QTRPG Introduction
I started this project in 2021- while working at Fabricland I started buying quilting fabric that looked like terrain, with the idea that I could sew them into a quilt that was also a map for playing ttrpgs on.
Eventually I had enough fabric that I made some decisions (like whether I was going to wash the fabric, what size I wanted the squares to be, etc.) and I started cutting this fabric into 3" squares. When I had cut out what felt like enough, I started laying out the squares, and I started documenting the whole layout on a piece pf grid paper.
I got a good start on sewing squares together, but then in 2023 I started grad school and was just not going to work on something this time-consuming as my focus. I studied studio art so I could have, but I didn't think about this project as part of my artistic practice and I was interested in playing with mixing my photography and textile practices.
After graduating, returning to sewing a whole bunch of squares together felt rather appealing. I often do more conceptual work because I enjoy rolling thoughts around in my head, but the idea for this one doesn't require further explanation, it just required a lot of work. And I could do work, I didn't really know how to stop working after grad school (I still don't, I might never recover). My thesis work had included an applique blanket and creating rocks in many different fibre techniques, so when I started working on the ttrpg quilt again, it felt natural to consider it part of my artistic practice. When I started laying out pieces again, I also created a new chart to keep track of my progress and planning.
I remembered someone telling me that in a studio visit they had been told that their work was rather "grantable", and I had a hunch that this project was grantable, so I applied for a grant and got it (ahh, thanks AFA)
At some point in the process I had decided to make the quilt larger (from twin to queen sized), so some of the grant money went to shopping for more fabric. I had a lot of fun laying out the new sections, and it felt like they came out very natural looking.
When I laid the completed quilt top out over the batting and backing, it was a little too large. I added narrow strips of batting to the edges and changed how I was planning to bind the edges. The most recent picture I have here is when I laid out the layers before quilting. I have bound the edges and have a layer of light quilting over the surface, so I hope to have the time and energy to get some updated photos soon. I am continuing to build up the quilting to make it sturdier, but I will probably be working on this for a long time. I think I prefer projects that allow me to really take my time, I think it's been really fun to see how my learning is visible in different parts of the quilt, like it could be read by some kind of stratigraphic textile scientist. I am going to get more into playtesting on the quilt soon, but the adventure for that whole process is worth at least its own post.