This is the fifth in a series of painted, whole cloth quilts. The fabric was painted with fiber reactive dye in an expressionistic design, then layered and quilted heavily by machine. The machine quilting becomes a major design element in this piece, providing a foreground dimension that is contrapuntal to the painted background design. Top stitching thread in many different colors was used, so the stitching could be clearly seen against the background.
In this quilt, as in many of my recent quilts, flight is the theme. The main image in the quilting is of a large butterfly in flight with wings spread. The remainder of the imagery in the quilting came directly out of my imagination, and was quilted freehand, with no marking of the quilt top.
The center of the quilt is surrounded by a border that is partially string pieced and partially a solid chartreuse fabric. The colors in the spiky, string pieced section alternate between painted fabric and solid gradations in many hues . The quilting continues into this border. Another narrow outer border of painted fabric, and a solid burgundy binding complete the design.