Two Challenge Quilts
The above photo has absolutely nothing to do with the two challenge quilts I have to show you today. I just wanted to share the beautiful sunset from last night while we had our last dinner on the deck for this year. By this time next week, we could have snow.
As most of you know, I am part of The Endeavourers, a group of quilters who challenge ourselves to make quilts according to a theme. I enjoy being a part of this group. I am challenged to try new things, play a bit with art quilts, and enjoy the work of the others in the group as I learn from them.
The first of the two challenge quilts I want to share today was presented to the group on August 1, 2021. I’ve been dragging my feet a bit about posting it here, because it’s a bit personal and I had to get comfy with that. The theme for this challenge was Opposites Attract.
From my Endeavourers post: My initial idea for this challenge was to do something whimsical of two things attracted to each other, but I decided to think on it a bit longer. I asked my family and friends what came to mind when I said “opposites attract” but no ideas sprang up from their suggestions. I kept thinking about clamor vs. calm, or noise vs. quiet, initially brought on by everything we hear these days out there in the big wide world we live in. In the end, this quilt ended up being much more personal.
I came across this quote on a blog this past week: “Art is not always about pretty things. It’s about who we are, what happened to us and how our lives are affected.” –Elizabeth Broun.
So this quilt is not a pretty thing; it’s quite homely, actually. But it does tell a bit about what happened to me and how it has affected my life.
Ever since I was born, I have had very little hearing in my left ear. Up until my kids had left for college, I was able to cope with the hearing loss without hearing aids. Now I wear them, and while they help, sometimes they hinder.
The left side of this quilt represents noise – what I experience when I am in a very noisy environment. The background print represents everyone talking; the circles making me think of word bubbles. The red bias tape are my thoughts – sometimes just a jumble, but sometimes full of emotion, but it can also mean angry voices or shouting. There is an additional word bubble, and you’ll notice in a later photo that the words are all upside down, because sometimes that’s how it feels when my brain is processing what is being said to me. In the upper right, there are big, jerky stitches in yellow – which represent my frustration as well as loud noises, like horns, dogs, whistles, kids screaming or crying, etc.
On the right side of the quilt is calm, which for me is represented by water – waves lapping on the shore in the quietness of a morning. The quietness of sitting with my morning coffee in a quiet room. The peacefulness of simple things. The small writing you see along the curve between the two is “come away”, the reminder to come away from the noise – or from the quiet – and enter the other now and then. The other writing on the quilt, on the bottom right, is a notation of Matt. 11:28, a Bible verse that is meaningful to me.
Often after being in a very noisy, talkative environment, I am extremely tired from all the work of listening, and I just need to be somewhere quiet and peaceful.
Here’s the close up of the word bubble (on the left), which I outlined with the blue stitching to suggest how much I want to go someplace quiet rather than try to decipher what is being said to me. The photo on the right shows the yellow stitches.
This was an interesting process for me to work through while making this quilt, and it rather surprised me. I hadn’t intended, or even considered, any of the thoughts about my hearing issues when I began the quilt. It is a very meaningful piece for me.
The most recent challenge, which was posted to the group on November 1st, is for the theme “inspired by a newspaper headline”. This one took me forever and a day to come up with. None of the current headlines made me want to create a quilt, so once again I just pondered the theme for awhile. One idea that had popped into my head was earthquakes and how I could show an earthquake in a quilt. I did some research and found out that Minnesota has had earthquakes, and you can read about them in this link from the Star Tribune.
I initially thought I’d like to try fracturing a quilt to create the idea of moving up and down. My quilt is not a true fractured quilt, but I got the effect I was looking for. My first step was to trace the outline of the state on fusible. I fused it onto fabric that made me think of Minnesota – with nature – dragonflies, bear, deer, etc.
Before fusing the outline to the background fabric, I cut it into one-inch strips, then fused those strips onto the background fabric, moving the strips up and down to create the fractured, shaking outline.
I chose blue Grunge for the background fabric to represent all those Minnesota lakes, of course! You can see that I had a little fun with the quilting, too. Using my favorite Aurifil Dove Gray thread, I quilted a seismometer design over the fractured state outline. It took much longer to quilt those lines than I thought it would!
