Earlier this month, I embarked on a weekend getaway to the Cumberland plateau for a free-motion quilting workshop with Memphis textile artist, Paula Kovarik. The workshop, At Play in the Garden of Stitch, was hosted by Shakerag Off Season.
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| Responding to paint spatters on a drop cloth with free-motion quilting. |
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| Free-motion quilting continuous lines. How many different lines can be made? |
The workshop offered a refreshing shift in how I think about quilting. Instead of looking at the functional aspect of the quilting stitches—holding the three layers of a quilt together or creating background texture to support the patchwork composition—Paula’s approach to free-motion quilting was more like drawing and mark making. The sewing machine became a drawing tool to make lines, shapes, and colored fills, in addition to creating texture.
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| Thread sketching in contrasting thread to create new focal points. |
With that approach in mind, I now understand her preference for 40 wt, 3-ply thread. The thread has a more pronounced presence on the surface of the work. With a heavier thread, every line can hold its own. The stitches can read like sketched lines, and if the thread is of a contrasting color, it can shift the focus from the patchwork to the quilting.
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| Quilting doodles with fills. |
Since I rarely ever mark my quilt tops for quilting, Paula’s direction to respond intuitively to the fabric surface or previous stitched lines was a familiar and welcoming free-motion concept for me. A no-mark approach is something I have always loved about free-motion quilting! So it was easy to embrace the direction of this workshop.
Quilting ideas for an existing piece
A valuable take-away that came out of this workshop was getting Paula’s feedback on a collaborative textile piece I started in another workshop last summer. Examining the piece through her lens of “thread as drawing” opened up new possibilities for how I might quilt it. We discussed ideas for how quilting lines could echo the circular format of the mandala composition—creating a subtle rhythm and supporting the radial layout of the piece. She also suggested to quilt over some of the appliqués—which would definitely make the quilting more manageable... and enjoyable for the quilter.
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| Collaboration piece awaiting quilting. |
The workshop was a playful weekend of experimentation and free-motion quilting. It was a reminder that quilting can be as much about mark making and exploration as it is about function and tradition.
The retreat facility
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| A view of the valley from the classroom. |
The facility—where this workshop and an abstract painting workshop was held—is located on a tranquil, picturesque campus. Upon arrival, I was pleasantly surprised to meet up with several artist friends from past workshops—Michelle, who was my roommate for the weekend, Becky, Susan, Claire (our class assistant), Karen, and Paul.
Friendships were renewed.
