Gallery - Out on a LIMB

“The Race”

45 1/2” x 43 1/2”

by

Wendy Butler Berns

The race is on! I wanted to capture the movement and the determination of my then 17 year old as he sped along on his bike in a duathalon. He biked 18 miles and ran a 5K. This is the second quilt I did inspired by the photograph of Greg. The first quilt completed in 2000 was stolen from my classroom and has never been recovered. It was time to do a remake to see what I would do with the design 10 years later.

This is the third quilt created as part of my Jewel Pearce Patterson Exhibition, “Out on a Limb.”

New challenges in this quilt include the monochromatic color theme with just a splash of red and the trapuntoed bicycle wheels in the border. My first-time use of prisma pencils for the face and coaching from my long time mentor-Denise Tallon Havlan helped me create the impressionistic face that would fit with the rest of the quilt design. Many months were spent on design ideas reworking and reworking them. I struggled most initially because I was working in a larger scale to fit the recommendations for the exhibition. In the end, I realized the design called for smaller dimensions and I was finally able to reach a line drawing I was happy with.

Quilt constructed using my Picture Image Machine Appliqué process and a family photo of my son on his bicycle. Commercial cotton fabrics. Machine appliquéd and embellished, then machine quilted with rayon and trilobal polyester threads.

Completed August, 2010
Designed and Created by
Wendy Butler Berns
textile artist, teacher, lecturer
Lake Mills , Wisconsin