This week I worked on cutting out fabric and sewing it together. This fabric is pretty difficult to work with, so it’s taking a little bit of extra time at every step. My pieces are also not lining up as nicely as they are supposed to. I can’t figure out why, because it fits on one end but not the other. I think I might trim off some of the weird edges. The new fabric the Ashley got me is stiffer than the first one, so I think it will be easier to sew than these were.
So far, I am almost finished with the four innermost panels. I hope to make 8 more in total. Since I have two kinds of fabric, I think I will put the thinner ones on the inside grid and the thicker on the outside. Keely helped me make a lot of progress on cutting out, so next week should be just a lot of pinning, ironing, and sewing.
I still need to decide on how I will hang them up. I think sewing a strip on the top might give them some more structure and then I can just hang them from either corner with the fishing line. Otherwise, I could add room for a dowel or piece of wood to be fed through the top.
This week I finally tested out my templates to make sure all my conversions were correct. This was a good choice because one of my templates was measured wrong and I switched up which square size was for what. After some trouble shooting, I fixed all my measurements, and I’m ready to start cutting out fabric.
I also got to go to the international quilt museum in Lincoln, NE and see one of the installations from earlier in my blog by Racheal Hayes. I didn’t know that was going to be there, so I was very excited. I got to see how it was installed and how it was sewn because it’s visible from multiple levels of the building.
I didn’t get to work as much this week so I don’t have as much to report, but I got a few things done. First, I looked through my excel sheet to figure out the conversion factor for the individual pieces I will need to cut out for the pattern. I had a funky number, so I rounded a bit. Then, I cut out cardboard guides for each of the pieces. I cut out fabric from that to double check that everything is right, but I haven’t had the chance to sew it up yet. If I need to edit the size of the guides I can do that after I sew it up. I I think I will cover the edges of the cardboard with tape before using them for cutting.
I think I may need a new blade for my rotary cutter, too. It was not cutting very well on my mock ups.
I’m worried I may not have enough to fill the space based on my number of houses. I am considering having just blank fabric hanging in between if needed to bulk the fabric use up.
First, I used this pattern. I unfortunately lost this sample, but I learned a lot of issues with sewing this type of fabric. I also wanted to make a bigger version to see if that made things easier.
Next, I made the no-seam version of the pattern twice as big. I used a flat-felled seam so there wouldn’t be a raw side. I thought I would like this better, but I found it really difficult to make straight lines and I actually liked the raw side more. I also realized with this version that the lines look strange without color.
This is the sample that I landed on. I want to make it about twice as big for the final project. My resident engineer helped me convert all the sizes to find how much fabric I will need to make them all about 24” in width. This will also make it so fewer houses will take up more area. I will sew them together vertically and I might clean up the sides once finished. I actually like having the insides have raw edges because I think it contributes to the concept.
Installation plan + written statement
Written statement:
I want to make a ghost-like neighborhood of houses that the viewer can walk through and peer through. By using panels of sheer fabric, I will quilt vertical lines of houses that will be suspended in the room. Faint sounds of a breeze can be heard as you enter. We all have our own associations of what a house signifies. I want viewer to think: Is this place abandoned? am I partaking in surveillance? Is this a dream? The space is rather narrow, so one may have to push past the fabric to walk through the room. I hope the translucent fabric will be combined with the volume and layout will make the room simultaneously full and empty, open and claustrophobic.
Installation plan:
There will be two rows of panels in squares hung from the ceiling. The inside square will be hung on the grid inside the lighting lines. The outside square will hang from the grid on the outside of the lights. The inside row will have one panel on each side, and the outside row will have three panels each. Each panel will have 3 houses each with each house block being about 24 inches wide. This will make 12 panels total with 36 houses total. Ideally, they will hang about three feet off the ground. The lights will point down at a slight angle towards the center of the room. There will be a speaker playing faint sounds of wind and road noise near the entrance.
Viewer encounter strategy:
I want to the room to be feel close together. The viewer will have to weave through the fabric to walk through the room.
