Rays
by Natasha Gardner
46” X 58”
Originally, this quilt was supposed to be full of curvy lines; at least that’s how it looked in my design sketches. But when I laid out the strips of handmade bias tape—created from three different hues of hand-dyed cotton poplin—on the white background, the vivid stripes reminded me of bold, unbending sunshine rays. Using the geometry of the traditional Log Cabin block as inspiration, I then plotted lines of fabric that seemed determined to expand off the edges of the piece. I also used straight lines of quilting to echo the bold yellow rays. This quilting is only broken by a series of diagonal lines, which shadow a set of bias tape lines placed on the back of the quilt. The goal was to create a sense of transparency from front to back.