Our granddaughter, Sara Lindsey Morris, showed artistic talent from an early age. In 2010, when she was 12 years old, she made this self portrait in an art class. The instructor took black and white photos of the student. As an exercise in color value and shading, the students created self portraits using only blacks, grays, and skin tones. Sara chose to set off her  portrait with a bright red background. I traced the portrait onto plain paper, selected a color palette of batiks and identified each fabric’s placement. Then I traced the portrait and markings onto a fusible appliqué web, cut out each piece, and lightly adhered it to the appropriate fabric. Each piece was fused to the background of red material. I put the project aside for years, feeling that I was not skilled enough to do it justice. Through various classes in the Art Special Interest Group of Palo Verde Patchers, more practice with free motion quilting, learning how to mount an art quilt, and the encouragement of fellow quilters, I finished it in June 2023.

I sandwiched the quilt top, batting, and a black backing, and did  free motion quilting on the portrait. The red background is echo quilted as a way to express how I see Sara: she radiates energy and is not known for sitting still, either physically or when pursuing a goal! The quilt is finished in an “envelope style” edge, meaning that another black batting is sewn right sides together to the quilt. After rounding the corners, I lifted the backing, cut a slit, and turned the piece right sides out. This created a smooth, uninterrupted edge. The finished quilt is mounted with matte gel on a 1” deep stretched canvas painted with black acrylic paint around the edges.