Tropical Storm

Journal Quilt, 2007

Size: 22" x 17"

Price: $480

"Tropical Storm" is my journal quilt for 2007.

I started it back in February and finished it in August, when it then made its way to Houston to the annual Quilt Festival there. My goal was to create a sense of wind and motion, starting with the waves in the foreground, with grasses and palms blown toward the left, and finally, my first use of beads when I found some silver twisted bugle beads that became lightning from the clouds. And finally, more bugle beads sewn to show the angle of the lashing rain. Angelina fiber formed the dark storm clouds.

After this piece had left the house, I was asked to provide the challenge for the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, and this quilt, which had occupied me for half a year, inspired me to challenge the group to create a sense of motion, using and in part driven by the use of embellishments.