Thursday, October 02, 2008

Friend of Twelve by Twelve

Shelter. Unfinished. So far, I have the shapes and a few lines of machine stitching and I hope to be able to add more stitching by hand later today. I keep returning to this discharged piece of black cotton for my 12 by 12 pieces. I had to really dig around in the piles in my studio to eventually find the remaining scrap -- just big enough for this. I had used some smaller scraps to piece with my own painted fabric (the bottom band) and had to cut that piece in half and piece it again to fit across the bottom.


The shelter's roots are "stretched" across the unknown to reach the safety of the green area. The house/shelter is sitting precariously on a thin strip of safe green. In any other September, I would have made one of my "oh so sweet little houses" sheltered by huge tulips. I do not feel "oh so sweet". I am thankful that our house is paid for, no mortgage, no loans. I don't care that the bathrooms are dated or that the kitchen is not my "dream" kitchen. I'm happy for a roof over my head, the possibility of purchasing enough oil to heat the house (iffy), and enough cut firewood to cook over an open fire in the yard if the economy tanks completely (I like to plan for any future problems - I just need a nice cast iron Dutch oven with lid and wire handle and some nice insulated fire gloves and we'll be ready).

I think it is very interesting that a number of the Twelve have used enduring shelter themes of rocks, caves in this economic crisis.

4 comments:

Terry Grant said...

Your piece is great! It has a feeling that is quite similar to Kristen LaFlamme's piece and she has used that imagery of the house with roots in the past. Wonderful fabrics and color.

Life Scraps and Patches said...

Your quilt is great. The discharge piece is perfect for this, and I love the house with its roots. You've hit a home run.

Deborah Boschert said...

I love it too! The background is perfect. It looks like the "windows" were spots held with a clothespin during the dying. Is that possible? If so, what a perfect application. Of course, I also love the green and purple combination set off by that intense black. So glad you're playing along!

Kristin L said...

This house caught my eye right away :-) The sky looks stormy and the roots remind me of lightning. I like the way they are reaching/walking to the green ground. I've done the clothespin windows too and love the way they're architectural and yet organic at the same time.