44 inches x 44 inches
100% cotton: marbled, dyed and 2 commercial fabrics, batting and back
Machine pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Holly is an example of an abstract fabric collage quilt style I have made since the 1980's. The scrap strips appear to be random but in fact I spent a great deal of time studying the cloth pieces pinned up to my work wall. These quilts take a long time to sew and each border is never the same. Since the quilt top sang of the Christmas season I placed some holly leaves and berries in the corners.
Meditating on the center of this abstract fabric collage makes me feel relaxed and connected despite the apparent chaos of color and form. Many of the marble cottons in the piece I still remember printing. The most difficult fabrics to get satisfactory results are the two border cottons (red and green). The marbling patterns are subtle and you are limited in the number of colors that will work for the design.
