Sunday, January 15, 2017

Alice's Boundaries Quilt--A Crumbling Wall


My quilt was inspired not only by our theme this time, but also by Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall.”

First, the theme word:  in the current political climate, boundaries, specifically WALLS, have been all-too prominent, in my opinion!  Even more specifically:  building walls.  So what about showing a crumbling wall (or a wall like the Berlin Wall being dismantled)?

Now the poem:  the most quoted line from Frost's poem is “Good fences make good neighbors,” but ironically, and sadly, that is NOT the poem’s theme!  Rather, the point Frost is making through his speaker (a man and his neighbor are mending a rock wall) is that fences, walls, boundaries do NOT make good neighbors, but rather, isolate us and prevent us from fostering friendships or even mending fractured relationships.  That famous or infamous line is spoken by the neighbor, who unlike the speaker, feels that it's important to repair the wall between their two farms.

And so as soon as I heard what our challenge word was this time, I immediately decided to base it on Frost’s poem.  Something happened to me that has never happened before:  I had an instant mental image of my quilt.  I started to sketch it, but then I thought, “Why?  Why not just jump in and design without a penciled sketch?”  (I think that Carolyn often uses this method of “jumping in and cutting”! Forgive me, Carolyn, if I’ve not described accurately the method you sometimes use!)

I pulled fabrics from my stash, including the rocks fabric, applied Wonder Under to them, and then began cutting out components.  For the background sky and grass, I used a technique learned in a workshop with Sue Benner, and that is, using narrow strips of multiple fabrics. 

I cut the wall from the rock fabric and then free-hand cut a gap in the wall.  I cut out smaller pieces of this and other fabrics to compose the pile of fallen rocks.  All these pieces were then fused down to a background.

After all pieces were fused, I machine quilted, using a combination of straight stitches with feed dogs up and some free motion quilting with the feed dogs down.  This 11”x14” quilt is bound conventionally with the same fabric I used for the back.

14 comments:

  1. Your quilt is a great representation of the farm wall. I love your sky and the birch trees

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  2. The composition is great and the fabrics perfect for the various components of the scene. I particularly love how you did the foreground and the birch trees.

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  3. Wow! I love the crumbling wall. It is terrific. This is a perfect representation of the theme.

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  4. Alice, you always take something useful from all the classes you have taken! I, too, admire Sue Bennet's collaged pieces. Our entire lives as individuals and communities are spent building walls and tearing them down. What a wonderful interpretation of the theme. And the last boundary will be death itself.....

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  5. I think we must have been thinking along the same lines. I love that. You express it much more eloquently.
    Your quilt is wonderful. I don't think you needed a sketch this time. You knew what you wanted, and you achieved it. Great job!

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  6. Alice this quilt is terrific. I thought of that fence line several times this month - and your explaining how the poem is misunderstood and misquoted!

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  7. Stone walls are a favorite of mine too!! Reminds me of the farm land around here.

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  8. Great quilt to go with the poem. Your sky is a perfect background for the trees and wall with its different color values and horizontal lines.

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  9. Very nice. Loved your poem inspiration & your text with the quilt.

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  10. Oh Alice, This is my most favorite of all of your quilts!
    Hooray for free form creation without a sketch! Love the colors and the beautiful wall that is being removed. And, of course, I love the symbolism!

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  11. This is so perfect for this challenge. I love the free form technique for the sky and foreground. The break in the rock wall and the birch trees add so much depth. I love this quilt, Alice.

    p.s. And thank you for finding the stumbling block that was preventing me from commenting on my MM sister's quilts. Bunches of Hugs!

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  12. I was in that Sue Benner class with you and Carolyn; you did a great job on this piece using her techniques.
    I really appreciate the story on the poem by Robert Frost; I did not know the whole story. (since the next challenge is 'quote' you can just repost this same work using your Frost quote... )

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  13. Hi Alice ... What a great quilt, and great interpretation of the challenge ! As others of our group have commented, I'll admit that I'd never heard the explanation behind Frost's poem..... So interesting ! Great job on this challenge !

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  14. This is a beautiful representation of the poem. Yes, we are building walls these
    days and I don't know what to do about it.
    NM

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