Retrograde

Retrograde
Copyright 2022 by Susan Brubaker Knapp

“Retrograde” is a large piece (39.5" x 69.25") made from screen printed hand-dyed cotton fabrics, cotton thread, cotton batting, commercial cotton backing. Free-motion machine quilted. 

My latest piece is made with the fabrics I created this summer in a workshop with Pat Pauly at Pro Chemical & Dye in Fall River, Mass. In the class, we worked with thickened dyes and screens, using stencils and screens we created with our own motifs. It was wonderfully fun to work with materials and techniques that I don’t normally use, partly because I’ve never had a studio space that works for “wet work” – the messy stuff. And Pat is an excellent teacher, highly entertaining and full of information. Check out her website at PatPauly.com – she teaches in person and online. Her work is spectacular.

I don’t think I’ve ever designed a piece with such large chunks of fabric that had such big motifs, so it was a challenge. I really didn’t want to cut up my yardage too much (I dyed 20 yards, in one-yard and half-yard cuts, at the workshop.) It was super fun to quilt this piece, and I really like the bold color, movement and energy in it. 

It’s going to go in our entryway, if I can figure out how to get up on our stairs to hang it!