Meanwhile...

Sunrise/Sunset (detail)
Original quilt from 1983

Current state of Sunrise/Sunset as I reconstruct the original quilt into these squares

So...since I feel free to deconstruct, cut up. take apart, reconstruct found quilts in order to make new art, I think it is only fair that I am do the same with my own old quilts.

The top picture is a detail of a quilt I made back in 1983 when I had been making contemporary quilts for about 4-5 years.
This quilt was made of commercial, mostly cotton fabrics.  It was machine pieced and hand quilted by me.
Was it hard for me to cut it up?
Yes, a little.  But I had done some other deconstructing of my own quilts, as well as favorite clothing when I was in graduate school.  So doing this is not completely new to me.  What seems to be harder for me is the deconstruction and cutting of the found quilts.  I wonder about the maker, why it isn't signed, why it has been so neglected and uncared for, who owned it originally, was it made for a special occasion or just for necessity.  All of these things make up the identity of that old piece and its maker.

At this point I have a clearer idea of what I want to do with the found older quilts than I do for this 34 year old quilt of my own making.  So I have cut "Sunrise, Sunset" (what a corny title!) into these 3x3" piles of quilt blocks that are like little windows and that have some depth to them.  I have about 55 of them right now and still have some of the quilt left.
My intention is to render the whole quilt into these squares and go from there.
So far the muse hasn't been in attendance for this project, meaning I don't know what will happen to these squares.

Meanwhile I am working on reconstructing and painting a found quilt that has more direction.
Sometimes it is good to have several things going at once.
There is a work-in-progress picture of the deconstructed found quilt on my instagram page: https://instagram.com/claremurrayadams

www.claremurrayadams.com