Materials list:
· White crystal organza fabric 13 yards - $34.98 before taxes and shipping
o https://fabricwholesaledirect.com/products/crystal-organza-59-60-inch-fabric
· Dowel rods to hang top of fabric on $4.20*
o woodpeckerscrafts.com
o *I am unsure if this is the best way to hang them
· Fishing wire to hang panels= est. $6
· White sewing thread =est. $6
· Some type of speaker/mp3 player for sound
· Correct needle for fabric type $8.88
oamazon.com
You have done something important: they’ve tested, edited, and landed on a direction. That alone is growth.
First: I’m impressed by the amount of material testing you have done- well done. Four mock-ups is real process, not guessing. You learned from each version, and that shows in the final decision. The shift toward the narrower house without the door is a smart edit — it simplifies the form and removes narrative cliché.
The raw edges are not a flaw. In this context, they actually support the concept. The houses are ghost-like, permeable, slightly unresolved. A perfectly finished edge might contradict that.
Now let’s refine.
Concept
The strongest part of this proposal is the tension between:
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Neighborhood (familiar, domestic, communal)
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Sheerness (exposure, permeability)
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Surveillance / insecurity / dream-state
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Full yet empty
That’s sophisticated.
The “ghost-like neighborhood” is working.
Be careful not to over-explain it in the written statement. The power lies in ambiguity. Let the viewer decide whether they are:
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Walking through memory
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Trespassing
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Being watched
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Or simply drifting
You don’t need to spell out every interpretive option.
Installation Plan
The two-square layout (inner + outer) is smart. It creates:
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Compression
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Navigation
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Centered stillness
Make sure the spacing is tight enough that the viewer must gently push the panels aside. That physical interaction is crucial.
Three feet off the ground is good — it avoids draping but keeps it architectural.
Lighting angled slightly inward is also strong. You want shadows to layer and double the houses on surrounding walls.
One suggestion:
Test how sheer the organza actually is under your gallery lighting. Too sheer and the house shapes disappear. Too opaque and the ghost effect is lost.
Quilting vs Drawing
Quilting gives material presence.
Drawing gives subtlety and speed.
Given your timeline and 36 houses total, be realistic.
If quilting all 36 will compromise installation time, consider:
Hierarchy could strengthen the space.
Sound
Wind is good — but subtle.
Avoid anything cinematic or dramatic.
No howling.
No heavy storm.
A faint ambient exterior tone is enough.
The sound should almost be questioned — not obvious.
Materials / Hanging
Dowel rods are fine structurally, but make sure they don’t visually dominate.
If the dowels read too much, consider:
Fishing line could work — just ensure knots are secure and level.
What’s Working Conceptually
This installation understands:
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Material restraint
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Repetition
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Architectural activation
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Emotional ambiguity
It’s not sentimental.
It’s not literal.
It’s spatial.
That’s a big leap.
I’m very pleased with how much testing you’ve done. The refinement of the house pattern shows real decision-making. The ghost-like neighborhood concept is strong, especially paired with sheer fabric and spatial compression.
Keep the ambiguity — don’t over-explain the themes in your statement. Let the room do the work.
Be realistic about quilting time. If needed, mix techniques to maintain installation quality.
Make sure the panels are close enough that viewers must negotiate them physically — that tension is key.
Bethany, you are operating at a higher level now. This reads like someone thinking in space, not object.
Feb 16
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on my installation. I want play off of my first idea with the sheer sheets in a cube combined with the sheer quilts. My idea is to make several quilted panels hung in two squares, and inner and an outer, with houses quilted on them. I want it to have the look of a neighborhood with houses in a line. The viewer would be able to walk through the panels and stand in the middle. I would hope that the sheer fabric will create some dim shadows across the room.
This is different than my other ideas, but I think it hits more on the materiality that I was wanting to work with while also having a theme that I can latch onto better. I have been thinking a lot about families and the state of our nation. I think the imagery of houses is very relevant, especially houses that can be seen through. I think this can convey themes of surveillance, insecurity, weakness, maybe even a dream-state. Also, I think using this simple sign of a house will let the viewer apply their own feelings onto the room. I want it to be a little eerie; the houses are ghost-like.
