Sunday, January 15, 2012

Patti Brooks's Post for South Theme- Okra -













I grew up in New England and a month after we were married, we left Boston heading SOUTH to Austin, Texas for my husband to go to graduate school. As we were heading to Texas, we stopped in a cafeteria somewhere in the south (could have been Georgia). We hadn't eaten at a cafeteria before and thought we would try something new - Okra. Wow.! Boiled Okra sure caught our attention. I thought it was the worst thing I had ever eaten. Don't think that I tried it again for another 15 years. Still don't care for the boiled, slimy stuff but can tolerate it fried (doesn't frying help lots of things).


I decided okra had to be the focus of this quilt. My quilt is based on a cross section of a piece of okra. I included the different stages I went through. I used applique, free motion quilting, and a decorative stitch from my new machine for the outline.







8 comments:

  1. How funny Patti! I thought about doing okra, but I would have done a frontal view. I like your cross-section better - it's much more interesting. They are slimy aren't they, but oh so good fried or in gumbo. Love your rendition.

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  2. Hi Patti - Oh my gosh.... I've loved okra since my first bite ! And you're right about the fried okra - its sublime ! Even more than fried okra, i love what you did with the cross section, and how you detailed the steps you used. Congrats.... great job ! Kathy

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  3. Patti, I love your story because I think Okra is destestable unless the slime is camouflaged by soup or pickled. Haven't tried fried but I'd probably like that. What I like more is how you took a very southern food and made it artistically interesting. Thanks for sharing the process with us. What a nice rendition.

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  4. Hi Patti. I, too, thought about foods when the topic of South was announced. You couldn't have picked a better one to portray than okra!!! And portraying it in a cross-section manner was very clever indeed! Very nice!

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  5. I was charmed by your choice of okra! What a totally typical Southern food. And doing a cross section--that was brilliant. It is so complex, complicated, and truly beautiful. Your quilt based on what many might think a humble vegetable is lovely! I must confess: Though I love fried okra, I even like it not boiled but barely cooked, before the "slime" develops, with lots of butter! Yum!

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  6. Patti, That is superb! It looks great with the blue in the center. The addition of the decorative stitching gave it exactly what it needed to become the okra in your minds eye. Glad it worked out so well. Makes me want to go cook up some okra. Hmmm, better let these southern ladies teach me how to make it taste good though. I only eat it when someone else makes it. Love it in soups.

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  7. I think one can get to enjoy everything including okra and brussel sprouts. I prefer looking at the interior, however, and all that you did with it. I may change my opinion about okra as a result of your art!

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