"Through the Window" 9"x9" Cindy Grisdela 2011

This is my first quilt of 2011, created for the Studio Art Quilt Associates 2011-2012 traveling trunk show titled “This Is A Quilt!” These are small pieces–quiltlets really–that will be matted so that only an 8″x8″ opening shows. The trunk show will travel throughout the US over the next two years to showcase the work of SAQA members and educate the public about art quilts.

This is the second time I’ve participated in a SAQA trunk show, and I made it in just under the wire on this one–the deadline was today, although the curators just extended it to next week. I saw the previous show a couple of years ago and it was just amazing how differently each artist handled the challenge of working in such a small format. I was thrilled that my piece from that show, “Parcheesi,” was chosen to go in the permanent collection of the  International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. You can see that quilt and read about it here.

“Through the Window” is clearly related to the earlier piece, but I wanted to showcase the freemotion quilting in the newer work, so the design is simpler. If you right-click on the image above, you’ll be able to see the different quilting motifs I used. It is a challenge to work so small and be able to say what you want to say. I liked the asymmetry of this design–with the focal point at the intersection of the two wonky stripes, it looks to me like just part of a window, so that’s where the name came from. Finding the appropriate balance for the size of the larger square on the left in relation to the outer edges was also an interesting design problem, as was the color relationships between the open spaces and the stripes–I had fun with this one!

1 Comment

  1. Quilt Lover on March 31, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Beautiful work! You should put up a progress report on how the trunk show is going.