Back in the day (more than ten years ago), I was a member of the Quilt Divas. A group of fiber artists based in the Finger Lakes region of New York, we met monthly to share our work, our discoveries, and our enthusiasm for art quilting. At one of our rowdier meetings, one of our members told how she’d put pomegranate seeds on her salad that week and been harassed by her family for the unusual ingredient. “It’s not wrong,” she told them. “It’s creative.”

We laughed at her story, but for the rest of the meeting, any creative suggestion was labeled “pomegranate”. Another member was so struck by this new code word for creativity that she showed up at our next meeting with a hand-sewn silk quilt showing pomegranates in a bowl.

When I was invited to be part of the Quilt Divas’ anniversary show Fifteen, I read the guidelines for the challenge quilt and thought immediately of pomegranates. I’m glad a topic came to mind so quickly, because everything else about this quilt qualified as a challenge. I usually avoid square formats and had to play around to get a composition I liked. The small size (15 inches per side) meant that it was tricky to construct, especially since I decided to include the theme of “Fifteen” by breaking the image into fifteen different sections. While this design didn’t break the record for the most pieces I’ve ever had in a quilt, it did have the smallest ones I’ve ever sewn.

I finished the quilt by adding embroidery, beading, and machine quilting.

You can see Pomegranates in person at the Community School of Music & Arts in Ithaca, NY from June 3 through July 29, 2016. It’s part of the show Fifteen: Celebrating 15 Years of the Quilt Divas. You can also Meet The Artists, June 3rd and July 1st from 5 to 8 pm. I’ll be there for the one tonight, and hope to see you there.