Keep Abortion Legal

 

Keep Abortion Legal

6" square, January 6, 2023, for Project Quilting: The First One challenge

hand embroidered; machine quilted

This small piece is my response to the prompt: The First One, at this time following the overturning of Roe V. Wade by the super conservative Supreme Court.   It's my acknowledgement of my FIRST abortion; yes, I've had more than one.   Abortion was not illegal at the time, and should not be illegal now.  Legal abortion recognizes a woman's right to bodily autonomy.  For too long, we've been shamed into keeping quiet about abortion, about menstruation, about all manner of female bodily functions. 

This small section of quilting shows where the small mass of growing cells may have been attached to the wall of my uterus. 

This image shows the two color embroidery technique I have been developing over the years, where I color block the background, then embroider a line drawing over this shape. 

Keep abortion legal to allow women full bodily autonomy.  The number of abortions I've had is nobody's business but my own.  I've also carried some pregnancies to term.  That number is also nobody's business. 

Here's a good essay by a woman who writes honestly and eloquently about having more than one abortion, she speaks to the societal stigma:  "I've had three abortions"  

Minding my own business, 

Peace, 

Paula 

  

Greetings from the White House

 

"Greetings from the White House"  Fabric Postcard  6" x 4.2",  Hand embroidery,  fusible applique, machine quilted.   Created for Project Quilting Season 12 challenge "Fussy Cut"  

The challenge this week is "Fussy Cut",  which in quilting means to carefully cut fabric so that a particular motif is centered in part of a block.    Here is a traditional sample:

Another version of fussy cut is to carefully cut around an image to applique it onto another piece of fabric, a technique called "broderie perse".  

I started this challenge on January 17th, just 3 days before the inauguration of  Joe Biden as our 46th president, I knew that I wanted to CUT the current occupant OUT of the White House. 

So I started with an embroidery of the White House: 

(and yes, for those who know me well, there are 2 shades of gray floss because I started with a small bit of gray and ran out!) 

Next I found a clip art image of a man falling, and redrew it to look like 45,  cut him out as a black silouette then placed him on his signature ridiculous hair. 

I placed him at the base of the White House, as if he was falling or being kicked out.  

I used Steam-a-Seam II fusible, which is slightly sticky before it is ironed down, allowing for rearranging these elements during design phase. 

Since I plan to make a series of these "Greetings from..." postcards, I printed the words in various fonts using Spoonflower services. 

The dark blue shapes are there to provide value contrast for the letters "The White House".

I've also fussy cut a US Flag from this piece of fabric. 
The flag is a little too large, but its what I had on hand. 

When selecting that dark blue, I found this piece of fabric, and realized it looked like the fireworks, that exploded over the capital the night of the inauguration, January 20th.  So I prepared a small piece, then fussy cut fireworks to place above the White House. 

I used a grunge white fabric for the letters, to look like white marble.

Here is the layout before quilting. 

I quilted through this piece and the Timtex so its stiff like a postcard.   Then added cardstock to the back before finishing the edge with a zigzag. 

When photographing I realized the top of the letters HOU were lost against the white banner, so I simply drew in a blue border with a pen. I wouldn't do this on a quilt that was going to be washed, but this is a postcard!

- - - 

After the election in November 2020, with the drumbeat of the conspiracy theorists, stoked by #45, there was some concern that he would not actually leave on January 20th.  The insurrection on January 6th made it clear that there were enough people following this line of un-reasoning that the peaceful transition of power was not guaranteed.   In the end, he left with a grudge by not attending the inauguration of the next administration.  Good riddance! 

The people of the United States, using the peaceful power of the vote, cut a wannabe tyrant out of our government.  I worry about all his followers. I hope that we can somehow regain a shared understanding of facts.  But I don't see that path today. 

More than ever, peace, 

Paula 

 

 

Damnit Janet

Pieced bargello-style rainbow wings, machine quilted. Completed February 9, 2019.  Size 14" x 16".  Made for Project Quilting challenge 10.3.  Click on that link to vote for your 10 favorite quilts this week 


This week we lost our amazing friend, Janet Mease  (center in this photo)  She was funny, honest, snarky, foul mouthed, loving, kind, and generous.  We met in an online group in February 2013.  

