05 Apr Minimal Mini Series

Minimal quilts fascinate me and I’m interested to see what I can do with the idea of minimalism.  Now, this is not “Minimalism” as it might be defined in an art setting.  This is just me playing with the less is more concept.

I’ve made a lot of sketches and I plan to make them all into quilts.  Looking back at the sketches, I really like some of them and others not so much.  At this point, I want to make all of them. Sometimes things happen between a sketch and a finished quilt that turn a so-so idea into a nice quilt (sometimes it happens the other way around too :)).

As I was sketching and thinking through this idea, I decided to make all the quilts the same small size – 20″ x 20″.  This lets me play with an idea quickly and move on to the next one.

Kellogg Eye Center

My plan is to limit my fabric choices to solids and neutrals for the most part. This seems like a natural fit with the idea of minimalism.  I may or may not use some color, but I mostly plan to stick with whites, creams and greys.

Taking the “minimal” idea one step further, I will not be naming these quilts, just numbering them (sometimes naming a quilt is the hardest part!).  All the sketches are in one sketchbook and I numbered them as I drew them, so each quilt will be named MM (minimal mini) and its number.  I don’t necessarily plan to make the quilts in order, but will likely do so much of the time.

So the quilt above is MM2.  It was inspired by the tile in the restroom at the Kellogg Eye Center at the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor.  My Mom has regular appointments there, so I’ve had the opportunity to admire the tile work over many visits. For this quilt, I used Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton solids in White, Shadow and Iron and Aurifil 2500 thread for the quilting.  I thought about using matching thread for each of the sections in the quilt but decided I liked the way one thread color would unify the look a bit.