Artist Statement
A little while ago I had a quiltmaker friend who was depressed, and I urged
her to make a bright, bright, colorful quilt, because who can be low when
they are bathed in color. This remedy came back to me as I received some devastating
news. A very dear friend was diagnosed with a particularly nasty cancer, and
I coped with the anguish and sorrow this news caused me by immediately sitting
down at my sewing machine and beginning the brightest, cheeriest, most colorful
quilt I could make.
Like most quiltmakers I encounter, I am so deeply attuned to colour that it defines my existence in many ways, so how could I possibly turn down the offer to make a piece for an exhibit called Living Colour?
Techniques & Materials
For Blue Cheer, like all my Spheres quilts, I began with a basic framework
design. I drew it onto thin tagboard and cut up the large sections as templates.
Within each template piece, however, I worked improvisationally. This technique
allows me the freedom of spontaneous design within basic design components
which, regardless of their shape, I am able to assemble. As with all my quilts,
this piece is composed exclusively of cottons, which I hand dyed.
Photo by Mark Frey