Friday Inspiration - Judith Content's Arashi Shibori Quilts

I am fascinated with the whole process of shibori and have dabbled in it several times during my explorations of surface design.  Most of my experiments have been with shibori tied indigo dying.  I am fascinated, however, with the way some artists use colored dyes in the process to create magical fibers!  One such person is California artist Judith Content.  Judith uses arashi shibori techniques in creating her quilts, starting with black silk and discharging the color over several refolding and retying sessions before adding in color.


This past episode of Simply Quilts features Judith talking about her dyeing and quilting process and shows how she uses old wine bottles to wrap and tie the cloth around.  I highly recommend the video!

In 2008, Le Rowell interviewed Judith for the Quilters' Save Our Stories Project and you can read the interview here.  I'm always fascinated with what inspires artists and Judith talks quite a bit about how she's intrigued by the way water, in the form of fog and rain, plays with light and changes landscapes into abstract scenes.  You can definitely see the marshes and estuaries she loves in her work!  In the interview, she also explains her draw to the kimono shape she uses in many of her quilts.

You can see more of Judith's work on the Tansy Contemporary Gallery website.  As for me, I'm thinking about digging up some old wine bottles and seeing if my indigo bucket needs refreshing!  I have these pieces of white flannel just sitting around ...

Happy Creating!  Deborah