Sun Coming in the Windows

April 01, 2022 by Laura Hartrich in quilts

I made this at the end of 2019 as the final project for a photography class I was taking in undergrad. I quilted it in time for the deadline but was never totally happy with the finish. Finally last year I ripped out and redid the quilting. Now I’m happier and it’s officially done.

I can’t remember if we had a prompt or any parameters for the final, but this is what I did: took pictures on my phone of some of my favorite objects, textures, and shapes in my house, had them printed onto fabric and then made them into simple patchwork. I named it Sun Coming in the Windows and it’s an ode to feeling safe at home. 30”x29”

Back in Therapy (Increased Surface Area)

March 31, 2022 by Laura Hartrich in quilts

This piece was created in the summer of 2021. The patchwork came together quickly and intuitively, kind of a like a sketch. I didn’t originally intend to leave the threads exposed; I planned to bury them, but as I kept pushing them out of the way, stroking them all in the same direction, I decided they looked so interesting that I would leave them out (but tack them down with quilting). I don’t know if I invented this thread technique (probably not) but it was new to me and exciting. For this piece I was thinking about the different types of energies I experienced during Covid, surges and waves in all directions, some that buried me and others that lifted me up. I was thinking about the weight of it all eventually getting on top of me and making me realize I needed some help which led me to seek therapy after a long hiatus. Being a student of anatomy right now, these thread rays (as my friend Jenni Grover brilliantly named them) also reminded me of microvilli, structures that increase the surface area of a cell. This resonated too, as I certainly felt like my surface area increased this year and as a result I was more vulnerable to stress and irritation. I often felt stretched, flat out, on edge, like my nerves had nerves (not anatomically possible but you get the idea). It’s called Back to Therapy. Measures 21”x28”.

This piece was part of the virtual exhibit Maternochronics, put together by the talented Emily Zarse and focusing on maternal exhaustion. It also hung in the show Moments Like This, juried by Jessica Bingham, at Women Made Gallery.

What's Up, You Cool Baby?

March 28, 2022 by Laura Hartrich in quilts

In September of 2020 I had the opportunity to film a few segments for Fresh Quilting. I was so nervous! I planned my segments. I practiced a lot, over zoom with some good friends. I drove to Ohio and fretted about COVID. It all ended up fine. I was a bit doe-eyed and tongue-tied during my segments but I gave it my best shot! It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone and I’m glad I did it.

One of my segments focused on making simple patchwork letters using curves, triangles, and squares. This quilt was used to demonstrate the technique on the show. When we filmed, it was in progress so I could show how I put the blocks together. Later, I finished piecing it and decided to quilt it by tying. I had tied one quilt before, using embroidery floss. This time I wanted to try yarn that would felt up and make a little poof. I ended up tying it on both sides. I also added x’s across the quilt and handquilting around the stars. I love how all the handwork looks together.

The color palette came from a print I love: Clementine by Melody Miller. The stars are made in a style I learned from Gwen Marston in her book Liberated Quiltmaking II (one of my favorite quilt books ever). I have zines for sale that show you how to make these curvy patchwork letters. The phrase, “What’s up, you cool baby?” comes from a favorite podcast, My Brother My Brother and Me. I got a kick out of putting it on a baby quilt. Measures 43”x48”, final photos by Mitch Hopper.

sketchbook showing sketch and color palette

Tie technique! I used the grid method from Sherri Lynn Wood’s excellent book. It’s cool. Basically you make lines across the quilt, taking small stitches every so often, one direction, then another, making a grid across the quilt. You can cut the yarn where it intersects, and then you’re ready to tie knots. I did two grids on the back of this quilt because I wanted lots of ties and I wanted to stagger them. I did one grid on the front, much less densely tied on that side. The last two pictures show ties before and after washing. These fuzzy wool ties remind me of wild tufts of troll hair. I thought they’d make tidy little balls but they had their own plans.

Table Runners featuring my Grandma's Doilies

March 27, 2022 by Laura Hartrich in quilts

When my grandma passed in 2016 many of her sewing supplies, projects, and textiles came to live with me, including a pile of very finely constructed doilies. I had an idea to put them on quilts for my family members, but four years later those doily quilts hadn’t made it to the top of my to-do list. It finally occurred to me that table runners might be just as appreciated and a far more attainable goal for me. I spent a week working steadily on these (and one for myself that is almost done) and finished them just in time for gift giving. They were opened over video call in true 2020 style.

I felt a little uneasy about cutting these lacy things that had clearly taken a lot of time and care to make. But I finally decided to go for it... Doilies aren’t exactly popular as home decor these days, and I thought chopping them for these runners was a better fate for them than staying packed away in boxes or drawers. Hopefully these runners will get plenty of use. And I think they really highlight her work. I hope she would approve.

I quilted these (very densely!) on my Juki. I wanted all the sections to get tacked down to prevent any snags during use. Lots of imperfect, organic echo quilting. Took a lot of time and thread, but I love the effect.

2019 Radical Acceptance Quilt

March 26, 2022 by Laura Hartrich in quilts

After 5 years of making quilts that track my self-improvement-oriented goals and habits, I decided to switch gears and focus on self acceptance instead. I want to see how it feels to live each day as it comes, without tracking my progress or giving myself a grade. I wanted to see if some of these habits I’ve been trying to adopt can come from a place of intrinsic motivation instead of relying on an extrinsic motivator like a hash in a notebook or a block in a quilt.

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2019, 76” square

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2019, detail

It’s still a sticky idea for me... wanting to accept myself but also wanting to change (aka working toward goals). How to reconcile those? My friend Jenni helped me understand it more. Tara Brach’s book Radical Acceptance helped too. My 2019 year didn’t look that different from previous years. I still tried to practice all sorts of habits like exercising, meditating, watching less tv, and I still worked toward goals like finishing quilts, books, and classes. The difference was I didn’t quantify or keep track of any of it, and I have to admit that felt good. I’m not saying bullet journals or any kind of habit tracking or goal setting is bad. I needed a break, though. And focusing on acceptance gave that to me.

So this is the quilt I made for 2019, a continuation of the series but taken in a different direction. For each day in 2019 I added a strip to this log cabin. (The coral colors are randomly placed. The gold strips represent the 23rd of each month, a way of marking time across the quilt.) For each day I wrote a statement of acceptance on the batting (muslin, in this case) and lined it up with the pieced strips. I backed it in a pale pink shot cotton that allows you to see all the writing if you get up close. This quilt was a big undertaking and so many of you followed its progress and cheered me on. Thank you for that. Measures roughly 76”x76”. Final photos by Mitch Hopper.

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2019, label

Radical Acceptance Quilt for 2019, in progress

It’s always exciting when quilts get to be exhibited. I was pleased when this one was accepted as part of the MQG Retrospective show at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky in summer 2021. We made a little weekend trip to see it.

It also hung in the QuiltCon 2022 exhibit in Phoenix, Arizona. It was so fun to show off the hidden handwriting on the batting to folks attending the show.