Moonlight - My SAQA donation quilt

SAQA is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the art quilt and the artists who create them.  The SAQA benefit auction is held every year.  Members make and donate 12" x 12"  art quilts to be auctioned to raise funds and this auction starts soon.  On September 15th bidding will start on section one.  If you want to know more about how the process works - visit here.

I haven't been a member of SAQA long, but I've already found it a valuable resource, lots of interesting discussions, support, and exhibition opportunities.  So I made my first SAQA donation piece.

I had been making lots of moons for various experiments and had a soft yellow silk one on my design wall that I wanted to make a sky for.  I pulled fabrics and was most pleased with a bunch of hand-dyed silks I had made.

I sketched the 12 x 12 outline on parchment paper and the moon shape in the centre then collaged and fused the silk squares around those outlines.

But then I decided to audition a few other moons.  Too much choice!!  I wanted to convey the luminosity the moon gets sometimes, the beauty of her different phases and the feelings of a connection to the divine I get when I spend time out under the moon.

So this is the moon I chose to convey those feelings.  I finished it off with machine quilting to give the feeling of a winter halo and then used a facing to finish the edges.

If you'd like to see more donation quilts, and there are plenty of stunning ones, head over to the SAQA website and spend some time browsing.  My quilt is in section one.