Winds of Time

Favorite Book was the theme for this time around, and I spent a lot of time thinking about all the books I've read over the years. I can't say that there is any one favorite book, to be honest. I have lots of favorites. 

When you see my quilt, you will assume that my favorite book might be Don Quixote but I regret that I have only partially read that book. Perhaps one day I will finish it. My quilt reflects my choice to go with a faovite quilt book - sorry if that's too off theme, but it was all that appealed to me. This particular book is one I pull off the shelf quite often, looking for inspiration. The book is Art Quilt Collage by Deborah Boschert. I've yet to try all of her practices she suggests in the book, but this time I did choose a few while creating this little quilt. 

My husband and I spend more time than most driving around the countryside looking at wide open fields, wind turbines and other features of the landscape. On our last outing, I was struck at how time changes things. Fields sprouting wind turbines when times ago you would only see corn or some other crop for miles. Size and proportion change, from the small windmill to the soaring wind turbines dwarfing the now lonely family farm. 

While my quilt is not exactly a collage, it does attempt to show before and after through stitching and a little bit of mixed media. Nestled between the barn and the gigantic wind turbine is the old skeleton of a windmill, a shadow of what once was. 

It is my first attempt at block printing, carving the windmill from a freehand drawing I made. I declared it not bad for a first attempt! The little barn and house are freehand cut out of scraps. I machine stitched them down and then added doors and windows by hand. 

The large wind turbine is green, to indicate the "green energy" idea. The sky is a blue fabric print with clocks, as you can see, to indicate the passage or winds of time. The yellow polka dot ground was chosen because I like yellow and the circles remind me of the motion of the turbines and windmills. 

The quilting is just a simple wave across the quilt, like a wind blowing through the open fields. The finished quilt is 8 inches by 23 inches. 

Another challenge done, and I enjoyed coming up with this one! 

Wendy