Now this is gnarly

OK, fess up, folks, which of you would save this piece of fabric?

I suppose a few of you answered yes, but that's just the semifinals.  Which of you would actually use it in a piece of art?

I am thrilled to report that not only did I save that sucker, I am USING IT!!!!

I wrote last week about my sudden desire to make work that is gnarly, not neat, and yesterday I realized that somewhere in my stash was a box of distressed fabrics that would go so well with my red postage stamp quiltbits.  And what did I find in that box, but some seriously beat up materials, which I am using as the face layer of some more quiltbits.

I am deliberately being NOT NEAT, and let me tell you what a liberating feeling that is.  How many times have you started quilting and realized that for some reason your top layer is bigger than the rest of your quilt sandwich?

The old Kathy might have taken out the stitching and redone it, or at least spent a whole lot of advance preparation time to make sure it never happened in the first place.  But the new Kathy whips out her scissors, slashes into that bubble, pulls the edges together and just sews over the top.  Or maybe she leaves the bubble in and sews in a pleat where the stitches cross a previous stitching line.

And it's not just bubbles and pleats that I'm embracing.  It's dark threads that somehow sneak in between the batting and the white top layer and show through.  It's frayed edges.  It's wrinkles and creases where the fabric didn't get sufficiently ironed before sewing.  It's everything the quilt police abhor.

I even have a vision for how all these pieces are going to go together in the end.  I'll keep you posted, but remember, this is a Quilt National entry year so I'll only be able to entice you (incite you??) with detail shots.