Mini quilt of WOW Westminster – 2020.10.31

When I read the theme for the current Quilting Arts reader challenge – Art as Inspiration – I knew immediately what my inspiration would be!

I often walk to a nearby waterfront park, the site of a massive public art installation.  The WOW Westminster is was a 140-foot installation, comprising four 40-foot shipping containers precariously cantilevered to form a W-shape.  It was designed by Brazilian artist José Resende and was installed in 2015.

Sadly, in September 2020, the pier was destroyed by fire, and the big W installation could not be safely moved, so it was demolished. This article about the fire includes a time-lapse video that shows the W being taken apart. https://bcitnews.com/2020/09/17/wow-westminster-w-artwork-dismantled-after-fire/

If you are a regular reader of my blog and Instagram feed, you will know I’m fascinated by the diagonal lines and perspective of this piece of art. And that I’ve taken many photos of it, and used many of them as inspiration for my art.

Here are a few examples of the many photos I’ve taken since it was erected 5 years ago.

Here are the artworks I’ve made based on WOW Westminster. In the upper right is Dramatically Diagonal from 2016, and W and the 3 Bridges from 2017. The bottom 3 are 12″ x 12″ pieces.

My art quilt – The challenge is to create a 6″ x 6″ ‘postage stamp’ quilt inspired by art. I won’t make you read all the way to the bottom to see the finished quilt – here is Dramatic Diagonals.  Keep reading below to see how I made it.

My design and construction process – I started with the W. It was the most detailed and difficult part. I wasn’t sure whether I could scale it down to a height of 5″ and still make it look massive and dimensional. I thought I might have to try making it more than once before I was satisfied. But I’m very happy with how this looks.

Here are the steps I followed (refer to the photos below).

1. I used the first photo for the background of my mini quilt.
2. I used the second photo for the W, because I prefer this viewpoint of the W.
3. I used 3 solid rusty-orange fabrics – light, medium and dark to make it look dimensional.
4. I traced the W onto freezer paper. I cut the W out and labelled the pieces as L, M and D.
5. I ironed the freezer paper background onto black felt. This allowed me to easily position the fabrics in the correct positions.
6. I applied fusible web to each fabric and cut out the pieces. I positioned the light value pieces on the black felt.
7. Then the medium value pieces.
8. And finally the dark value pieces.
9. I fused the fabrics onto the black felt. Then I removed the freezer paper and stitched around each side of the W with black thread.
10. Then I trimmed the black felt very closely around the W.

Then I constructed the mini quilt in 3 layers.

1. The base layer is a 6″ square of black felt. For the perforated edges of my stamp, I cut white fabric with pinking shears and fused it to the felt.
2. The background (sky, river and pier) I fused to a 5.5″ square of Decor-Bond, and wrapped the edges to the back.
3. I stitched the background square to the base by quilting around the edges of the square.
4. Then the W was quilted in place on the background through all 3 layers.

I love my little mini W art quilt. I’ll know on November 11 if it’s accepted to be published in the magazine. I’ll definitely be making more quilts inspired by the W, but probably larger than this one!

. . . .

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