As I considered "Shelter" the idea that returned over and over was of the safe and loved childhood I enjoyed. My childhood was spent on a large block of land where both my parents and my maternal grandparents had houses and I was adored and spoiled by all of them. There was a huge vege garden and an orchard and Dad built us an enormous sandpit. The more I thought about it all, the more I realised that an attempt at a realistic image would never express all of it, so my quilt became more and more abstract.
Until, it was this. More or less a schematic (I hope I am using this word correctly!) of the land and houses. It isn't to scale but it does contain both houses, the sandpit, important trees (including this one) and even my Grandfather's truck which was always parked in the same place.
The name for my quilt is "Everlasting". The benefit of a loving childhood has an everlasting benefit on ones life. It is also a reference to the first lines of a hymn which ran through my head as I considered the impact of my blessed start in life:
Everlasting arms of Love
are around, beneath, above...
12 comments:
There you are!! What lovely imagery and not unlike my own childhood. I love the variety of stitching and the wonderful vintage looking fabrics. The bit of red gives some punch to a very serene scene.
I voted for Shelter, but I adore the Dandelion quilts too!
Why can't I think of these????
Well done everyone!
I love your schematic. I keep finding more things about your property and enjoy thinking about what each stands for.
Many times I have thought I would like to make a quilt based on some of my husbands engineering plans. But in my mind, they have never been as beautiful as this.
Awwww, this is so perfectly soft and clean and sheltering. What a lovely idea, like a bird soaring over your childhood home, seeing how perfectly it all fits together. You conjure up my fondest childhood memories with this.
Kirsty! Looking at your piece before reading your text, I immediately felt serenity and comfort and a sense of "things in their right place." This has a lovely sense of relaxed balance and calm. And when I read your description of how you got to it, I realized that you have been very successful at portraying your lovely sense of home. What a beautiful tribute to your family and your childhood, and what a moving way to memorialize that for yourself. I especially love the bits of red, the subtle stitching lines, and those little beeds in rows. Wonderful use of abstraction.
This is so sweet and nostalgic and a refreshing way to look at "shelter." I'd love to sit over tea and have you tell me stories that go with all the bits of this quilt. Well done.
Lovely. I looks sp peaceful and comfortable.
I like how you used the tan fabrics to complement all the green in your piece.
What a wonderful childhood you had and this is such a wonderful way to remember the landscape around you. I really like the different shapes of stitching all around the quilt and the added hand stitching as well.
I like to look a while at the quilts to get my recation before I read the piece and oddly Ithought that this quilt needed to be sat on by a baby! I wondered why - the colors are soft and nursery suitable ...but those buttons! Not for a small child. Then I read. Of course - it is a grownup being a child that made it! How amazing that even though I have not got a clue what block represents what I still got the sentiment and feel at once. Please tells us - where is the truck?
Hi Helen
The truck is the little red rectangle on the lower left (it was a red truck!). The red square is the roof of my grandparents house and the gray rectangle is my parents house. It was interesting to me that, although I was placing each thing in it's actual location, there was a natural balance in most of the pieces. I especially like where the red ended up.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
Oh my gosh I've posted 3 times here but my comments are not showing up. I really like the peacefulness opf this piece and it fits your idyllic childhood. I love the french knots
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