Batik Stripe quilt

This is the finished batik stripe quilt that I posted a preview of last week.

Purple Batik Stripe Quilt
fabric hand-dyed and patterned by sara hopp harper
dimensions: 48 x 72"
completion date: February, 2009

I kept the quilting simple so that it would complement the stripe pattern.

Fabric on the line

I dyed this fabric for a quilt and I loved the pattern that happened when I draped it to hang it out to dry.


I've also been playing with some new patterns. I've used a lot of water-soluble resists with these new patterns, originally because the fabric would take less time to process than if I'd been using wax and I'd still be able to get a good idea about whether the pattern would work. When I hung this batch of fabric up to dry after painting thickened dye on it, I was so taken with the way the sun shone through it I had to take a few pictures.



The pattern is based on a wrought-iron design (I know it's a little hard to see here). I really like the way the water-soluble resist has some blurred edges and spottiness going on where they dye penetrated the resist a little bit. It seems more in keeping with ideas about weathering and age that I think of when I see wrought iron. I'm definitely going to work more with different kinds of
resists as I design new patterns. I love batik and shibori, but there's something about being able to breach the water-based resists (either accidentally or on purpose) that really interests me.

Sneak Peek

The pieces for this quilt have lingered around on my cutting table for quite a while. A few months ago I dyed the fabric for the front, but set it aside when the fabric I dyed for the borders and the back weren't quite what I wanted.

After a brief hiatus from the studio, I dyed up the perfect coordinates for the purple stripe fabric and got down to business with putting the quilt together and finishing it. It's nearly done and looking fantastic.

I couldn't resist posting a sneak peek.

brick set 1

I've made quite a few quilts as commissions or gifts. Somehow, I ended up not having any for myself. I have quite a stash of commercial fabrics that I rarely use since I started making my own fabric which was crying out to be used. Et voila!

This is a new set (for me) which I'm calling it brick, for now. I've been on a turquoise and orange kick lately so I pulled fabrics with those dominant colors and then tempered them with the chocolate brown.

I think this quilt looks a little scrappy, which is different for me since I'm used to making however much fabric I need for a project instead of working with what I have.

I will definitely use this set again. Next time I'm thinking a toned-down or monochromatic palette for the larger blocks and some sashing strips between the rows to make the pattern of the set itself really pop.

I kept the quilting simple since there was so much pattern going on already. Next time I will pare back the quilting even more to keep the focus on the allover pattern created by the set itself.