Bessie's Quilt is becoming part of the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail

 

(Above: Bessie's Quilt. 2007.  51" x 44" Xylene photo transfer on muslin with vintage fabric sashing and buttons.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Bessie's Quilt was made way back in 2007.  Despite that being nineteen years ago, I was a blogger then and the original post is HERE.  It was made in anticipation of my solo show, Blues Chapel, when scheduled for a 2008 summer at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History ... a place where my current solo show, Cascades, is now showing.  When Blues Chapel opened in Pickens, I created a little video.  CLICK HERE to see the show.  Bessie's Quilt was made for the wall on which it hung then but it has been lots of other places since that first show.  Still, when I think about this quilt, my mind still envisions it on that wall, in Pickens.  So when the Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail contacted me about sponsoring a painted quilt panel for our Cateechee church/home/studio, I couldn't imagine any other quilt except this one. 

(Above:  Bessie's Quilt hanging beside the panel being painted.)

An Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail representative has been keeping me updated regarding the progress of the painted sign.  This week Steve and I were invited to come see it and help paint a few of the squares of colorful sashing.  I was stunned as just how beautifully done Bessie was.  Drawn entirely free-hand and in pencil, the figure was already sprayed with a fixative and covered with paper so that none of the paint from the sashing could accidentally mar the center.  (For the picture above, the paper cover was temporarily pulled away.)

(Above:  Painting the selected squares black ... two coats!)

Careful attention is paid to every  quilt trail sign.  There's documentation of the quilter (if known), the date, the size, the location where it will eventually hang, and lots of other details.  There's a full record of the Behr paint colors used.  The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail has three different workshop locations.  The one in which Bessie's Quilt is being painted had five other signs in various stages of production.  I helped paint the black squares of the sashing. 

 

(Above:  The Upstate Heritage Quilt Trail production workshop in Oakway, South Carolina.)

Everything is done by volunteers.  The first quilt trail sign in the Upstate was installed in 2010 Now, there are over 300 panels are located throughout Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties.  Steve and I learned all about the substrata, its prep work, the way painter's tape is used to isolate sections, the stencils collection, and the final weatherproofing/sealant.

(Above:  A volunteer rolling out the first of several coatings of marine sealant.)

Soon, Bessie's Quilt will be installed on the side of our church/home/studio.  I can hardly wait!