Process Photos

from Art Department Weekly | Issue 102 Vol. 12

PATCHWORK

**Step 1 - Madeline took apart the weave from 2017 that incorporated the original waistbands**
Madeline Vega

THE ORIGINAL IDEA was to make a blanket heavy enough to help Kal fall asleep easily back in 2017. Kal had been weaving in school, but our creation was so loose there were big gaps when Kal laid down with it like a blanket. The goal for the 2020 versions was to be way tighter.

**Step 2 - Madeline shredded maybe a dozen more pairs of old jeans**
Madeline Vega

DO OVER seemed to be the only option when I started shifting rows on the first version. The 2017 version started with the waistbands of jeans trying to give it an edge on one side. For the revision, I added dozens of strips and hung it up so I could actually braid everything more tightly. We still had dozens of pairs of old jeans, so I made a second weave.

**Re-doing the 2017 weave**
Madeline Vega

**A more consistent pattern on the second blanket**
Madeline Vega

INSPIRED BY THE SCRAPS piling up on the floor as I shredded pairs, Kal asked if he could make a mushroom from Hollow Knight. When I snapped an Instagram story of his creation on top of my weave, I realized I needed to use this as a background for real.

LAST YEAR we roasted a bunch of the seeds from the pumpkins we turned into jack o’lanterns, but also set aside a bunch to maybe plant one day. This year, the seedlings quickly took over the garden, blocking out sunlight the cucumbers and tomatoes needed. I thought we would get a bunch of pumpkins. I only found three hard green tomatoes late in the summer after weeks of snipping back pumpkin leaves. The cucumbers gave up long before that. Despite all the blossoms and bees, I found one pumpkin close to the ground that disappeared and one up on the fence that never looked ready to pick. I took it off the vine Nov. 1. After a week on the counter, it was half orange. Nov. 11 it was mostly orange. Nov. 15 Betty posed with it. —MV