“Playing with Crayons II” at Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery

I created a smaller version of my Playing with Crayons quilt for the current show at the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. The show is titled “the Child Within” and it’s going to be up for another week.

I don’t usually make different versions of the same piece, but Crayons has always been one of my favorite pieces–you can see it on my website here and the story is kind of interesting. Last summer the publicity person at the gallery sent out an email looking for artwork to send to a magazine that had requested an image to accompany an advertisement of this show–The Child Within. I sent her an image of Playing with Crayons and didn’t think much about it. Last month, the magazine, Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot, contacted me and said they had decided to use my image. At that point, I realized that the original piece, at 56″ square, was too big to show well in the gallery, so I decided to create a smaller version, which ended up being about 36″ square.

I tried to stay true to the original in the design, but I had some new fabrics I wanted to include and the quilting is different on the new version–there are several different spiral motifs that dance across the surface, in keeping with the “playing” part of the title. This quilt hasn’t been photographed yet so I can show you the quilting–I just took this picture when I was working at the gallery last week. When I get it back from the show, I’ll have it professionally photographed and I’ll be able to share the full details with you.

The show at the gallery is great, so if you have time to make a visit to the Torpedo Factory, it’s located at Studio 18 on the first floor, 105 N. Union St., Alexandria, VA.

I’ll have the original at the Great Falls Studios Studio Tour next weekend–Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17 from 10 AM – 5 PM both days. For more information and to download a map, please visit www.greatfallsstudios.com and click on “Studio Tour.”