Salli McQuaid: #89: Hoot Time! 40"w x 12½"h, 2011. Displayed on the porch-R.

Artist 's Statement

Hoot Time was begun in a machine embroidery class that I took. When I saw the examples of the "runner" we were going to make, I knew it wasn't me. I was allowed to choose my own fabric and thread colors, so I chose yellow clocks and owl ribbon. When we set up the embroidery, I knew "live - love" weren't the words for my runner. So I changed them to "hoot time." We embroidered the designs and letters out. I really liked them. But we had to sew the quilt onto what resembled a large white doily. This was definitely not me.

So when I got back to the studios I decided to rescue the piece. I added "owl" imagery to the two blank ends of the quilt. Next, I trimmed off  the doily. Then I added a bright green "clock" border and more owl ribbon. I added another layer of batting and a back to the entire piece, faced, turned, and quilted it, and voila -- cheerful imagery for my porch! So remember, with just a bit of imagination and work, you can use those class samples and the time and materials you spend making them.

Materials: textiles and specialty threads (metallic, haloshimmer, variegated, cotton, rayon, invisible, polyester).

Techniques:  machine piecing, stitching, appliqué, lettering, and embroidery;  free-form machine quilting.