Journey of a UFO

This was my first attempt at sewing together a charm pack (a curated set of forty-two 5" squares).  This charm pack was of batik fabrics and after I completed this project, I realized two things...I love pre-cuts and I love batik fabric.  The thing was I had no clue what it wanted to be.  Of course, it was a quilt top, so my first thought was a quilt, but it was only 27" x 31.5" and that just didn't feel right.  So I fold it up and set it aside.  

That was September 21, 2020...

I have many UFOs (Unfinished Objects) in my collection.  Some were great ideas that fizzled out, others I just didn't have the skills to finish (yet) and others got lost in my ADHD.  I like to go back and rummage through my UFOs, and see if I get any sparks of creativity. Occasionally I would pull one out and finish it or cut it up and create something new.  But this little gem puzzled me each time I pull it out.

Then in mid-October 2020, as I was looking for fabric to dye in an indigo vat, I had the thought to look through my UFOs.  There it was a few layers down in the stack.  I knew what to do with it.  I remember folding and tying the quilt top with twine and the hesitation before dipping it in the vat.  It turned out beautifully.  It looked like little windows of stained glass in the sunshine as it dried...

The piece hung on my design wall for a while, but inspiration eluded me.  Eventually, it went back in the UFO tote.  I've pulled it out numerous times since then, but nothing really came to me until Monday.  

I taught a class on fabric weaving last Sunday and when I got home, I was happily exhausted.  I fell asleep thinking of colors and patterns.  I woke Monday morning with an idea of a woven painting.  I needed color, but with a hand-painted look, or better yet a hand-dyed look with lots of variety.  I knew what I wanted and pulled out my UFO tote while my coffee was brewing.  

As I pulled it out of the tote, I knew it had the variety of colors I was looking for, but I didn't know if I could actually cut this beauty up into strips for weaving.  I gave it a good pressing and laid it out on the table.  I admired the way the indigo morphed the colors of the original fabrics.  I studied the quilt top, picking out sections that I liked.  I finally decided on how I was going to divide it up and how wide each of the strips should be.  

I took a breath and cut it in half and then into two sets of strips.  I looked at the strips and part of me said "oh, what have I done" and the other part of me was filled with excitement...

But it was almost 7am and time to start my corporate job.  I left it on the dining room table, occasionally sneaking glances at it as I went to refill my coffee.  I even had my lunch at the table while I examined the strips to make sure the original stitching was holding up.  I was happy to see that it was.

I was a bit distracted at times during my workday.  My mind would drift to an image of how the strips would interlace together.  It took some concentration but I was able to complete all of my tasks before signing out for the day.  I was a bit giddy when my workday ended.

Weaving brings me a lot of joy, especially hand weaving. There is something in lifting each of the warp strands, placing the weft strands, and seeing how the colors merge together.  It brings peace and melts away the day's stresses.

For the next two hours, I wove my painting.  I finished up the stitching on Tuesday and here is the final piece, trimmed and squared to 15" x 27".