Journal Quilt Class 1

I recently took my first course from Quilt University, Journal Quilts with Lily Kerns.


Lesson #1: Mind Map. This lesson used mind mapping as a way to journal the natural way. Mind mapping is a method of “brainstorming” and seeing connections. I did a mind map on the word beauty. One of the threads was regal, leading to stately and royal. Another thread was feminine, leading to strong. Another thread was black and ethnic.








For this quilt, along with an original print for the face, I used fabrics that looked “royal” or “stately” or “regal”. The crown is gold foil paper, and other embellishments are a feather, beads, trim, and sequins. I wrote the mind map words on one side and added voile to cover, representing the veils women wear. On the other side, I added threads from the project under voile, representing the threads of our lives and of this mind map activity.



For the second quilt, I am experimenting with an idea for an art quilt using fabrics from around the world. I just received some of these fabrics and they reminded me of international feminine beauty. I had planned to design it in a gown or robe shape but it turned itself into a house shape, so I named it International House of Beauty.

I found the mind map activity to be easy but the transition to visual quilt to be quite difficult. My linear mind gets in the way of abstracting ideas; this is something I need to work on.