Monday, July 15, 2013

Janet's Cell Quilt: In Flanders Fields




I love it when the assigned word has so many definitions. Math, science, religion, accounting, insects, nuns, prisoners, on and on. I liked, “A membranous area bounded by veins in the wing of an insect such as a butterfly”. I had a beautiful monarch pattern from Silver Linings by Linda Hibbert. If you paper piece she has fantastic patterns ranging from beginners to those that make you lay down on your sewing machine and cry. So I started out to make a butterfly and ended up in a completely different place. I needed a flower and I had a poppy pattern I wanted to try. That made me think of veterans day every year when our pastor read “In Flanders Fields” to us in Sunday service. It is a poem written by an exhausted doctor who had been operating for seventeen days straight. He sat down on the back of an ambulance to rest for a moment only to notice that with all the horrors he was surrounded by there were also beautiful poppies. He threw it away when finished and a soldier picked it up and sent it back to England where it got published in the newspapers. That was almost a hundred years ago. No matter how bad things are something beautiful is there, if we just look for it.

12 comments:

  1. Janet, what a lovely quilt! The beautiful butterfly, the poppy. I well remember, years ago, when on Veterans Day, retired veterans would sell paper poppies. AND I love it that you have paid homage to the beautiful poem by John McCrae, which I cannot stop myself from reprinting here:

    In Flanders Fields
    By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
    Canadian Army
    In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses row on row,
    That mark our place; and in the sky
    The larks, still bravely singing, fly
    Scarce heard amid the guns below.

    We are the Dead. Short days ago
    We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
    Loved and were loved, and now we lie
    In Flanders fields.

    Take up our quarrel with the foe:
    To you from failing hands we throw
    The torch; be yours to hold it high.
    If ye break faith with us who die
    We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
    In Flanders fields.

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    1. Thank you for posting the poem, I have it on the back of the quilt and flat forgot to add the picture to the post. When I was growing up there were displays with paper poppies to help veterans.

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  2. Gorgeous piece Janet!! The colors are fabulous and everything beautifully executed. Love the story too!

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  3. Beautiful quilt and a very unexpected interpretation of cell. Your paper pieced butterfly is wonderful and the poppies are gorgeous.
    Thank you for the information behind the poem as I had no idea.

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  4. Janet, thank you for the lovely quilt and inspiration. I must look at that book Silver Linings. I would like to try some of her ideas. The lovely thing about blogs is that we have a library of all these good ideas to dip into when we have more time.

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    1. Silver Linings is her website. Her quilt "Norman" a big old elephant won at the Houston Quilt show last year.

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  5. This is just beautiful Janet! The poppies look so real and I love your butterfly. The colors made me smile. Thanks for the history of the poem, and thanks to Alice for printing the poem. I had long ago forgotten how it went. Love, love, love this!

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  6. Janet, such a beautiful piece you have created! Your choices of color and fabric are superb. It is a treat for the eyes and heart.
    I'm glad I was able to see it in person and hear you read the poem that you had printed on the back.

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  7. There's never a challenge reveal day that I don't learn many new and unexpected tidbits. I'd proudly hang this in my house and be reminded often of the 'silver lining' story. Beautifully executed Janet.

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  8. Janet,
    I love where you ended up with this - beautiful work. I appreciate your description of patterns that make you "lay down on your sewing machine and cry", I've seen foundation patterns like that and wondered how useful it was to get precise piecing and then try to match it to another equally complex piece. I like the way you started in 1 place and ended up in another totally beautiful one.

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  9. Dear Friend, it is wonderful as always!! I hope to be able to see it in person soon. The poppies look as if they could be picked and such a wonderful tribute to very brave men.

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  10. What a lovely piece. Great creativity with your interpretation. And fabulous piecing.

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