2021 CQ Journal Quilts : INDIGO January to April

 I've been making  Journal Quilts every year  since 2003 ( and with Contemporary  Quilt  of QGBI   since 2007) .  This year  they are  to be of a  theme and shape(s)  of your own choosing  but designed  so that at the end of the year they  can be joined together in some way  for possible exhibition.   My favourite / most successful   set of  JQ's   is from  2013 when I chose 'Indigo' as my theme  so that is what I've chose to revisit  but deciding on size/ shapes  took a lot of pondering on graph paper!  I decided in the end on  a combination of : 8 x 8", 10 x 10" , 8 x 10", 10 x 8"   which  I hope will give me enough scope for experimenting.   So far I'm on track , having completed  January  to April  and  May's the current piece of ' trainstitching' 

January ( Jellyfish Bloom ) is wet bulb thermometer wicks stitched onto shibori dyed section of old quilt.

 February ( Hidden Depths)  is monoprint of net on silk layered with indigo dyed wadding and linen tablecloth , kantha stitched.

 March ( StitchResistRipples) Stitching back into a piece of Mokume ( 'woodgrain' ) shibori was almost as time consuming as doing the stitch resist ! Combined with a monoprint and a small scrap of Ndop stitch resist indigo from Cameroon.

April ( Thunderbolt Pier ) A couple of years ago  the ' Edgy Stitchers' ( CQKent)  had an outing to Chatham Historic Dockyard  as inspiration for  our exhibition later in the year.  This is  a recycled sample based  on photo of 'Thunderbolt Pier' , manipulated in Photoshop, printed on fabric  and  fused  to background of quilted silk arashi shibori.

Indigo Journal Quilts

 

This year for the CQ Journal Quilt Challenge the size is 12 x 8 inches landscape format  and you choose the theme for the year yourself (the list is amazingly diverse). My theme for the year is indigo, with the intention of using the JQ's as studies and trials for larger pieces. In addition, as the colour will unite them, they'll  display well as a set at the end of the year. I first started making Journal quilts in 2003 so this is my 11th year! They've built up into an interesting collection. 

For January, a strip of arashi shibori dyed muslin was placed over a piece of arashi shibori dyed silk and stitched with hand dyed sashiko threads. I like how the semi transparency adds to the sense of movement, with the underlying fabrics partially seen. I'm putting together a much larger project based on this at the moment!

The fabric I used for February was the result of wrapping silk dupion around a bath outlet tube and tying thread tightly in the grooves. White quilting thread and hand dyed sashiko threads were used in a lot of hand stitching to emphasise the wonderful marks