Bom: Pojagi Progress

According to trusty Google translate, "bom" is the phonetic version of "spring" in Korean. I'm not really clear on whether "bom" refers to the season spring, to a fresh water spring, to springing up from the ground, or perhaps all of the above. Perhaps one of my readers will enlighten me. I looked up the Korean word for spring because my current project (for DQS10) evokes spring, with its green colors. As previously noted, my partner really likes Asian prints, motifs, and craftwork, and I decided to make a pojagi wall-hanging. I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the new technique I've learned (I'm using the first option described here) or with the shot cottons I picked up for this quilt. Shot cottons are special in that the warp and weft use two different colored yarns which result in a piece of cloth that can look multicolored or more textured. I opted for 2 greens: the darker green uses green and blue threads while the lighter one is actually a composite of yellow and blue (which appear green, per the color wheel I first encountered in elementary school art class).

This image, which highlights how the seams help make the art, also gives a glimpse at the shot cottons work. You can see the grain-like pattern in each rectangle, which is created by the different colored threads. (The darker part of the rectangle at the top is the most recent fabric attached but not yet finished.) I chose to sew with gray thread because I didn't like how any of the green thread I owned looked with both of the colors. I also like the gray for its sturdy-work quality, as pojagi was originally a utilitarian wrapping cloth used by workers or the commoners in feudal kingdoms.

It took me a few tries to get the seams correct and even more rounds to feel comfortable with the technique (and not need to refer to the tutorial on my computer each time I ironed a seam). But once I got going, it moved pretty quickly. I still have plenty of work to go, but I like how it's shaping up.