My Old Friends Have All Scattered
by Chris Mercerhill
55" x 50"
Upcycled cotton
Dyed with indigo and black walnuts
The cotton fabric in this quilt was thrifted locally and dyed with dyes I made from sources that I grew (indigo) or foraged (black walnuts) locally. I could make this same quilt again this year and it would be completely different — different shirts would have been donated to the shop, a different season could make the dyes stronger or weaker. This suburban terroir influences the end product. It is a product of its time and place.
The design is based on a network or lattice that expands outward. Cells are enclosed and break open, connections dissolve, paths are erased, space opens and expands. Each unit is a small bluish rectangle, some of which have one or more dark brown lines attached. As they are assembled, there are questions of which pair should go together, which pairs make a group, what should be added or taken away. This constant series of decisions and choices is unique to improv quilting. Sometimes I find it hard to make decisions, but this process helps to break down inhibitions. Each decision becomes less precious due to the volume of decisions that must be made; I enter more of a flow state where I can just do instead of being weighed down by indecision. The effect is almost one of processing the decisions the way that a computer might.
Title is from “Autobiography” by Sloan
by Chris Mercerhill
55" x 50"
Upcycled cotton
Dyed with indigo and black walnuts
The cotton fabric in this quilt was thrifted locally and dyed with dyes I made from sources that I grew (indigo) or foraged (black walnuts) locally. I could make this same quilt again this year and it would be completely different — different shirts would have been donated to the shop, a different season could make the dyes stronger or weaker. This suburban terroir influences the end product. It is a product of its time and place.
The design is based on a network or lattice that expands outward. Cells are enclosed and break open, connections dissolve, paths are erased, space opens and expands. Each unit is a small bluish rectangle, some of which have one or more dark brown lines attached. As they are assembled, there are questions of which pair should go together, which pairs make a group, what should be added or taken away. This constant series of decisions and choices is unique to improv quilting. Sometimes I find it hard to make decisions, but this process helps to break down inhibitions. Each decision becomes less precious due to the volume of decisions that must be made; I enter more of a flow state where I can just do instead of being weighed down by indecision. The effect is almost one of processing the decisions the way that a computer might.
Title is from “Autobiography” by Sloan