Creating "Out of Darkness"

This vision of darkness surrounding kept playing around in my head for months, but it wasn't just the darkness. It was the two birds that had their wings flying upward and out of the darkness, in this lap size quilt, too.

 I chose quilt blocks that had a chaos feel to them as well as the "black on black" fabrics, to further the idea that darkness can include feelings of disorder, brokenness, and confusion. 

 The pink and blue birds are designed by foundation paper piecing. This technique uses paper that has lines on it for the shape of the bird. The shapes have to be cut out and then sewn onto the paper to create the design. It can be a bit tricky to sew but with time it gets a little bit easier to put together. 

I decided the top quilting would be hand quilted. The variegated purple thread looks like rain from a distance. The way the blocks are placed look as though there is a ray of light coming down from the upper right-hand corner. 

The inside batting has a warm-heavy weight cotton/wool batting with a batting and binding of a deep dark purple. 

I hope that whatever you might be going through, despite the darkness that is surrounding you, that you too can fly out of the darkness too. 

View Out of Darkness Quilt