And that’s my two challenge quilts I wanted to share with you today. Our group has one more challenge from this set of themes, and it is due February 1st. The theme? Emotions/Feelings. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I’m thinking on it!
Wendy
National Cat Day
27 Comments
marissthequilter
It is brave of you to give the backstory to the striking quilt you made for the Opposites Attract challenge. I can see why it is such a personally meaningful piece. The thought/emotion behind the quilt shines through on the beautiful stitching.
I also am filled with admiration for the fractured quilt and it’s clever composition.
Cindy Pieters
I think your interpretation of both themes is great! I like how you showed how being hearing challenged effects you.
Nancy Bekedam
Two thought-filled quilts, Wendy. Great job working through the concept to the finish line.
Quilting is in my Blood
I also really appreciated knowing more about your hearing struggles and the thought and effort that went into creating Opposites Attract. I also tend to feel overwhelmed in noisy, chaotic environments. The quilting on the fractured quilt is spot-on. I admire that you continue to push yourself to create challenge quilts even when you have ambivalent feelings about a project.
Laura
Both challenge quilts are terrific, Wendy! My favorite is the hearing quilt. You express very well what my husband experiences and how I need to be mindful for him. Sometimes I do show my frustration at his lack of hearing and that is inexcusable and also frustrating for him. Thank you for being brave and sharing such a personal and meaningful quilt! 🙂
karenfae
how interesting – I love how you describe the hearing issue – one of my daughters lost most of the hearing in her left ear about 6 years ago after she had an infection that went untreated for awhile she has tried to describe it but what you say helps to understand it. One of my adult nephews (mid40″s) has a hard time with hearing since he was a child in both ears now due to a inherited issue from his father who is now in his 70’s and barely hears anything now. He too tries to describe what he is hearing – or not- and it is difficult to picture at times.
The Joyful Quilter
I completely relate to your Noise/Quiet mini, Wendy! My hearing tested normal, so I’m guessing I have an undiagnosed auditory processing disorder. I’m not sure that I could have found a way to so eloquently describe my hearing challenge. Thanks for the perfect depiction of what it’s like in a crowded room, how hard you have to listen in order to understand what’s being said, and just how strong the need to escape to a quiet place can be. Nice job on the Headline challenge, too!
Vicki in MN
Oh wow, I bet you needed that quiet place after our trip recently! I guess I never realized that happens. You can feel free to tell me to be quiet for 10 minutes next time:) My DH always tells me I mumble because he can’t hear me, do I? Anyway you really step up to the challenges in making these quilts, not sure I could! I really like the Minnesota one.
Barbara J Stanbro
Great interpretations of both themes. Of course, you know I’ve already seen them. Nice work. I really like what you did with the Minnesota quilt, especially. I like the technique, and it has me wondering how else it might be used in a different quilt.
Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts
Wendy, your quilts are amazing! I appreciate what you shared about your hearing and how you translated it into fabric. I could relate to it so much because I think the demands of life can be like the left side of your piece, and the desire to get away from everything to a peaceful place (being by the water does that for me, too) can be very strong. And your Minnesota quilt is really cool – a great representation of your ideas!
Becky Turner
So are you ever tempted to just turn off the hearing aid?
My hubby was in EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal ) (read bombs) and was blown back a couple of times. Sometimes he hears better then others but has not gone to hearing aids yet… For him I think its sometimes selective nonhearing.
Love the use of the seismometer design for the quilting
Terry K
Your challenge quilts are amazing! I especially was drawn to your hearing one. I had a dear friend who eventually had two cochlear implants and she often talked about how difficult it was to “hear” in a group because of all the garbled noise. She said she had to concentrate to follow a conversation. She also said it was glorious to have the calm of no sound when she removed the outer part of the devices to sleep!
Needle and Foot
Wow – these are both awesome. The Opposites Attract is so descriptive – it illustrates your feelings really well. To me it could also represent my brain on migraine days vs non-migraine days. I love the peaceful feeling I have when my head is clear. When it is angry and hurting, it feels just like the left side looks. Spectacular work Wendy. Thank you for sharing your process on this one.
Needle and Foot
PS – Matt 11:28 is the perfect verse for the right side.
laura bruno lilly
Poignant, meaningful, informative and…beautiful (the actual quilt) Brava!
