There are many barns and other businesses in the nearby town of Tillamook, Oregon (famous for cheese, and yes we toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory too) that have these colorful quilt pattern squares on them.  Each barn has a different pattern and makes a trail for tourists to follow in the area.  Sitka Center is located at the very southern edge of Taillamook County and actually closer to Lincoln City, Oregon, in Lincoln County, but Tillamook is an interesting place to visit about 29 miles north on the coast.  Since I am from Alabama and all my female ancestors were quilters, I am familiar with quilting patterns and wanted to try and this with handmade paper.  I started making a new series of handmade paper quilts.  Here are some photos of the first quilt and how it was created.

I used “buttercut” stencils on three different moulds to make the quilt squares and played around with the order and color sequences.  I joined the handmade paper quilt squares with thread glueing it with acrylic soft gel matte in my usual way so that the quilt can fold up for easy storage and transport.  It is interesting to hang this quilt in space with the light coming through and see the threads that sew this quilt together and how they contribute to the layered look.  The Boyden Studio at Sitka Center for Art & Ecology (www.sitkacenter.org) where I am lucky to be working during this residency is a wonderful big and light-filled space.  Check back later for more updates on my 3-month artist-in-residency at Sitka Center from Oct. 16 – Jan. 10.