Monday, March 31, 2008

12 by 12 Community

Terri Stegmiller community themed quilt
Wow, what a challenging word/concept/idea to put into a quilt. Not a tangible item that readily conjures up an image in your mind the instant you hear or see the word.

Community. When I got to thinking about this word and what it means to me, I got to thinking about how we really belong to many communities all at the same time. You could say that everyone on planet earth is part of a community, everyone in your state/territory/region is part of a community and everyone in your town is part of a community. Then there are the micro-communities. Such as the social groups you belong to, the church you might attend, your school district, and more.

I decided to create my quilt about this teeny tiny community of 12 that is connected through the large and sometimes unpredictable community of cyberspace. Even though we are spread out across the globe, it's amazing how much we have shared and experienced together.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Can I be totally shallow and say that I am thrilled that you make me look so glamorous?!

Terri Stegmiller said...

Why sure you can Brenda. I probably should have mentioned that I'm not good at portraying age in my painting, so in our perfect little community we are all the same age, have wonderfully white teeth, and flawless skin.

Kristin L said...

And we're all having a great hair day :-) You can paint me anytime!I like this perfect little community.

Karen said...

You chose my favorite colors for the background. This is so cute, and I think it brings our group into an even more cohesive unit.

Unknown said...

And I salute you for a faltering portrayal too! Those pictures must have been really small to work with!

Unknown said...

No make that flattering portrait - honestly that was no a freudian slip just a normal typo!!!

Nellie's Needles said...

oooo...what FUN! Fun matching up the faces to the artists in this community that I've come to know through their blogs.

Diane Perin said...

Terri, this is fabulous! I love that you used our 12x12 community as the concept, and you illustrated everyone so wonderfully! Everyone is clearly identifiable -- and what is especially cool is how well you've captured the people I've met in person, from a photo or two.

Françoise said...

Now, this is really fun! My DH asked me "Where are you?"... Never mind! I know where I am.
And I wonder too how you managed to paint such tiny faces.

Gerrie said...

Great faces and I look so young - no wrinkles or age spots!! You are a very talented painter!!

verobirdie said...

I don't know all of you, but I can recognize some! What a fun, and a great work!

Nikki said...

Love the portraits. You have captured how shy I often am in a community. I am working on trying to be more confident and open. And it helps that I just got a new hair cut and am trying to get my body back into the shape it was before 4 kids. I'll have to post a more open picture soon.

Deborah Boschert said...

Now this just makes me what to meet everyone in person! So fun. Great job, Terri!

Anonymous said...

Oh, poo! My comment disappeared. Ahem, as I was saying...
YEE HA!! Where did my chins go and look at my skinny neck!!
Seriously, this really is such a cool quilt and you have used colour wonderfully well.

Terry Grant said...

Well yes, don't we all look mah-velous?! What I love about this is that even if you hadn't told us, even if we didn't recognize ourselves, we would still know that these are based on real people. The faces are really quite wonderful.