Windowsill Cactus Garden

Appliqued, pieced, embroidered top.

 

I started it in Connecticut, just making one block but it was so much fun, I just kept making more and more blocks.  I couldn't decide what to do with them though.  At the time I was very much into planting succulents and cacti in 1950's retro style planters that I would drill a hole in the bottom of.  I found a poem called Cactus by K. Satchidanandan and I love the first three lines.   I plan to embroider them in the center box: 

 

"Thorns are my language.I announce my existencewith a bleeding touch."

The Sea That Stole My Love

I was thinking of the Japanese tsunami when I made this and how the big piles of debris floated in the ocean like islands. The world still going on about it's business as if it were just another day.  The loss and sadness that the survivors must feel for the ones they lost.  I know that after a loss in my own life I have often been stunned by how the sun shines and life goes on as if nothing has happened.  There's both a beauty and a horror to that.  At the same time, I was trying to work in the abstract and just piece together sections improvisationally.  All the blues are scraps from other quilts, the yellows what I had on hand..

Sadie's Quilt

 Some blocks are from the Civil War Bride Quilt pattern, but of course, I got bored and had to branch out and create a few of my own.  Guineas, a fawn, turtles and squirrels.

Deluded Log Cabins in Neutral

Late Frost, Early Spring.  That's what the colors remind me of.

Modern Baby Quilt

 The color inspiration for the above quilt.

Scrappy Cowgirls Dosey Doe Quilt