Quilting Mondrian

I've been very busy this summer so I have not posted for a while. Summer school captured my attention, but the coolest thing I did this summer was creating this quilt based on the painting “Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, and White: Nom II 1939” by Piet Mondrian. I conceived an idea during the school year to make a quilt based on a painting. Obviously I could not create a quilt based on just any painting because recording people and landscapes, for example, are way beyond my abilities as a quilter, so I had to be selective. I knew I had to choose a painter who created mostly angular designs, preferably simple designs. I remembered how Mondrian’s paintings have been used in clothing design so I determined that I would focus on choosing a Mondrian piece. 

“Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, and White: Nom II 1939” by Piet Mondrian

Eventually, I decided on “Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, and White: Nom II 1939”. I had to be sure of the paintings true proportions in order to ensure that my quilt would be proportional to the actual painting, so I calculated the dimensions of every rectangle and made the rectangles of my quilt proportional.

Front of my Quilt

Front Detail

Front Detail

Front Detail - I included a "PM 39" to represent how Mondrian signed his piece

 I had to carefully consider what to do with the back of the quilt. In the end I decided to create a mirror image on the back of the quilt because I wanted the rectangles from the front to match up with the same sized rectangles on the back. The only difference is that I wanted the back of the quilt to only have black and white. I used black in place of the white and other colors on the front of the quilt, and white in place of the black.  I liked this arrangement because the white and colored thread would be easily seen on the back, hinting at the pattern on the front. This created a new twist on the front that I really liked. 

Back of my Quilt

Back Detail

Back Detail

Back Detail - I signed it with my initials "SH 15" 

It took me approximately 80 hours to create this quilt in its entirety. This is the first large quilt I have ever created. Previously, I have created baby quilts, and even smaller pieces. I worked hard to make the quilt look as much like the Mondrian painting as I could, so I even sewed “PM 39” into my quilt to represent how Mondrian signed his name on his painting. I signed my initials on the back, “SH 15” in the same manner as Mondrian. The painting “Composition with Red, Blue, Yellow, and White: Nom II 1939” is owned by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. I would love to see the painting in person someday.

For more information about Piet Mondrian look at my fifth post found here