The Unmentionables Series: Double D

This is the second in a series of quilts, The Unmentionables. My mother always called our underwear “unmentionables.” Do you see the unmentionables?

In March 2022 while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw a post and thought, “that’s a great minimal quilt.” I clicked on it and soon realized it was an ad for Pact underwear, called High-Rise Hipsters. I shared this funny story with my guild mates on our Instagram chat. They said, “You need to make that into a quilt.”

The conversation then explored the idea of actual underwear used in a quilt or a bra made out of a quilt- maybe a bralette.

I said, “I’d love a quilt bralette.”

A guild mate said, “quiltkinis lol

Another suggested, “Psychic outlaw makes quilted corsets.”

Another said, “You are my weirdest friends. And I say that with awe and admiration.”

Another friend said, “Seriously you must make this.” I agreed.

Another quilter suggested, “I can see a quilt series of womenswear under garment shapes.”

I responded, “Like bras garters pantyhose sports bras, and — depends.”

She said, “And those old sanitary napkin straps. What were they called?” That was before my time. She said, “Lucky you. They were awful.”

Eventually I wrote, “It’s something I’ve never given much thought to. This series could be life changing. Long live granny panties!!!!

They insisted I had to make this quilt and make a series of quilts, exploring our relationship with unmentionables and other female issues such as periods and birth control.

I began sketching in my Procreate app. I immediately made the Double D sketch.

I made the High-Rise Hipsters quilt first though. I exhibited it as part of our guild’s exhibit at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in 2023.

High Rise Hipsters

So, I ask you to imagine what your unmentionables might look like.

If you want to see Double D, it will be on display at QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh in the Negative Space category.

A Cabin in the Sticks

I made this quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild’s Super Scrappy Challenge, sponsored by American Patchwork and Quilting.

Improvisational work with scraps touches me in a way a planned design does not, but the work also makes me question my intuition. I’m not sure why some things work and others annoy me. In the beginning, I wanted to make lots of small log cabin blocks, but after making about a dozen I stopped because it felt like something I had seen many times before.

I moved onto strips of scraps. I chose them randomly from a large box of solid scraps. I tried not to cut any of the length of the scraps. When I pieced the long strips together, I loved the movement and the color combination.

I used almost exclusively thread from my mother’s sewing cabinet and I felt a connection to the past while creating this piece. I grew up in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, and I’ve often said I grew up “in the sticks.” The wonky sides make it real for me and create that organic feel I wanted.

It was not selected for QuiltCon so I’ll have to find another exhibit.

Dear Orcas

I made this quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild’s fabric challenge for QuiltCon 2024. The fabric is Windham Artisan Cotton. I used Turquoise-Copper, White-Aqua, Apple Green-Chartreuse, and Grape-Dark Pink.

Dear Orcas, 50.5″ x 50.5″

I used artisan cotton previously, and I liked the feel of it. It does fray and it’s hard to fix mistakes because it thins almost to the point where you lose your seam allowance. Making curves felt easier though. This type of quarter circle requires precision and I didn’t fix some of them because of the fraying (or at least that’s what I’m telling myself).

I used Latifah Saafir’s Clammy 10” template. It took some guidance from her and quilty friends to understand how to cut the pieces correctly.

I used variegated thread (4655 color), 12 weight, from Aurifil because I wanted it to have the feeling of water. I also quilted one large quarter circle. Do you see it?

At one point of making the quarter circles, I saw a ship, followed by a whalelike creature.  I called it Dear Orcas because they were in the news for attacking boats.  We do not know why they are doing this, so I wrote them this letter.