Map Wanderings

imaginary maps combined with stitch wanderings

In 2019 I attended QuiltCon in Nashville and took a class on patchwork maps with the incredibly talented Timna Tarr.

I’ve always been fascinated by maps and loved the idea of creating one with fabric but I also wanted to spend the day with my dear pal Dolores who wanted to take the class too. Dolores lives in Virginia so I don’t get to see her very often. We met through the quilting blogging community back in 2009 and have managed to meet up IRL every few years since our first meeting in London at the Fat Quarterly Retreat back in 2012.

The class prep involved choosing the location for your map and I chose Shangri la Farm where I live. This is the 7 acre ex-smallholding that we bought in 2010. We planted thousands of trees and re-wilded it so it is now beautiful woodland. My husband, Jonathan, did landscape this intentionally as well, creating pathways, ponds and some featured planting of particular trees. This means we have various landmarks that have names such as ‘cherry walk’, ‘the top pond’, ‘Lola’s memorial garden’, ‘piney ridge’ etc. I thought it would be wonderful to capture all this in a map. So I came to the class with a large sheet of paper with the whole thing drawn out.

As I was hand stitching my map I didn’t get too much done in the class. But I luckily wrote a QuiltCon Report blog post when I came home which includes this photo of my first stitching…

I did stitch more when I got home but it wasn’t close to being finsihed when I put it away to start something else. It then became a long running WIP. Occasionally I got it out and added a bit more and probably shared it on Instagram (but it’s too far back for me to find any images!).

Meanwhile our land and the buildings kept changing as we partially demolished and re-built our house.

A few months back I found it in a bag and thought ‘I MUST do something with this!’. I decided to cut my losses and concentrate on the area that had the most stitching, cut away the rest, and then just let myself loose with the whole concept.

Instead of trying to faithfully represent reality I would just make stuff up. This was not long after I had begun my Stitch Wanderings so I decided to make this a ‘Map Wandering’ and add simple shapes and embroidery embellishment in the same free playful way that I made my Stitch Wanderings.

As soon as I started working on this again with this new ethos it was a joy to stitch and I finished the piece in no time.

It had originally been sewn on top of a foundation fabric (where the map had been marked out) and with all the extra layers of appliqué I didn’t think that it needed extra layers through quilting. So I decided to try out framing it over a ‘box canvas’. Except I got Jonathan to make the frame for me to the exact size. It’s more of a wooden tray really.

I sewed on side pieces (as if I was making a box gusset for a bag with very shallow sides) and then Jonathan stapled it to the back.

It worked really well and it now hangs in my dining room! It still has some recognisable aspects of Shangri la Farm but it now has this fantasy element that makes it more magical and mysterious.

So I thought ‘I wonder if I could try this again but in a more intentional way?’. The first Map Wandering had been accidental but maybe I could just make up an imaginary map?

And that’s what I did!

I started with an A3 sized piece of yellow Essex Linen and I drew roads and a stream and a pond and then I just started stitching fabric on to the ‘land’ areas (rather than the roads) using needle turn appliqué.

Once I had all the main land and water areas I added bridges and trees and lots of simple fun shapes. The best bit was adding the three fishes to the pond! I love a row of fish all lined up!

I do really enjoy adding all the embroidery stitches using Aurifil 8wt cotton thread. Every time I create another of these ‘wanderings’ I discover more ways to use the stitches to express myself. I’m loving this journey!

I decided to finish this map as a mini quilt. The vast majority of stitching was done prior to layering up but I left areas (like the white stitching at the sides of the roads) for hand quilting through all the layers. I used 12wt cotton for this so it was easier on my hands.

I’m already itching to make another one of these Map Wanderings, It’s turning into a new obsession! Once I have finessed my process I will work out a way to share it with you. I have plans for something next year…

Happy Wanderings everyone!