Hen Quilt

This quilt is based on a traditional pattern called Hen and Chickens. The hen is represented by the large black triangles around the green crosses and black squares. The smaller black triangles represent her chicks. In alignment with this mother/child pattern, much of the black linen in this quilt is repurposed from maternity clothes I made for myself when I was pregnant with my youngest son. 

This quilt is a throw sized piece (approx 47.5" x 49.5") made from a mix of natural fiber textiles - some hand dyed like the range of earthy pinks dyed with cutch, a material extracted from the heartwood of a tree. The back of the quilt is an improvised mix of fabrics left over from the front. 

The front and back were machine pieced, meaning the patchwork is machine sewn. The quilting, meaning the stitches running throughout, is done by hand with thin black cotton sashiko thread in 1.5" rows. Hand quilting is a very laborious and time consuming process but the impact of the hand stitches cannot be mimicked with a machine.

The quilt binding is made from a cutch dyed fabric and is also hand sewn. 

This lightweight quilt has 100% cotton batting. I am able to add a hanging sleeve to the back of the quilt if it will be used a display piece.