The Space Between Heartbeats

Posted on February 20, 2020 by prairiemoonquilts in Longarm Quilting, Quilts

If you watched the Craft in America episode on Quilts, and you paid close enough attention during Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s portion, you would have seen her working on a quilt on her design wall during the episode.

After Victoria finished the top, she sent it to me for quilting, and we had several discussions about how I was to quilt it. As she usually does, which helps me a lot, she sent me a full photo of the quilt top, and I printed out several copies and scribbled my ideas from our conversations all over them until I had something I could go on.

Victoria calls this quilt “The Space Between Heartbeats”. She says that when she’s working in her studio, it’s quiet, and she gets in her zone, and it’s sometimes so still that she can hear her heart beat. So this quilt earned its name that way. (If that were me, I’d just think I had high blood pressure! Plus, I listen to classic rock while I’m quilting, which, believe me, has spawned plenty of ideas in my head in its own right!)

Here are some close-up shots of the quilt while I was working on it. You can see some of the tools I used, and sort of follow the evolution of the quilting design.

“The Space Between Heartbeats” hung in the Craft in America Gallery in Beverly Hills, California, during January, along with several works from the other artists who were featured in the episode, and Victoria and I both got to attend the opening reception for the exhibit.

I took some more close-ups while it was hanging there, after it was finished.

This week, at QuiltCon, the Modern Quilt Guild’s annual quilt show, Victoria has an exhibit of 30 of her quilts, and “The Space Between Heartbeats” is one of them. If you’re there in Austin for the show, be sure to catch the exhibit, and Victoria’s lecture on Saturday at 12:15.

And there is a short clip of Victoria speaking about her work HERE on Instagram.

Here’s some of the quilt details:
Size: 92″ x 92″
Quilter’s Dream Wool batting, one layer
Superior OMNI thread in 4 colors: Almond, Black, Navy Blue, and Indian Paintbrush
All free-motion quilting on a Nolting 24 Pro, partly stitch-regulated, using rulers, but not computerized.

There was another quilt in the episode that is hanging in the exhibit, called “Marshmallow Rain”. I’ll be back later to tell you more about this one.

22 responses to “The Space Between Heartbeats”

  1. What an incredible work of art! Love seeing the process. And the hands in the lower right hand corner. Just the perfect touch. You two are an amazing team!

  2. Oh My! To say the quilts are stunning doesn’t do it justice! Your quilting is absolutely gob smacking beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

  3. Wendy says:

    The quilt and the quilting are so cool, but what delights me more is to see how well the two of you compliment one another in your work and creativity. It’s clear that the two of you think in the same zone, and that’s so fun to see. I do notice, too, though – that one of those boots doesn’t look like the other in your photo! Still, you two look great!

  4. Judy S. says:

    So amazing!

  5. Ranch Wife says:

    Just incredible! The 2 of you make an unbelievable team and you create absolutely stunning pieces of art together – masterpieces that belong in art galleries.

  6. Becky says:

    Your quilting is brilliant!!!!❤️

  7. Sharon Sauser says:

    Shelly, you are an amazing quilter. I’d like to quilt like you when I grow up. (I’m already twice your age.) But I’m never going to do custom work for pay. I especially like the ruler work you do to compartmentalize the background fills, yet sometimes you let the different fills run right up against each other, without a “border”. Yes, your ruler work is beautiful.

  8. Sue Norfleet says:

    Both Victoria and you do amazing things with fabric and thread. Such creativity!

  9. Candice says:

    Stunning work!!!

  10. Ginabeth says:

    That is incredible work by both you and Virginia. Loved all the pics

  11. Robin Hoover says:

    Beautiful and so exciting!

  12. Mary Kolb says:

    I really enjoyed the closeup photos of your quilting on Victoria’s quilts! You are so talented Shelly!

  13. I will be going to Quiltcon tomorrow and will get a close up look! It is really a piece of art work. I love it!

  14. Gorgeous quilt and quilting!

  15. Carolyn S says:

    Quilt is outstanding and your quilting is exquisite!
    I received my prize from 359 project in mail yesterday. Thank you again Shelly for all you do for us quilters, from your inspirations to guidance along our quilt journey. I need all the help I can get.

  16. Christopher Thomas says:

    All I can say is…..

    OMG……

    I love it

  17. Carole says:

    WOW! Just amazing, Shelly. You two collaborate so well. Your quilting really completes the story.

  18. Cindy-liveacolorfullife says:

    You two are AMAZING!!

  19. Darlene says:

    Shelly, you are amazing! The quilting is just beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

  20. Vivien Zepf says:

    What a wonderful collaboration. Your work is integral to the success of the piece. And thanks for sharing detail shots because I often want to get nose-to-quilt close, but can’t. 😉

  21. Diane Ryan says:

    Amazing! Your quilting is beautiful and a work of art!
    Thank you for sharing!

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