Monday, June 22, 2009

Home

Home
21.5" x 23"
Leftovers from my entry to IQA, I took these scraps and fused them into a whole. The colors are so rich and vibrant, I just love it! This piece evokes for me a dog looking for a home. I have been thinking a lot about how pets enter our lives, sometimes how they choose us instead of the other way around. At least, that's how it seems we have our kittens.
I picked the dog though (or so I thought!). She has been with me for 14 years, and is on her last legs. Literally. She has Cushings disease and is losing muscle mass, along with her other health problems. She is a BIG Weimeramer and can barely struggle to her feet. I will miss her when she goes.
Also, while I was working on this quilt, my mother's cat went missing. I think it is exceeding rare to find a missing cat. We have coyotes here, and I assume they eat the missing cats. But, back to our story, her cat went missing. On day 3, she was found. Like baby Jessica that fell down a well, so too is the case of this cat. She was stuck in a drainage pipe next door and couldn't get out. And it is really hot in Texas. The end of the pipe had been blocked with a huge brick, and the cat could not turn around to get out. My mother was able to move the brick and then coax her close enough that she could stick her arm inside the pipe and pull the cat out. The cat was hungry, stinky, and happy to be home! Made us all cry with joy!
Pets and homes, a common thread that makes the fabric of our lives colorful. Enjoy!

PS. I made all the fabrics for this quilt. The 'Windows' fabrics are batiked, bleach discharged and overdyed (except for the one white window, no bleach on that one!). Lots of embroidery floss. Update: the binding is finished now. I went around the edge 3 times with an overcast with embroidery floss. It looks wonderful! Despite the extra time it takes, I loved every minute of it because it is so rewarding!


11 comments:

Dale Anne said...

LOVE this piece!
GREAT way to use leftover strips!

YES, I think animals choose US!

Rachel said...

What an adorable piece. I love your dying and colors. Pets are the best! Don't know what we'd do with out them.

Nina Marie said...

I love saturated color!! Isn't it fun to work with? The rhythm of the shapes is so pleasing here and really ties the whole thing together. What a fun piece!! Way 2 Go!

Beena said...

I can't even imagine this without the dog. He belongs there, and it "fits" so well! I love it, and like your philosophy about pets choosing us.

Vicki W said...

This is a fantastic piece!

Our pets are actually dogs that belong to another neighbor. I think they knew that Chris needed a dog but we can't have them in the house because of my allergies. This works out best for all of us and we love the dogs as much as if they were our and the neighbors are happy to share! Yes, they find us.

Stacy Hurt said...

Love the colors too!
The cat story is so wonderful, thank you for sharing such a warm fuzzy!

Amanda M. said...

It is so beautiful! I love the home and animal theme. Hope you'll do one with a cat next time - or maybe a pet rabbit! ;)

Lori Gravley said...

I love your fabrics and the lively images you create. I like the balance created by the white space on the top right and the dog on the bottom left. Fun.

Pamela Price Klebaum said...

Oh, my my. This is stunning and at the same time smile-inducing! Fantastic!

Margeeth said...

It's great your mother found her cat again after 3 days. Something similar happened to a cat of ours years ago. He crept in an airvent of someones garage and got stuck against a grate. Cat's cannot crawl backwards and he couldn't turn so he was really stuck. We called him from the garage and he probably mewed, but his body blocked the sound. After TEN days (!) our neighbour was in the garden and heard him mewing. We unscrewed the grate and took him to the vet right away, who said we musn't have been half a day later finding him and gave him a huge shot of fluid under his skin. He survived, but his kidneys were ruined, so he had to live on diet feed for the rest of his live. He lived for four more years untill his bad kidneys finally really poisened him from the inside and we had to have him put down.

Your quilt looks great, all your quilts do, and good luck with your sick dog.

Joy said...

oh my gosh.. I love this quilt and I love your stories... made me cry about your dog with cushings.. we lost our baby 4 years ago and he had cushings.. he lived 17 years we were blessed to have him.

You are so very talented. I just cant stop looking at your work.