Irene - a paper quilt

Since I told you about making momigami with washi and konnyaku a few posts ago, I thought I'd follow up and show you what I ended up doing with it. I wanted to try making a paper quilt with the idea that if it was successful I would make a whole series of them for my series "I Was a 20th Century Lesbian."

I began by printing colors on some washi and treating them with konyaku to make momigami.

 

I created a full-size pattern and began to construct the quilt front, a disco ball emitting colored rays. These were pieced using a sewing machine just as if I were working with fabric.

 

I added some sparkly acrylic paint to make the disco ball shiny.

Then I worked on the background for the ball, the colored starburst rays.

I printed squares and whiskey bottles and glasses on a single sheet of washi for the backing, also treated with konnyaku and made into momigami.

I then used cotton batting between the two sides, hand quilted them, and put a binding around the perimeter. Here is the front and back of the finished quilt.

 

 

The quilt's namesake, Irene, brought me to my first gay dance club in 1976, a venue in Troy NY called Zelda. Irene also introduced me to Jack Daniels whiskey, a relationship that lasted longer than my relationship with Irene and that ultimately became toxic.