Nov. 12 x 12 Grandfather's Stash

For over a year I've been taking photographs of color and texture in nature with the idea of printing them on fabric to use in quilts. I have done photo transfers in quilts where the photo is an image of someone or something, but in this case I simply wanted them to be used as color and texture, not figurative. For my November 12 x 12 Challenge quilt I decided to use autumn colors and textures in a small hexagon quilt similar to vintage Australian quilts I've seen photos of and admired. Native Americans used the name Grandfather for the Creator, so I named this quilt "Grandfather's Stash".

The photos were printed onto prepared June Taylor fabric sheets, cut into small hexagons and fused onto the background fabric with Steam a Seam 2. The quilt was sandwiched with backing fabric and cotton batting in pillowcase style. A zig zag stitch around the hexagons with invisible thread was done as the machine quilting. I then printed the label and a fragment of a favorite e.e cummings poem on June Talor Quick Fuse and fused them on the back along with some leftover hexagons from the quilt.

This exercise has really sensitized me to the amazing color and texture around me and I am seeing my world in a much richer way. I'm beginning to plan a series of larger seasonal quilts, using my nature photos as the fabric color and pattern, for the coming year. These will probably be sewn rather than fused, because the combo of printed photos on fabric and the fusible material make the fabric so stiff and difficult to handle and stitch.

The 12 x 12 Challenge quilts can be seen at the Quilt Studio blog.