THE GREAT "ALASKA BLUES ! "
The first thing that came to my mind was the 35 years I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, and the oh-so-beautiful summer flowers, especially the Alaska State Flower, the "Forget Me Not !" They're stunning in their color(s) and their simplicity. Think of the conditions they have to endure just to produce the leaves and flowers ! And then I thought of the awesome Texas Bluebonnets that are in full bloom right now, and how absolutely gorgeous those flowers are !
I actually have some fabric from Anchorage that depicts the Forget Me Not Flowers, and very reluctantly cut that fabric to make the kind of wild and crazy flowers on my quilt. [When you see the quilt in person, it'll be fun to see how quickly (or not !) you can find the Forget Me Nots!]
All the flowers were cut from blue-ish toned fabrics. I fused 2 layers of compatible fabrics together (Heat and Bond Light), then sort of randomly set the flowers on my base "quilt" and began machine stitching the fabricated flowers on to that quilt. I trimmed the flowers, partially cut each flower into 8 "petals", and then hand-washed the entire quilt. I wanted to get all those petals separated, and add texture to the petals at the same time. After that, I added two colors of blue fabric squares (made from netting !) to add some pizazz and texture.
The backing fabric is Royal Blue fabric with Gold stars, and was chosen in honor of the Alaska State Flag, and the song that we sing with much pride. I end my narrative with the lyrics to this incredibly beautiful tribute to the Greatland - ALASKA !
Eight stars of gold on a field of blue,
Alaska's flag, may it mean to you,
The blue of the sea, the evening sky,
The mountain lakes and the flowers nearby,
The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,
The precious gold of the hills and streams,
The brilliant stars in the northern sky,
The "Bear," the "Dipper," and shining high,
The great North Star with its steady light,
O'er land and sea a beacon bright,
Alaska's flag to Alaskans dear,
The simple flag of a last frontier.
Whoops ...No Pictures just yet ! My computer, iPhone, and camera seem to be out of touch with each other right now. Please check back later to catch a glimpse of this kind-of-crazy quilt !
ReplyDeleteThe photos of your quilt are now in place! It took some doing on my part. For awhile, I feared that somehow my computer and Blogger weren't happy with one another, but I finally got the photos posted. Anyway, congratulations on your Blues quilt! It certainly does reflect the theme word in a beautiful and unusual manner. Love the back, too!
ReplyDeleteDear Alice .. Thank you so much for coming to my rescue again ! The photos look beautiful, and help explain why and how I made the quilt the way I did. Much love to you for your kindness and patience with me, my computer, and my iPhone !
DeleteWhat a great idea! I do see the forget me nots. I’m always intrigued by your techniques and vision of the theme. Love it!
ReplyDeleteThis is a fun interpretation of the theme - makes me want to stroke the flowers.
ReplyDeletecolorful and wild and I can see these filling up alaskan acreage! all the color and texture make this so much fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely quilt in remembrance of your days in Alaska. The forget-me-nots must be a beautiful sight! Love your quilt!
ReplyDeleteLike Sara, I'd also like to stroke the flowers! Good for you for cutting up your fabric from Anchorage, I think it was worth it! Very fun piece.
ReplyDeleteThis was a perfect way for you to interpret blues and put that forget-me-not memory fabric to good use. Now you can see it all the time!
ReplyDelete