I really worked hard at trying to determine where to divide my “tones” to make it dimensional.  I first put it into Photo Shop and posterized it at level 4. I then drew lines within the body to show where to change fabrics or dyes.

I then decided to make the quilt while taking a workshop with Hollis Chatelaine. Hollis is VERY famous for her threadwork on people. She dyes the background and then all the stitching is done closely together to give the dimension to the figure. I had taken one class from her, and learned her dyeing technique, but the workshop did not include the quilting of a piece.

Since her expertise is people, I thought what a perfect opportunity to do a figure of a baby. She’s one of the best and NOTHING is harder to quilt than baby-soft skin.

Hollis gave me the “recipe” for the color she thought would be best for baby’s skin.  While painting it on, I kept thinking this is WAY too dark.  She said it would lighten considerably, which as you see, it did, although I would have preferred a more “pink” tint to the skin for a baby.  It was a five day workshop, and I got just a portion of the head done on the quilting at the end. 

I was SO AFRAID I would “mess” up Sydney’s quilt, that I had to think and think before I quilted an area, just to make sure I was making the stitches in the direction I wanted to give it the dimension I wanted.  I wished I had done a quilt which did not mean as much to me, because I could have gotten more done.  However, I would NOT have learned as much. Now that the quilt is finished, I feel like I could tackle ANYTHING. I took the class May 4, 2008, and I could not bring myself to touch it again, for fear of “messing it up.” Finally, six months later in October, 2008, I decided that I had to finish it to enter in the 2008 Columbia Quilt Show. So, I entered the quilt, and then still procrastinated starting it, until I had just a week left. I finally forced myself to attempt the completion of it. So, I took a deep breath, contemplated how to do the stitching and finished the head.  The hair was also a challenge for me to quilt. I told myself I would just concentrate on one area at a time. 

I worked late into the night, continuing to make decisions on the direction of the next part of the body. You can see that different parts of the body are stitched in different directions. Also, different colored threads are used in different parts to provide shading. I finished the last of the baby’s body, the toes, and Kathy’s hand and quit for the night. I was on a roll.  I felt like “I can do this!”

The next day, I quilted Grandma Mary’s hands, and then contemplated what color(s) to do the background.  I had no idea what I wanted to use as the background design.  I finally chose a blue since the majority of the background was dyed pink. The blue would show the design better and give better contrast to the picture.  I decided to free-hand “girly” type swirls.

I worked another day late into the night.  I contemplated a border, but simply did not have time, so I bound it, stitched it down and it was finished just in time for the show.

In case you can’t read the quilt show sign, it says: “Jackie’s family has always been males, even the dogs and cats.  She has 2 sons and 2 grandsons and FINALLY a granddaughter.  She was taking pictures at the hospital of Sydney Kathleen America Berry, when she happened to get a picture of the mother’s mother, Kathy, and the baby’s grandmother, Mary. She loved the three generation aspect and tried to capture it in this quilt.  It is whole cloth hand-painted with dyes and quilted.”

Due to the size of the quilt being too small to enter in international competition, I saw an ad on-line for a call for entries for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) magazine for images of quilts showing Joy and Happiness for the Spring 2015 issue. So, I decided to try to show it that way and I filled out the form and sent it in.  When my copy came, I was surprised to see that Sydney's quilt had been one of the six selected from all the entries.