The panels would be white voile or organza fabric, most likely. This would give a sheer look, but stiff enough to not drape too much. Rachel Hayes uses shimmer organza in her quilts. I am a little worried about quilting that many squares. It will help that it is all the same pattern, so most of the work is cutting out the pieces. Alternatively, I could draw on the houses with a very light color. It is most important that the outline of the house is present, but faint. I don’t want the outline of the houses to overpower the room. Each panel has three to five houses on it (maybe 5-6 feet long), hangs from the ceiling, and stops around hip/thigh height for the average height viewer. I also would like there to be a sound element to this room. I was thinking of a faint breeze/wind sound or ambient outdoors sounds.
Feb 9
I thought more about this project, and I’m still struggling with a direction. I went through my fabric and found some sheer panels that are pretty. I also found an artist that makes large transparent quilts named Wally Dion. He will often layer them in a room so you look through them all. Rachel Hayes does a similar thing, but on a larger scale. It looks like they both use a sewing technique where you fold and sew the seams so there is only one layer of fabric and no backing needed.
Rachel Hayes
Wally Dillon
I think at the core of my ideas, I want to use fabric and light to enhance the room, but I am not sure how to do that well. I have some fabric that I could try experimenting with. I think I’m just at a little bit of a conceptual roadblock. I think I am mostly struggling with how to adapt the space. What do I want the overall experience to be like?
I think that visually I like my first idea better, but it is lacking conceptually. The sheer quilting could add context to the sheer panels, but I’m still struggling to clarify my ideas overall.
Jan 30
I have been struggling to pin down an idea for the materialistic assignment. My first idea is called “The World Needs More Cowgirls.”
So far, my idea revolves around being a woman in Wyoming. I want to talk about the women who have had an impact on our country from Wyoming as well as the experiences of women here.
There would be a cowboy hat in the center of the room that is obstructed by sheer fabric and covered in quilted fabric. I am not sure if I would like this fabric to have something painted on it or instead do long paper-cut designs like lace. Either way, I would like the fabric to tone the room and cast shadows in some way. The hat would be on a stand with fabric coming out from underneath that falls into a sort of puddle. This fabric would have names of women from Wyoming. Guests would be invited to write a name of an impactful woman in their life on a scrap of fabric and add it to the pile. I would like to have a speaker inside the cowboy hat with voices of woman talking about their experiences.
I want the room to feel pretty but a little bit unsettling. It should be mostly dark, making the Having the fabric pile grow in the middle signifies the impact of women, but adding to it involves tossing the name of a woman on the ground.I would like to paint on the fabric panels, but I am unsure of what currently. I could write words as well, but that could be too much text. I want there to be obstruction of the hat, so maybe even male forms. I just am struggling to refine this idea as a whole.
My second idea was to make a sort of prayer room. There would be birds and flowers from the ceiling and bean bag chairs around the sides. I would also like panels that have psalms written down them. I would like there to be a sound element as well, so I was thinking the audio of breathing. There could be some sort of dish that people can write and leave a prayer. The lighting would hopefully cast shadows on the walls.
Bethany,
I want to start by saying how much your thinking has matured over the semester. Looking back at your early ideas — the cowboy hat, the prayer room, layered symbolism — you were searching for a way into the material. What you’ve landed on with the sheer quilted houses is much more focused and spatially intelligent.
The ghost-like neighborhood is strong. The repetition of a simple house form paired with translucent fabric creates exactly the kind of tension you’re describing — full yet empty, open yet claustrophobic. The fact that the viewer must physically move through the panels is important. That’s where this becomes installation rather than textile display.
A few refinements to consider:
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Keep the ambiguity. You don’t need to explain surveillance, insecurity, dream-state, and national commentary all at once. Let the space hold that tension without narrating it.
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Be realistic about quilting all 36 houses. If time becomes an issue, consider mixing techniques (stitched outlines on some, drawn outlines on others) while keeping visual consistency.
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Test the fabric under actual lighting conditions. The sheerness needs to be calibrated so the house form reads, but doesn’t overpower the space.
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Make sure the panels are close enough together that viewers must negotiate them physically. That friction is essential.
The raw edges you mentioned -They work. They support the ghost quality. Don’t over-finish something that conceptually benefits from slight vulnerability.
This piece feels materially grounded, spatially aware, and emotionally restrained. That’s a significant step forward from the beginning of the semester.
Let’s finalize spacing and hanging logistics in person so the installation reads as intentional and architectural rather than decorative.
