Medieval Death Quilt
Done!
Pink and Red
Hallelujah! I finished my second hand-quilted project. You may remember that I’ve been on a kind of illustration hiatus since last summer and this quilt, which I started in October, has received the lion’s share of my creative energy this fall and winter. I got it done so much faster than the first quilt which took years. I spent plenty of hours on this one too, but I didn’t really do much else.
The idea was to make a two-color pictorial quilt that incorporated piecing, appliqué, and embroidery. I made up the design as I went along. It took organization and labor, but also a lot of experimentation. The process felt free, a little bit like drawing or painting.
At one point I spent a couple of days devising a braided motif to embroider on either side of the sentence at the top. I added a braid, didn't like it, savagely cut it out of the quilt, tried again with a different braid, made an even bigger mess removing it, and ultimately replaced it with the two decorative motifs that are there now.
Al Freya, Al Fra-heya
The text on this quilt is a stanza from a poem that I wrote a few years ago. I think it was meant to read as a kind of incantation. Or a spooky riddle. It’s about death. (Artful insects play it.) I don’t write a lot of poetry, but the poetry I do write isn’t anything like this.
I’m generally secretive about the poetry that I do write. I don’t tend to share it. But this is not really a soul-baring type of poem and we’re all friends here. I don’t like the first two stanzas and never bothered to improve them, but I thought that stanza with the ants would be cool on a quilt. At some point I started thinking of it as my medieval death quilt.
Al Freya, Al Fra-heya
Al freya, al fra-heya
In your heart you say it
To the wall you call it
Babbling black to you enthrall it
Sandling sinking
Never thinking
Depth percepting
Breath neglecting
Windows winnow
Through them see
Part of you and
Part of me
Al freya, al fra-heya
Artful insects play it
Ants are marching to it
Ten by ten to twining do it
Acres hilling
Rivers spilling
Arc to flying
Spill to spying
Swallows follow
Dip and Dive
Dam that up
The dark divide
Al freya, Al fra-heya
Minding mothers weigh it
Swinging children sing it
Fathers buy the bell and ring it
Deftly darning
Sound alarming
Blackly babbling
Black heart dabbling
Windows winnow
And go dark
Dies the light and
Dies the spark
Marone!
The quilt top took a couple of months to make, and the actual quilting (the process of stitching the quilt top to the back, through the batting) took another month and a half.
I did all the quilting by hand while rewatching The Sopranos. It took me four seasons. (I just finished the quilt and started season 5. No spoilers. I don’t remember how it ends.) I will never look at this quilt and not think about Tony and Carm and Uncle June and Bobby Bacarra and Christafuh and Artie Bucco and Paulie Walnuts and Big Pussy Bonpensiero. Every time I pricked my finger with a needle I cried out, Marone! Maybe you think my quilt and The Sopranos are an odd combo, but I don’t know what that show is about if it’s not about death.
Well folks, my illustration hiatus is over. I’m back to work and it feels good. In case anyone is wondering, I’ve given up on the idea of somehow making a living off of pictorial quilts. I have a new plan: make a quilt every year for the rest of my life and then dole them solemnly out to my loved ones from my deathbed.
Bada bing, bada boom,
Carson
“I can’t remember how The Sopranos ends” is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard!
This is gorgeous. Needle through fabric is one of the most satisfying hobbies I’ve ever taken up. I’m just learning embroidery now, and my brain is pleased. Cannot recommend it enough. I love that you combined techniques here.
I'd never been interested in trying quilting until I saw this quilt. Wow amazing! 👐