Internal Combustion

I was so excited when Martha posed the Energy challenge. My stash is filled with vibrant colored fabric that I thought would be perfect for energy: fuchsia, yellow, brilliant orange. But then I thought that would be too easy: to let the fabrics communicate energy instead of the composition. I challenged myself to create energy with only black and white. What was I thinking?

Actually, I've had the desire to create a black and white quilt like this for some time and this gave me the opportunity to move forward. I have a sweater that has black and white intersecting circles that I love. I have a similar motif on my coffee mugs. Now I have a quilt.

"Internal Combustion" is machine appliqued: black and white fabrics on a white background. I chose applique because I am not yet daring enough to piece a quilt of this complexity. It was hard enough to cut, much less sew!

I named this quilt Internal Combustion for two reasons. First, it represents the recent chaos in my life: intersecting demands, circular, endless, adamant. Second, my husband and son are total car geeks. They have worked very hard to educate me on the parts and operation of an internal combustion car engine. I have finally grasped the concepts. Just in time for them to become obsolete.

Cotton fabric stitched and quilted with invisible thread.