For my independent project, I made a story quilt about my time at CMU. I chose a quilt because I liked how the medium was able to show different layers of information – the piecework and the actual quilting.

Materials: For the front (gridded), I used my old fitted sheet from my first two years, and is a Twin XL so I haven’t been using it, and I know my mom will make me throw it out when I graduate, so I might as well upcycle it. The red and blue parts are from thrifted button up shirts that I cropped, and used the leftovers. The red pattern reminded me of the red brick houses in Pittsburgh.

The back is made from scraps from this project and my previous project- the encoded cloth of recycled bags- because something I have become very aware of especially the past few years is sustainability, and to maximize resources.

Design: I made a 5×5 grid for my five years here, each row representing a year. The quilting is actually a map of the Oakland-Squirrel Hill area, with CMU at the middle. All of the places I’ve lived the past few years could be found in this area. It is oriented to be read from the back. I very much associate place with memories, so in this case, it is literally what binds everything together.

Throughout this project, and this semester, I grew a lot. I have gotten faster at embroidering, and more comfortable with using the sewing machine! I am pretty happy with how the quilt came out. Next time, I would like to make a quilt that is sized to be used!

So far, I have cut the fabric into 5″x5″ squares and started sewing them together with a 3/8″ seam. My next step would be to finish the piecework and start embroidering the white squares with memories from my life in college.

11/22 Proposal
Gather materials, sketch streets on fabric, make buildings?, start sewing streets
12/01 Update Post
Finish sewing streets, Handstitch red paths and dots for points of interest
12/08 Due Date

There are three color patterns- the first two using the blue often found on fine China, and other of fall colors as my choice of color palettes but is easily adaptable. The pattern was designed for a brick pattern, that way the objects in the pattern fit together better. The leaves help fill in the gaps as well.

Even though I had been using Adobe Illustrator for 4 years now, this was my first time making a pattern! It was not as hard as I thought it would be, and will be using this skill more often.

Throughout my life, I have collected part of places I have been to, whether in postcard form or a museum ticket, and I hang them up on my wall. What if I used that spirit and turned it into a story quilt of my life?

I am graduating in spring! So maybe it would be nice to make a quilt that will remind me of my five years here at CMU.

2. Shibori Indigo Dyed or Embroidered Kimono

I enjoyed the indigo dye workshop we did, and want to try it at home. I would indigo dye cloth to sew together into a kimono. Or maybe an embroidered kimono?

3. More quilts made from recycled materials

A continuation of my quilt from the Encoded Cloth project, I would make another quilt from more recycled materials that I find

This is a woven textile from the Met Collection that I liked. It feels calming and like a leisurely day. So what if I made a pattern with similar colors or in the same style, but more modern and from a leisurely day in my life.

Here is quick sketch of my house, bike, chair, and table of plants.

This is a first draft of what the repeating pattern looks like. I still have to refine the lines and colors, but I like the effect so far!

This is a woven textile from the Met Collection from the 18th century, “from China or Japan.” I am drawn to how the pattern is nested in each other, and the hierarchy of different elements- the main fish, the waves its sits on, the splashing of the waves, then the drops of water in the air. Together, it is well composed and create an intriguing figural negative space. In addition, there is also the pattern below it that seems very different, but of similar colors and contrast.

In contrast to the textile above, this is called Brownstoner designed by Ian “Hydeon” Ferguson, found on Flavor Paper. As an architecture student from Brooklyn that likes to draw facades, of course I was drawn to a pattern of Brownstone building fronts in Brooklyn. There is an intense amount of detail, and lack of white space that makes it almost seem like it is a never-ending amount of different variations of buildings. When the pattern repeats, it fits right into the one below it.

In 2030, I imagine (or I guess hope) that we will have taken action against climate change. We will be composting and planting more trees and there will be greenery everywhere. We will decrease the amount of waste in the world, and upcycle to turn waste into something more useful and beautiful.

For this piece, I was inspired by the Korean Jogakbo, which is a style of patchwork, traditionally used to create wrapping cloths from scraps of left-over fabrics.

In this case, I chose to use single-use plastic bags. In states like New York, there is already a ban on plastic bags. I imagine in 2030, they would be abolished and rare. So what do we do with them?

In this case, I imagine we use them to make a wrapping cloth of even more value, using its scraps, and something so disposable right now, to make something more beautiful.

I used plastic bags I found around the house, as well as a reusable bag from a commercial store, and a chipotle napkin I had. I appliqued the smiley face normally found on plastic bags, as well as a black bag cut as clouds, signifying how the commercial stores would find everything okay with polluting the world. “Have a Nice Day.” I had to hand-stitch the pieces together because the plastic was too fragile for the sewing machine. There are two sides, one with darker pieces, and one with lighter. The outer frame is made from an old pair of sweatpants I no longer wore.

A play on the quilting method, I chose to hold the pieces together with a small flower in the center of each square, and branches of trees and plants around the center piece.

I imagine this to be a quilt of hope, showing that we can eventually break out of the cycle, and there will be greenery and plants that overgrow the plastic pollution. Utilitarian-wise, it could be used to wrap gifts for friends, or clothes.

In 2030, I imagine (or I guess hope) that we will have taken action against climate change. We will be composting and planting more trees and there will be greenery everywhere. We will decrease the amount of waste in the world, and upcycle to turn waste into something more useful and beautiful. An example would be these marbled tiles from post-consumer plastic waste by Enis Akiev or even the Pollution Popsicles which was a warning of water pollution.

An ecoded cloth could be showing the possible solutions to waste and upcycling: how we could make something beautiful out of something people no longer want. We could quilt together old plastic bags, or scraps of fabric, or use dried flowers or dried tea leaves for embellishment.