Pink Flower Prelude, 1995
52” x 58”
Hand-dyed fabric, machine pieced, machine appliquéd, freep-motion machine quilted
This is a throwback to my quilting days in St. Louis (which is where I began quilting in 1991). Once I started stitching quilts free-form, with no patterns, not templates, etc., I became immersed in the process. That improvisational technique eventually led to me being known as “The Caveman Quilter”.
Why Caveman? Well, I was teaching a class on improv piecing and in the middle of the afternoon a student shouted, “I love this so much. This must be how cavemen quilted!” I asked what she meant. She replied, “Well, cavemen didn’t have math or measuring, or rulers, they only had a wheel!” - at which time she held up her rotary cutter.
Pink Flower Prelude is one of the more complex caveman quilts I’ve done. It is important to mention that the center of the flower is appliquéd on with the heavy stitching - that part is not pieced. Also, the scrolls that you see in the border and on the bottom of the center are also appliqué. There is bobbin quilting as well. That means, the quilt is turned upside down and the thread, a sparkly heavy thread that doesn’t work in the needle, is in the bobbin and a regular thread in the top. I love this bobbin quilting process.
Finally, check out my Heart and Soul CD. My original solo piano piece is on it—also titled PINK FLOWER PRELUDE.