The Studio Archives  

summer and fall, 2007

community dyeing project

In October of 2007, I was the featured artist in the Westminster Quilt Show. The theme was "Color and Community", and inspired by this idea, I decided to make a piece using fabric that I dyed with other members of my community. I posted flyers, and had several days in the summer when I would host one or more people in my yard to produce cloth. I ended up with 11 lengths of cloth, each approximately 17" x 80".

Here are a few pictures and some commentary on the process:

I had several wonderful sessions throughout the summer, culminating in early September with our village's annual community fair. I set up a table on the church lawn, and invited folks to don gloves and plastic-bag aprons and join me. I was exhausted at the end of the day!

I wish I'd gotten more pictures, but I was too busy working to be much of a photographer. Luckily, a friend took some photos with her camera. Here are some images from that day.

On the left is an early version of my thinking about the piece I'll be making to raffle at the show. You can get an idea of the variety in the various pieces (kind of like all the people who live in a community).