Little Cities

Little Cities
97" x 97"

I started this one 2 years ago and it has been redesigned quite a few times. I actually bought the fabric for it 5 years ago when my bed and bath were being remodeled. But I was stuck and couldn't decide what to do with it (probably related to my marital woes). AS soon as the husband moved out, I knew what I wanted to do with this, although it has been revealing itself to me along the way. The smallest blocks are 1 " square with small circles appliqued with satin stitch on them. There are about 1000 of those. The biggest blocks are 12" square, and there are very few of those! Don't ask how many total blocks, I don't know. And now, I would have to say that sewing the blocks together was NOT the fun part.
The quilt reminds me of a city, surrounded by water. There are roadblocks and resources and little communities. I have always been fascinated by the way people form groups, for the similarities they embrace and the differences they seek out. At what point do the differences become too much and we need to wall ourselves off?
On another level this quilt represents healing for me. I had a lot of grief when my husband left and made me a single mom. The red represents rage and passion, the orange represents changes, the pink was the love I still had, the yellow was the fear. The green is in every block and represents a growth path through time and everything I do. The center is about integrating the feelings. I unknowingly made a spiral out of the center blocks (you have to squint to see it). The blue was the sadness and isolation, and the purple was the healing (the color of healing bruises).
I finished piecing the top for my birthday on Sunday. It was my present to myself to get it off my design board so that I could move on and start some other projects. I will quilt it this summer while the kids are in camp.