One Earth

One Earth
47" x 47"

and other stuff going on....

Confluence.  I just love that word.  This quilt was the confluence of multiple things going on in my life and in the world.  Part 1: One odd piece was related to the terrorist attacks on Paris.  I had the television on, which is unusual for me because I don't have cable.  I was watching the news in horror as the situation unfolded.  That was the first I heard of the Climate Talks that were about to happen in Paris.  And the last thing I would want is for terrorists to prevent that from happening.  But I also had the fear, the unavoidable and understandable fear.  I was worried that it would be a set-up for another attack.

Part 2: And, I have been shopping for a new car.  The criteria was NEW, ah yes!, and it had to have better gas mileage than my old minivan.  You may be wondering, but this is how the second part of the story is related to the first part.  I want to do my part to help the global climate, as small and insignificant as it feels, it all adds up.  I went searching for hybrid or electric car.  I am so disappointed to tell you that it is just not working out for us.  My son is too tall.  He keeps hitting his head on all the smaller and more fuel efficient cars.  It doesn't help that he is so inflexible and refuses to sit in the front seat, that's the Aspergers...and it is something I can work on, but it will take time.  And I will have to temporarily give up another goal if this one becomes a priority.  NUTS!!  That left me shopping for a big car with bad gas mileage, and despite the fact that the price of gas is dropping, it just hits me the wrong way to buy a bigger and badder car.  And, it requires trying out more car models than I have the patience for.  I am the odd bird, I do not like to shop.  So for now, we are still driving the old car, and will continue to do so...

Part 3:  While at Quilt Market, I was given a giant stack of fat quarters of Me+You from Hoffman Fabrics.  They were very nice to touch so the first thing I did when I got home was to wash them and iron them dry.  It was a lot.  And since I like to sew, this was a gift I can totally appreciate!  Unfortunately, many of the colors are just not colors that I want to look at, much less sew with.  So, I took out the pretty and bright and pure colors and set them in their own stack.

That left the darker earth tones and the lighter pastels, each got their own stack.  They sat that way for a week, and one morning I woke up with this image in my head.  And, I knew that the earth tones would actually be for the earth image.  And, I LOVE the way bright colors pop with neutrals, so they would be the "i" figures.

It nagged me for 2 full days.  I think sometimes we call this the MUSE.   One week later the quilt was born, with slight modifications of the design, fully quilted, and ready to go.  I entered it into QuiltCon2016 on the last day of registration.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it will get in!

For me this quilt is about the expression: we have more things in common than the things that separate us.  We all have family,  and community, and we all live on one earth.  We have to take care of that earth for our survival.  The climate talks are a crucial part of that, but only one part.

Next week I will show you how I made it.  My studio assistant, aka, my daughter, helped me film a few very short videos with some techniques I used.  Stay tuned!