The Quilting Project

Along side the final quilt made up of 16 panels, I created a hand made book of all the individual description of their design piece. I decided to write all the descriptions by hand because I didn’t want the communication about the quilt, to have a digital approach.

Front Cover.

Daniel Cousin, page within the book.

Andrew Harrison, sent me an image of his quilt panel, in the process stage, because he wanted to keep me updated. Andrew, Maria, & Aliza, needed more reassurance at different times throughout the project.

Andrew Harrison, beginning stage & the final piece.

I decide I needed, to have some control of the quilt by way of colours used and the size of each individual patches. I did not want to select the colours by random without any consideration to the theme of the project. I don’t tend to select bright colours in my art projects however, the meaning behind the colours were more important in this case and I found it really interesting researching what colour represented.

I asked everyone taking part in the ‘Quilting Project’ first what colours, they wanted before creating their individual packs. I created a Facebook group and posted an image of the embroidery threads I picked and a brief meaning behind each colours. Everyone taking part that is on Facebook, posted back with their personal choice. I personal spoke to the individuals who were not available on the social media platform.

Black – protected, barrier, power, night, it convey’s wealth, elegance however, some people may feel their careers are black & white.

White conveys pure, new direction in life, wiping the slate clean, and a blank canvas.

Grey – motionless, relief from a chaotic world, neutral, impartial & indecisive, it is a professional and classic colour.

Purple – relates to imagination, future, fulfilment, it expands our awareness, it calming & keeps us grounded.

Green – balance, growth, rebirth, well being, relates to ambition & is a positive colour.

Blue – an idealistic colour, honest, loyal, self expression, knowledge, reliable, wisdom, it is associated with being a masculine colour.

Yellow – Uplifting, cheerful, fun, confidence, creativity & is the most highly visible of all colours.

Each individual pack included:

1. One piece of 100% cotton ivory fabric

2. The colours selected by the individual, for example Hana Calvert, requested Saffron yellow, amethyst, black and white.

3. One sewing needle.

4. The guideline/ brief to the project / what is your career pattern.

An example of the guidelines given to all the people willing to take part in my ‘Quilting Project’ below.

“Thanks for agreeing to take part in this project.

The intended outcome of the completed work is to help describe the nature of career paths for a variety of individuals. It builds on the idea that, at one time, a job was something that was for life: that a career pattern was simple or linear, perhaps providing a single route from the start of adulthood through to retirement. Assuming that everyone doesn’t follow this pattern, I’m looking to incorporate visual definitions of your employment journey. There is no set idea regarding how you should do this but materials are provided. You can use as many or as few of the materials included. The final piece will incorporate these individual career paths to illustrate our relationship to work. Additionally, it would be great if you could also let me know how many years you have been working, just so I can see if there’s any correlation between responses to the project and employment history.”

I gave everyone a 2 week deadline to create their individual quilt piece. I handed out, all the ‘Quilting Packages’ on 15th April with a deadline of 2nd May however, many people needed an extra week or two which, was fortunate because the project deadline was moved back by the tutor.

Lucy Walters ‘Quilting’ Pack