Adva and I went to visit her in San Luis Obispo a few times, and made a small quilt for her when she opened her quilt shop.  Here is a post about that quilt.

The night she passed (Feb 8th) I dreamt I saw her with wings.  Yes.  wings.  I'm not really spiritual in that way, so my response to that vision was: WHAT THE F*CK.  I have a feeling Janet would have said the same thing. 

I created this image of her for our FB group.  

Janet was colorful, in every meaning of that word.  She loved ALL the colors, especially yellow, which she used in her quilts as a neutral. (most people use white/gray/light colors as 'neutral'). 
  
I cut thin strips in a full rainbow,  sewed them into a strata fabric,  added a bright yellow to the top and bottom as my background,  then cut that up to create the bargello 'wings'  (I'm sorry I don't have process photos, this actually went together very quickly) 

On the back, I included a left over strip of Frond Tree of Life panel, which I used on the back of a 'get well' quilt we made for Janet this past summer.  

The quilting on this small quilt includes wings,  the words 'snowflake sister', which is the hashtag that original FB group uses on other social media, and a row of naughty bits, which I first used on Janet's quilt, and reminds me of her ribald humor. 





Godspeed Janet Mease.  
I'm going to miss that wild woman. 

Peace.

Matzah Cover a la Adva

 

3 pocket Matzah cover for Passover with Selvage Edge applique and hand embroidered blanket stitch. Completed Mar 21, 2018.  Size 10" x 11"

This piece was made for the week 6 challenge in Project Quilting season 9 - Scraptastic

The challenge requirement was to use at least 12 different fabrics in a project.  I wanted a new Matzah Cover for our family seder next weekend.  In selecting fabric I might use to create it, I noticed a fun selvage edge on one piece, and remembered that my friend Adva would want that edge when I cut it off.  Quilters don't typically use the selvage edge because it is woven more densely to hold the fabric during the printing/dying process.  Here is an image of a typical selvage edge - the bit with the colored dots.  And yes, that is Pigs Flying fabric!

Adva makes some beautiful quilts using fabric she creates by sewing together selvage edges in a very creative way, like this little bird: 

So when I thought about Adva at that moment, I decided to change direction and make this for her instead, using those selvage edges the way she does, even though I had never done it before.

Here is my collection of selvage edges before I started sewing them together.  










I created 6 triangles,  then tried out various arrangements,
and finally decided to cut 3 of them down to create this layout: 





I selected this background because it looked 'spring-like' which fits the Passover holiday,  and because it was in direct opposition to the snow storm raging outside my window: 

To get a little more definition on the shapes and secure them better,  I hand embroidered the blanket stitch around each piece:

Finally, I constructed the 3 pockets needed to make this a Passover Matzah cover.   I created this offset design, by adding a bright strip of beautifully hand dyed fabric to the edges of the pockets, so they show as stripes on one edge.  Here is a close up of the pockets with matzah inserted:


Final count:  40 different fabrics used in this piece








Adva and I met through quilting, and deepened that friendship through our shared interests in travelling to quilt shows, eating and drinking at nice restaurants,  talking about and watching shows like Amazing Race and Project Runway,  gossiping about those women on the Real Housewives shows, as if we really knew them, and sharing Jewish holidays together in a town that was mostly Christian.     

She has an amazing design aesthetic and can pick colors for a quilt that go together perfectly.  When I moved to New York City 3 years ago, I left behind a great friend.  Making this matzah cover for her and her family is my way of continuing to be with her for the holidays. 

Chag same’ach Chavera Sheri (Happy Holiday my friend)

Peace,
Paula

3/31/18 UPDATE:  Since this project started out as a matzah cover for our table, once I had finished the one for Adva, I started another for myself.  I liked the Spring color palette I used for Adva's, so I made the decorative element in my embroidered style  (it says MATZAH in Hebrew letters)  then created the same offset pockets.  We have seder tonight, so this will be used right away.

Chag Sameach to everyone celebrating Passover