Last Summer

This is the quilt I've been working on the last four days.  I began Friday morning from scratch, and completely finished it yesterday.  All the fabrics are ecodyed, and there's silk, rayon, linen and cotton in the mix.  And it is entirely hand stitched/hand quilted.  The name is  Last Summer and it measures 16 x 21 inches.

I began it originally because I momentarily worried that the two quilts I've completed for this week's Fiberactions reveal might not satisfy the "monotone" challenge theme -- although in reality, they do.  But with this quilt I also have another piece to hang for my April show in Eureka.

For some time I've been pondering the best way to hang these more delicate ecodyed hand quilted pieces in lieu of using the traditional sleeve and slat which would be overkill.  I've asked a few other artists doing delicate work how theirs hangs in galleries, and all stated that they simply put pins through the corners of the fabric right onto the gallery wall.  Well, that might work in some galleries, but I've been leery of considering entering shows with this work knowing the gallery would have to pin it to the wall when everything else in the show quilt-wise would arrive with an attached sleeve and hanging slat.

And then it came to me ~ I'm stitching small sterling silver rings, the kind that came with sterling clasps and fancy S-hooks when I was a jeweler, onto the upper corners of the pieces.  The rings slip over tiny nails in the wall, just like eyehooks on slats do.  And the rings have the added advantage of letting the quilt or fabric hang with more drape than it would with a traditional setup.

Look for my two challenge quilts this Thursday.