The Finished Urban Quilt

Familiar in all it's form, but made from such new things the folk of the past would think this came from outer space. Modern technology might also laugh at me, humans orbit in space but I would rather make them a quilt. Made from photos from all over NYC.
Thank you to everyone who has posted or linked to my photographs and all who love them. Wrap the city around you.

The NY Times EV Local feature on my photography

"Viewfinder" Urban Quilt

xnmerry@gmail.com
("Lap Quilt" sized approx 30.5 x 53 inches. Perfect for draping over your legs on an airplane, on the porch, anywhere.. $300 handmade, please click the etsy link to the right)

Making of..

Hand-held sewing machine for seams the rest is handstitched and tied :)

Crazy Stitch World

The Mood Fabrics resident dog, Swatch, is very customer service oriented :)


Studio goes from room to hoaders in minutes!

The Pattern of the Urban Quilt

These are representing the "repeat" used and it spans almost a square yard so it is filled with photos not one or two repeated, which would look nice too but since this represents the Urban "Quilt" I thought a lot of photos would look even better. Of course the text won't be on it :)

My Quilting Experience

When I was in the 2nd grade I quilted fabric scraps into a vest from the scrap box with tape and paste (that I proudly wore of course) and later.. MUCH later! I quilted doll quilts and stitched clothing for plastic dolls while working at Bankers Trust that went to children in homeless shelters- designers from Perry Ellis were in the judging and I won "Best In Show" for the whole contest :) I love quilts and the feeling they convey- a simpler kinder world where someone cares enough to make a textile work of art that is meant to warm and comfort you.

Even when I had no textiles I created a "quilt" from paper and laminate. I love the form of expression and it's wonderful to merge my photos with this- maybe the illustrated quilt here called "Angelic Girls" of my pen and ink drawings (meaning ALL kinds of girls young old all races- are Angels to the world) will be my next quilt work (?) :)




I also hand stitched these wonderful creations for Malan Breton at my first NY Fashion Week, the feathered dress in the photo on the left and the beaded dress to the right.


One day I'll learn to use my sewing machine but I and the needle and thread are doing fine :)

What kind of Quilt is this?

It's called a "Cheater Quilt" a name I hate btw :)- it's a printed fabric that is then backed and batted and then quilted, which is the stitching on the fabric after it's all assembled. So instead of printing out on textile every photo in the Urban Quilt and sewing them together square by square, I assembled them in a large block on Photoshop and then via Spoonflower had them printed on textile. The "repeat" is almost a yard square so the throw quilt size will be full of different photos, not just a few repeated.

These two layers will be sewn together then minimally hand quilted at the corner meeting points so the photos stay very clear and pretty and it matches up with the grid of the photos behind it.

2011 The Year of the Quilt

The American Folk Art Museum has declared 2011 to be The Year of the Quilt

What a nice coincidence :)

The Elements

I wanted to have my Urban Quilt be a part of the awareness and healing of the planet's health and inspired by the journey of the Plastiki I looked for and found Dream Green, a soft washable batting that is made of 100% recycled plastic bottles. Every pound of batting keeps 10 bottles from becoming trash and will help keep bottles from becoming part of the huge garbage mass in the Pacific Ocean called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.


My tag design will use my art "The Ocean" that won the "Plastiki Crew Favorite" design award in the Klean Kanteen / Plastiki art contest.


The yarn I use to tie it is black Debbie Bliss Eco-baby yarn: "Debbie Bliss Eco Baby yarn is manufactured from 100% organic, fairtrade cotton within an ecologically and socially conscious process through the Bio Re textile chain, which integrates farmers, their families and the textile industry as equal partners."

The textile is 100% organic cotton sateen made and printed by Spoonflower. Raw unsewn textile below. I will be hand stitching and sewing these one by one myself, so each is a personal work of art not mass manufactured.

Day (top)

Night (bottom)

It all started with this...

From One Day On Earth, a photo by C Merry on Flickr.

On October 10, 2010, also known as One Day on Earth 10/10/10, I decided to take a photograph not just snap pix. It seemed that once I really decided to be dedicated to photography as art things changed. I get such happiness from photographing the cityscapes around me. So since that date I have built up a portfolio of photos that have been posted many places like Curbed NY, The NY Times East Village Local, Yahoo US and many other places.

As that grew I also had an idea to combine them into my love of textile art. Imagine wrapping the city around you and you get the idea. Comfort in the landscapes of brick, glass and stone.

Links:
My photography portfolio on Flickr
My quilts are a combination of published photos and ones I chose because I liked them or they meant something to me personally. Click the Flickr badges on the right hand side to go to the quilt sets.

A Day in My life- a small video I did for the UN Event "One Day On Earth" which was the day I really became a photographer.