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
It’s pretty amazing what art can help us process and learn about ourselves. I have a good friend who is an art therapist and I think about her all the time when I’m quilting and realizing some new insight about myself. Thank you for sharing about the process and your personal story. I’m so glad you know where you calm, restful, restorative place is. And the seismometer quilting for your second quilt jumped out at me right away. Great interpretation of both challenges. Good luck with the next prompt!
quiltinggail
I enjoyed reading about how you approached the themes! Well done! Good luck with the next theme! I’m positive you’ll come up with another amazing quilt! 🙂
Jay
Although I shudder at the idea of these challenges (it’s just not my cup of tea), I am so interested and impressed with your interpretations and the quilty results. I’m so glad to read about your process and the execution of your ideas. Good stuff, Wendy! I’ll look forward to the next one.
Katherine Duquette
Wendy, I think your solution to each project is successful. The seismic lines for quilting on the earthquakes Minnesota quilt is perfect.
I have Tinnitus from too many years of working in a bindery. Your idea for confusion on the left side represents how my noise is when it’s quiet. Reminds me I am still alive!!
Great solutions and thank you for sharing.
Rochelle Summers
Wendy, thank you letting us into your personal area a little bit. I’ve worn hearing aids for about 8 years and tried to explain to someone whose partner had gotten hearing and still didn’t seem to hear her. I find there is a delay in translating the spoken words in certain situations and that when the conversation is moving fast (or there are multiple conversations), I’m overwhelmed. Rooms today are all hard surfaces and sound bounces of them and makes the noises louder. You’ve done a wonderful job explaining your limitations and interpreting how this challenges you. Art quilts are really personal and challenges like these get interpreted differently by each artist. Having been born in California on the San Andreas fault, I’ve grown up with earthquakes. I find it interesting that an event I thought was limited to the west coast is now being felt all over the United States. I love the quilting lines in your art quilt and I think the fracturing technique is a great way to demonstrate the earthquakes. It will be interesting to see your next challenge when you present it to us. Congratulations on two wonderful challenges.
Kathleen McCormick
You certainly rose to the challenge in both of them. You really put a lot of thought and expression of your long struggle with hearing. I so admire your willingness to share the struggle and the things that give you peace. You can immediately see the chaos and noise on the left and peace on the right. The second quilt with Minnesota is fabulous too. You can sense the quaking of the state. I have felt a few small ones in my life, and they are quite unsettling. I love the quilting you did for this – so perfect. Great job on responding to your prompts – I would find that a really hard prompt but time and prompts has a way of finding a voice in you. I look forward to seeing what the muse tells you.
texasquiltgal
Gosh I’m kind of blown away. You are so creative and have such (as Jack Handey used to say on Saturday Night Live) “deep thoughts”. My Mom pretty much lost her hearing as she aged, and spent quite a bit on hearing aids. I felt so sorry for her, because she was convinced those devices would bring back her hearing. She was often exhausted by the noise and strain by the end of the day. What you have created is a perfect representation of what she used to try to describe to me. I love the earthquake quilt, especially the fabrics and how they represent the state and the earthquakes. The stitching is genius. Standing ovation!
Patt Clancy
I love these SO much! I would love to do a challenge quilt. How do you get involved with these. Finally semi retired so have a bit more time and wanting to stretch my mind.
Helen
Thank you for sharing your Opposites Attract along with the symbolism and personal story. It must have been kind of therapeutic to create this one. I love each part of it.
And what a clever interpretation of the “Headlines” prompt.
Cheree Hull
Wow, that is so creative with the symbolism–depicted very well! It is interesting to read your thoughts on it and then put those together with the quilt and the result helps others to understand the issue almost completely. Hubs has recently been dx’d with a similar thing (his mother has it as well) and I bet he would be completely “yep, that’s it!” I know you’ve been really productive in the sewing room these last few days but I bet this one might be the most rewarding project?
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
I really like both of these quilts and think they are very beautiful and thought provoking responses to the themes. I enjoyed seeing Opposites Attract again and I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll make for the next challenge 🙂
Jan Altomare
Wendy these two challenge quilts are beautiful. I can’t imagine interpreting these ideas into quilts. Your challenges with hearing are very interesting in how you have handled them. I can’t imagine how jumbled some things can feel in the noisy day and age. Looking forward to Decembers challenge.