made two coronavirus-inspired blocks for my Bee Sewcial beemate Marci @marci_girl. I hearkened back to some of the same feelings in creating side two of this piece - how the important connections in our lives had changed, shifted. They are still definitely there, but finding our way back to what felt normal hasn't been clear, or easy, or in some instances even necessary. Things still feel tentative much of the time, but feeling better as time goes on.

By the time I got side two pieced, I was very anxious to get quilting, and chose five Aurifil threads to use: 28wt 2260 [Wine] and 2270 [Paprika]; and 50wt 2250 [Red], 4225 [Eggplant], and 2612 [Arctic Sky].

All along, I had vertical matchstick quilting in mind for this piece, and I thoroughly enjoyed using different thread colors in different areas of the quilt, loosely related to the fabric colors of side one. Ie. I roughly used the darkest colors in the center section, and the lighter on the two sides, with some intentional overlap. 

I chose a traditional binding considering both sides of this 18.5" x 20.5" quilt were to be the focus, using the last bit of my Kona Cardinal. As I was pressing the binding, it dawned on me to add just a bit of an extra touch - a scrap from one of the strip sets from side one. And in doing so, I realized that the two sides were indeed related, as I had interpreted them. Of course with the fabric and improv lines. But also the love expressed on side one - felt primarily for my loved ones, but of course, also for the wider community - was indeed connected to the ways relationships have been affected and continue to evolve since the pandemic. I was glad to have thought to include that scrap in the binding to remind me of that.

Did you notice the added personalization next to my label? I know it's light, but this is the first time a requirement for a challenge has been to sign our quilt. That felt good and somehow meaningful.

So I need to ship this little quilt off very soon, but I have to say.... after a hesitant start, I experienced some significant feelings along the way during its creation, and I'm grateful to have prioritized the opportunity to participate in a WELCA quilt challenge once again.

Linking up with Meadow Mist Designs' Favorite Finish Linky!