I created Blooming Pond for the block competition of  The Woodlands Area Quilt Guild 2009 biennial fundraising exhibition and festival titled “Blooming Flowers.”  Each contributor bought the same eight, basically solid colored squares, of fabric to work with. They were allowed to add fabrics, but the design had to be original. I added fabrics that reminded me of my koi pond, the sky, and vegetation.

The block was a special challenge for me because I had never worked en pointe before. I decided to do a version of the classic “attic windows” block, but ended up making it much more complicated, to suggest the pond. I then used a sort of “log cabin” method of piecing to form the bottom of the pond, foliage, sky, and sun filtering through. I composed a koi fish in my embroidery software and embroidered it on. I also used other embroidery decorative stitches to embellish it. When finished, the block depicted a semi-realistic abstraction of my beloved pond. The koi fish looks sad because I will soon move to Oregon, leaving behind my fishes, my pond, my studios, my guild, and my Texas friends.

Collection Kumiko Frydl, Houston, TX, USA
 

Quilt History: Woodlands Area Quilt Guild exhibition and festival, Trinity Episcopal Church, The Woodlands, TX, June 12-13, 2009.