The 30x30 Quilt Project
This project started in 2017 with the goal of making thirty 30 inch by 30 inch quilts by the time I turned 30. Over the past few years I have made 12 of the 30 quilts with other projects (check out the Earrings of Month page) occupying my studio practice. My 30th birthday has come and gone but I am still committed an excited about this project! I have “re-branded” it as a project for my 30’s. Currently I am exploring longarm machine quilting methods.
Why 30x30? I got the idea while hiking with a friend and trying to figure out what to do with my studio practice and free time. I had just moved to Portland, OR and was cobbling together part time jobs and had yet to find studio space for my jewelry work. I had extra time but no extra space and so I thought of quilts that take up a lot of time but with size parameters don’t take up too much space. 30”x30” can be worked on in just about anywhere in bedrooms, living rooms, porches, shared housing and now in a little studio apartment.
Read on to see the completed quilts and check back for new quilts as I finish them and get closer to my 30x30 goal.
To Let It Go
Quilt No. 1/30 Hand Quilted.
I made this first quilt for myself in memory of my friend Erin who shared the poem “In Blackwater Woods” by Mary Oliver with me. The small patchwork strip features fabric from some of her clothes as well as fabric that was in the first baby blanket I ever had.
In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Lane Lines
Quilt No. 2/30 Hand quilted.
In the winter of 2018 I started swimming laps at the Mt. Scott Community Center pool. Swimming was the perfect meditative practice to let go of the day. When swimming there’s not much to look at other than the tiles at the bottom of the pool. Lanes are marked with a “T” at the end to signal swimmers the wall is coming. The little tiles reminded me of quilt squares and served as inspiration for this quilt.
One in Four
Quilt No. 3/30 Hand quilted, hand tied.
Pompom
Quilt No. 4/30 Hand tied.
This bright and fun quilt features fabric from Eleanor Anderson! The design for this one came after looking at Eleanor's work -check it out here. Her use of grids was a perfect match for the block piece grids used in piecing a blanket
Black Lives Matter
Quilt No. 5/30 Applique, Hand quilted.
Garden Patch
Quilt No. 6/30 Hand tied.
Major 70’s vibes with this one. I like how the green ties look like little sprouts. This one is for the farmers, growers, tenders, anyone who has watered a patch of dirt waiting for something to come up, you know...the plant people.
Kate Sent Me The Blues
Quilt No. 7/30 Hand Quilted.
Thanks to Kate for sending me a box full of blue fabrics to work through. And for telling me to use the yellow and blue for the binding! Here’s a poem I wrote about this quilt.
Kate sent me the blues -
a box full.
(We’ve shared sorrow before)
Sat with them
tried to make sense
of their patterns.
For my part I’m cutting them up
trying to put them to good use.
Find a better way to carry grief.
What’s left I’ll stash away
try to work through more later.
Pizza
Quilt No. 8/30 Hand Quilted.
This quilt is an ode to pizza and those little cupped pepperonis.
Snake Quilt
Quilt No. 9/30 Hand Quilted.
Big bold stitches for this quilt to match the fun fabric from Senegal.
Bird Quilt
Quilt No. 10/30 Hand Quilted.
Featuring hand dyed fabric from Taylor Skillen. This quilt has been my companion resting in the quilt frame for the past few months. Something gentle to look at and work on through the grayest days of winter. Finishing it up on a sunny day feels like a good omen.
Echo
Quilt No. 11/30 Hand Quilted.
This quilt is based on a memory of a mural I saw walking around my neighborhood.
Longarm Sampler
Quilt No. 12/30 Longarm Machine Quiilted.
I finished the quilt during my first class at Modern Domestic learning how to use their Longarm quilt machine.
Deco Quilt
Quilt No. 13/30 Hand quilted.
The Alden Quilt
Quilt No. 14/30 Hand Quilted.
Waffle Quilt
Quilt No. 15/30 Machine Quilted.
The Ira Quilt
Quilt No. 16/30 Hand Quilted.