“SunDream”, is representative of a unique experience I had a few years ago. I had minor surgery, and if you’ve ever been fully anesthetized you know that it leaves you feeling as though you have walked the line between life and death. When I woke up at home, I was still in a great deal of pain but was driven, inexplicably, to get up and paint this huge sun on the wall in my kitchen. I sent a photo of it to my Mom, and when she received it she immediately called me. Apparently, the sun I painted was eerily similar to the sun medallion that was buried with my Grandmother’s ashes – a medallion I had never seen and didn’t know existed.

The purpose of this quilt is to honor and remember my Grandmother as she was a great artistic inspiration. She was an Art Education professor at the University of Nebraska and a working artist, even into her retirement. She created the most amazing paintings and everything around her was beautiful and colorful. Her spirit has had a profound influence on me as an artist.

The sun in my quilt represents my inspiration and it’s glow is what nurtures my creative growth. My garden grows with the creative inspiration of my family and those I love, shining down and allowing me to clearly see which direction to go.

“SunDream” was entirely handmade, using 100% cotton fabrics, accented with glass beads and wooden letters. The sun is made of a gold-spattered batik fabric which is appliqued to the surface of a pieced background with a top-stitching technique. The quilting on the top is reminiscent of rays of sunlight, and each “ray” is accented with delicate beads. There are tiny wooden letters, each hand-painted purple and over-sprayed with gold to coordinate with the sun fabric. The letters spell out the following:

WHEN SHE WOKE UP FROM HER DREAM

SHE HAD A VISION OF THE GOLDEN SUN

The back is quilted with hand-stitched sun rays, some of which are also accented with beads. The piece contains two layers of cotton batting quilted together and finished with binding in the same fabric as the sun. It’s finished size is approximately 13″ x 13″.

Here’s the original sketch and some process pics:

And the back…the fabric is shiney so the pic looks a little weird:

 

 

 

I also made an Art Trading Card (ATC) quilt yesterday:

 

 

For the back, I used a scrap of fabric onto which I had test-printed my logo.  I should have used two layers because my hand-stiching knots showed through, but otherwise it’s pretty cool to have that on the back.