It’s been a bit busy around here the last couple of months because we have commenced work on a new studio.    The transformation of our old shearing shed into a sewing studio is happening but is still a work in progress.  The electricians are here today installing lights and power points.  The ‘somewhat’ historical building will keep its’ character but not be preserved in a completely original condition which would have been terribly expensive and horribly impractical.  For instance, the timber slatted floor, which was elevated above ground level to allow sheep manure to drop through at shearing time, has been concreted. The alternative (to original condition) was to see it slowly fall apart, eaten by termites.  Thank goodness the shed is a corrugated iron shed and not an historical listed building.  The shed is in the process of transformation rather than preservation and will have a second life as a studio.

To meet my Cloth in Common deadline, and work around the chaos in my house, I decided on a transformation of an old quilt that I hoped would be a quick and easy option rather than make a new quilt for the Transformation prompt.  Here is the selected item; a small quilt that for various reasons, never made it to the intended recipient.

It has been hanging around my house in various places for about 10 years; folded on the back of a sofa; rolled up in a cane basket near the fireplace; sitting in a crate with all the other surplus-to-needs quilts.  The time has come to repurpose it.

Many people I talk to say that it is a crime to cut up a quilt once it is made, as if the process of making something means it has to be preserved forever in that form.   I like the idea of reimagining something, finding a different use with a bit of modification, looking at something from a different angle and seeing it transformed into something else.  It is far better than just taking up storage space.

The little pink quilt has now been cut up and sewn back together.  I’m just trying to decide whether to make it a 3D sculptural piece or if it could benefit from some over-dye.  Whatever happens to it, it has given me a second time of enjoying playing with the fabric and experimenting with the different things it can be.

Here are my two sacred cows together, both partially completed.