‘Can You Feel the Color?’ – 2019.02.16

This is my entry for a new exhibition by the Fibre Art Network titled “20/20 Vision”.

It is titled ‘Can You Feel the Color?‘ I think it’s a great example of how a quilt can be both an art quilt and a modern quilt.

This is my artist statement: 113 squares, each a different fabric, are arranged in a seemingly random pattern.  In fact, the squares spell these words in Braille: GREEN YELLOW ORANGE RED PINK VIOLET BLUE TEAL.  Braille is a system that can be read by touch, or visually.  It also creates a beautiful abstract geometric design.

Thinking about “vision” first turned my thoughts to color, and how much I love bright colors. Then, that some people have limited vision or no vision – how do they experience color? That led me to Braille – a system of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or who have low vision. Braille can also be read by people who are not visually impaired – with their eyes, if they understand the code.

I decided to use Braille to spell the names of colors, and to use squares for my dots. First I had to figure out how to spell the colors in Braille. I found a great website that converts text to Braille. I typed in my words and it displayed the Braille version.

Once I decided what words I wanted to spell, I had to calculate what size each square would be. To fit all the words I wanted within the required 20 x 20 inch finished size, each square had to be just under 1″ square. 

I wanted to use a different fabric for each square, so I turned to my scrap collection. Once I had enough fabrics in each color, I ironed squares of fusible web to the back and trimmed each piece to just under 1″ square.

I pressed grid lines in the background fabric, so I could line up the colored squares accurately, then fused them all in place.

Then I cut 113 squares of puffy batting, each 1.5” square. For each fused color square, I pinned a batting square behind it, then quilted around it. Yes, I buried all those thread ends!

Then I layered the quilt, and filled the background with horizontal matchstick quilting. It really makes the squares pop! They look and feel dimensional – just like Braille!

Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

• Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
• Can I get a Whoop Whoop? by Confessions of a Fabric Addict