Intertwined

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.”
― Maya Angelou

This celtic interlacing to me represents how we are all intertwined, how we aid and assist each other in the great wheel of our lives.  Even those who gently weave in and out only occasionally are a deep part of who we are and who we will become.

This piece is 48 x48 inches.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  The four large pieces in the central part are hand dyed as well as the small squares surrounding the outside.  Piece completed January 2020.

Detail of quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peacock tails

Dream tonight of peacock tails, diamond fields and spouter whales.  Ills are many, blessings few, but dreams tonight will shelter you.

Herman Melville

The quilt is about 54″x54″.  The background is stonehenge ombre.  The peacock tails are a beautiful digital print.  The peacocks are highlighted on the quilt with metallic thread to make them pop.  The piece is hand appliqued and hand quilted.

 

 

Sea Turtles

The Turtle’s teachings are so beautiful. So very special. It teaches us that everything you are, everything you need and everything you bring to the world is inside you, not external, and you carry it with you, and are not limited to a place, space or time.      Eileen Anglin

This piece is 54″ x54″.  It is hand appliqued with embroidered outlines to highlight the design.  It is hand quilted.

Close up of highlighting on waves.

Closeup of highlighting on turtles.  Fabric is commercially available batiks.  Completed early 2019.

Kaleidoscope of Life

“Our days are a kaleidoscope. Every instant a change takes place in the contents. New harmonies, new contrasts, new combinations of every sort. Nothing ever happens twice alike. The most familiar people stand each moment in some new relation to each other, to their work, to surrounding objects. The most tranquil house, with the most serene inhabitants, living upon the utmost regularity of system, is yet exemplifying infinite diversities.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

I lost a good friend recently and also finished a new quilt.  My friend reminds me of how tentative and precious life is and how we all must be aware of those around us and not let time pass without acknowledging and affirming them.

The quilt reminds me of the kaleidoscopes that surround us daily.

The quilt is approximately 52 inches (almost square).  The central portion is hand appliqued and highlighted with embroidered outlining in contrasting colors.  It is also hand quilted.

 

Turning, Turning, Turning

The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.  Max Lerner

The central design is a variation on and early Celtic (500-350BC) Waldalgesheim pattern.

The applique method is back basted hand applique.  The piece is 54’x54″.  It is hand quilted.  It was completed in 2018.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

A legacy of the Age of Enlightenment, the motto “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” first appeared during the French Revolution.

This quilt was inspired by many ideas that have been swirling in my head during the last couple of years.  The applique in the center is formed by joining several fleurs di lis and surrounded by the French words.  The Fleurs di lis are hand appliqued and the letters are machine appliqued.  One of the inspirations was seeing the many buildings that have the French motto emblazoned on the front when traveling through France.

In the last few years I have been doing some family genealogy.  Through the process, I have traced one line of my family back to the Loire Valley in France.  They were wine growers and did water transport on the Loire River.  They were French Huguenots.  In the mid 1600’s, Louis Quatorze, the Sun King, rescinded the Edict of Nantes, which had given French protestants citizenship.  At that time,  my family left France and settled in America along the James River, where they continued to ply their family trade.  I added the outside border of the quilt to symbolize the reason that my family ended up coming to America.

 

The quilt is 54″x54″.  It is hand quilted and has both hand and machine applique.

 

 

 

 

A View of Infinity

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

This piece started with a beautiful hand dyed fabric made by a friend of mine.  At first glimpse, you might think that it’s a midnight blue – then the diversity of colors and shades becomes gradually apparent.  As with so many pieces that I come by,  I just can’t bring myself to cut them up into little pieces, but need to find a way to be able to see and enjoy the entirety of the piece.

The applique overlaying the hand dyed piece is once again, a variation on the Celtic Waldalgesheim pattern dated between 500-350 BC.  It is reversed appliqued.  As the design came to life, as I was working on it, it also reminded me of the ancient Welsh story of Arianrhod – Goddess of the Silver Wheel.  It was said that Arionrhod was able to shape shift into a large owl, and through the great eyes, was able to see into the darkness of human subconsciousness and the soul.  This owl is winking suspiciously!

The piece is 28 x 42 inches.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.

The last two photos are to get a closer look at the depth in the underneath fabric.

We are the World

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
— Maya Angelou

I’m a little late for the celebration of Martin Luther King day, but I’ve been concerned about our moving away from from diversity and inclusiveness for a long time.  This newest quilt celebrates for me the diversity and inclusiveness that we all need to recognize and work toward.

The background fabric is a large map of the world.  The overlaid design (a celtic Waldalgeheim pattern circa 500o-350 BC variation) is reversed appliqued onto the map.  the four immediated edges to the quilt are small seminole pieced designs, blending world and American ideas.

 

The quilt is 55 X 63 inches.  It is machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.

My hope is to see the peoples of the world supporting and loving each other, instead of dividing into us vs. them!

Spring to summer

We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives. Gary Zukav
Spring has arrived.  Hints of summer are evident in the heat the last few days.  The garden is being planted.  The weeds are coming up!  The colors are changing!  The latest quilt reminds me of the greens of spring and the turquoises of the melting streams.

The central panel is a hand dyed fabric in the shibori style.  The central appliqué design is from a  Celtic circular bronze shield boss dredged from the river Thames near Wardsworth, London, England and estimated to be from approximately 300-200 BC.

The quilt is approximately 54 x70 “.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  Completed 2017.

Tears for Jean

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.”
― Edna St. Vincent Millay

I lost my only sister several years ago.  The hole is your heart just doesn’t go away.  She went through several rounds of chemotherapy and radiation over 5 years.  Some of those times I went to sit with her during those treatments.  Being a quilter, I had to have something for my fingers to do during those periods of time.  I cut out a lot of blocks and sat and did hand piecing waiting for that drip to be complete.  Over the years of her treatment, that is the only time I worked on them.  Since she has passed away, the project has been buried deep in the quilting room.  I’ve brought it out a few time and just couldn’t bring myself to finish what I had started.  Last month, I finally pulled it out and put it together.

I couldn’t bring myself to put any more of the blocks together.  Then it struck me that making the pieces fall away from the central design was the process that I watched with my sister.  I watched the pieces of her fall away gradually during the years of her treatment. To me this piece represents the process that I watched play out in front of me.

It is hand pieced and hand quilted.  42″x approximately 5?”

“If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?”
― Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper