Redheads

For the first time since the Shelter theme, I have only made one piece for this challenge. This is due to lack of time rather than lack of ideas. One idea that I would have liked to explore further was redheads.

We may only account for 1-2% of the population and, according to some rumours, be heading for extinction but redheads are well-represented here at Twelve by Twelve with me, Helen, Kristin and Gerrie bearing locks in various shades of red. Since my mother (who was adopted as a baby) traced her birth parents twenty or so years ago, I know that my red hair comes from my maternal grandmother although there are a few gingers on my father's side of the family too. My mother was an avid reader of Anne of Green Gables and wished for a daughter with red hair. In fact, she got two - me and my youngest sister Delia, who was a redhead from birth. One of my brothers is a redhead too although this puzzled him as child and he used to declare that his hair was not red, but orange.

I like that my name, Brenda, means firebrand or flaming sword although this linkage was not intentional (my hair colour wasn't obvious when I was named). When I was younger, I sometimes used the moniker "La Rousse" and I've always admired Kristin's last name - La Flamme. So there is plenty of inspiration for a quilt but, unlike Terri, I have no aptitude for faces or portraits. This is as close as I get!

In Australia, the Redheads Matches company has a long tradition of decorating their matchboxes with redhead imagery. I especially like the Art Box series from the year 2000. Look under the Collector Series tab of their website.