Fun with paper quilting
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
Paper quilt with handmade paper and dried and pressed leaves © Chris Raymond
If you’re like me, you buy lots of crafts books with good intentions of doing the projects within. They are kind of like porn for crafters, don’t you think? Well, over Christmas, while away from home for a week, I decided to try some paper quilting, inspired by Bridget Hoff’s book, Paper Quilting. I had made some thick paper, embedded with stray fibers and such, many moons ago at Penland. And when I’d first read Hoff’s book, I went out and collected and dried lots of leaves. Now, thanks to a Penland workshop on embroidered maps I took from Melinda Barta, I had some embroidery skills, too. Voilá, my own paper quilts! I used embroidery floss, usually with only 3 of the six strands, and an awl to pre-punch the holes for sewing. Then I just let myself play with integrating stitches, color, and the leaves, along with some buttons also stashed away in my crafts drawers.