Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Earth Ark

Earth Ark, 2011, installed in Little Current United Church Sanctuary, October 30, 2011.

This post is a review of the design and construction of Earth Ark, the first of four meditation panels in the Manitoulin Circle Project. It began in July, 2009 with a drawing. The drawing was scaled up on Judy's studio wall, using the 12 inch square ceiling tiles as a measuring grid. This large drawing was then transferred to quilt-backing cloth so that there was a pattern to work with. All four drawings were transferred at the same time. In late October, 2009, the community project began. Every Thursday the United Church hall in Little Current hosted a drop-in session for anyone who wanted to come and work on the panels. All levels of experience were welcome. French knots in grids, embroidered with perle cotton into silk squares. The grid of green and brown reminds one of the pastoral farm land of Manitoulin Island. One of the most important ideas underlying this project is the idea of re-cycling beautiful linens. Linda's gift of her collection of women's handkerchiefs inspired the 'heaven' in the Earth Ark panel. Laid on point, these handkerchiefs recall a more refined, slower time. The lower half of the panel is made in the broken dishes pattern, using cotton damask and a mix of silk and velvet. Hand piecing. machine piecing The lower half of the panel represents the water. This idea of an island (Manitoulin) surrounded by water and sky evolved as if it were meant to be. The upper half of the panel represents the sky. An original pattern of large foundation pieces looks like rays from the sun. These were hand and machine pieced with strips cut from re-purposed linen damask table cloths. Traditionally, the symbol of the circle within a square represents something dynamic (the circle -the spirit) being contained within something that is stable and limited. (the square - a building). Symbolically, circle within a square imagery is perfect for liturgical objects. This design also incorporates a white crescent shape, cut from a single piece. Eventually, after about 8 months of stitching, the pieces all came together. Myra helped to put Earth Ark into the quilt frame in May 2010. And hand quilting began. Hand quilting this 90 inch panel took 6 months. The rainbow was embroidered and quilted at the same time. In the green earth section, chain stitch embroidery was also the quilting stitch. In December 2010, the quilt came off the frame. The edges were bound by hand. There was still some hand quilting to do in the heaven area. Judy drew an Emily Carr sky into this area, and quilted it in the hoop during the summer of 2011. Cleaned in September 2011 Installed in October.

1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful project! The community aspect is really heartening.

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