Growing up in a Hot House

Growing up in a Hot House
My house is a reflection of daily life with kids and menopause.  The inside of the house is soft and cozy, with kid photos and upholstered bolsters for lounging, and ephemera attached to the walls with mod podge.  The chimney is the conduit to provide a path for getting the excess heat out of the house.  It falls droopy on the scorched roof and at times flies through the air in the light up neon tubing and flashing (like a hot flash!).  My dream is that the structure of our family, like this house, is strong enough to protect the cherished ones, to support them with love and understanding, and to withstand all that comes our way.

 Construction of my house...
I cut out shapes for the sides and the roof.  I fused white fabric to cover the front, and some deconstructed screen printed fabric on the insides of the front and back panels.  Then I fused the hand-dyed colored squares to the outside.  I quilted heavily and satin stitched the flowers on the sides.  Next I carefully cut with an exacto knife to make an opening for the window in the back and the door on the front.  I also crafted a chimney for the inside and knotched a hole in the roof panel.
 I seamed together some lava panels for the roof with batting between the layers.  Then I turned the pieces right side out, and heavily quilted those as well.  I fused the chimney in place with red organza and glued photos and other treasures to the inside with mod podge.  I also fused a red organza panel to the back side to represent the chimney and added the text "menopause, hot flash!.  I stuffed the chimney with the power supply and driver for the neon cables and cut a notch on the outside back wall for the switch, so that it can be turned on from the outside.  Last step was joining all the pieces by hand using a whip stitch.  A labor of love.

Last but not least, my vision is that my house doesn't stand alone, but in a community of people, wonderful supportive people. Here is my house in the village.  You can see the list of participating artists and links to their websites here.