Tonight I got on a wild hare...

Hello!
Tonight instead of playing another game or two
of Freecell, Spider Solitaire,
Bridge Baron 19 or Internet Scrabble
while avoiding going to bed,
I decided to create a quilt on Electric Quilt 6.

I view Electric Quilt as a "computer game"
without the violence and with a useful and often lovely outcome.

Tonight I chose this antique quilt
which was made in 1896
and is currently hanging in the Quilt Room
of the Nodaway Valley Histoical Museum
 in Clarinda, Iowa where I am a Board member.

When I looked at my photo, I thought,

 "What a pitiful photo of this quilt!" 

While I worked on it, 

I decided the most appealing aspect of it

 in this photo is the aged antique look. 

It certainly is not the slightly unique, 

but not particularly interesting, blocks. 

But I was not to be deterred, so here it is.

How boring!

So that got me searching for 

and coloring a more interesting block 

and then choosing another nine patch alternate block to complement it. 

After I colored them a couple blues and white, 

I used the "Swap All Colors" tool 

and came up with this color scheme.

I have named this 100" x 100" quilt which has 81 - 9" blocks,

"Clearly you have made your point".

I think it is much more interesting. 

Don't you?

Never one to give up the fight easily and retire to bed,

I decided to reduce the number of blocks

 from 81 to 49 by removing the outside row of blocks, 

revising some of the coloring

 in the alternate blocks along the sides, 

inserting a middle border, 

and enlarging the outer border to 15" 

to keep the quilt at 100" square 

and allow the center 

to fit on the top of my queen-sized mattress 

and only the borders to drop over.

Hmmm, which do you prefer?

I'm glad I skipped my other computer games 

and went for "Electric Quilt."

I always feel more productive. 

If I do decide to make this quilt, 

I can use EQ6 to print off my rotary cutting directions,

 yardages and a printed drawing to select fabrics to match...

or not...as I desire.

I hope you dream of quilts tonight, too.
Carlene

You just never know...

 

On March 20, 2010 I was speaking about my quilts

 to a group of women who were visiting Clarinda 

for the National Minneapolis-Moline Collectors Convention. 

In addition to sharing stories about more than thirty other quilts, 

I also chose to set up my 96" x 124" quilt named

 "Holocaust: A Hate Movement" 

in the main area of the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum.

 Since men and women were expected at the Museum that day, 

I thought its message could reach a large group. 

As it turned out, we did have 102 visitors that Saturday.

I shared the messages which are built into the quilt

 through blocks, fabrics, text, dimension, texture and quilting. 

Seventy blocks, chosen for their names 

from The Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns compiled by Barbara Brachman,

tell the story of the Holocaust in chronological order. 

The Nazi swastika block was drafted from a photograph. 

Bright colored prints first released in the 1920's and 1930's 

are featured in the beginning of the quilt. 

At the time when life became precarious, 

only solid-colored fabrics were used. 

The chosen colors were black (hate), red (death), orange (fear), 

brown (Nazi uniforms), dark blue (U.S., British and French flag color) 

and light blue (Israeli flag color). 

The four gray border fabrics represent everyday "normal life" (left), 

ashes blowing in the wind (top), 

ashes in the furnaces (bottom) 

and tendrils of hope growing from the ashes (right).

Blocks pieced with their seam allowances 

on the surface (instead of inside) 

reverse the meaning of the original block name. 

For example, the reversed block "Peace and Plenty" 

depicts the lack of peace and plenty at that time. 

Text such as "Where is God" and "Men to the left, Women to the right" 

documents both memories and agonizing concerns. 

Overall hand quilting in three-inch intervals 

represents the barbed wire fences 

surrounding the extermination and work camps.

In 1991 I was inspired by God 

to make this quilt after visiting Yad Vashem, 

The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority 

near Jerusalem, Israel. 

Yad Vashem was founded in 1953 by the State of Israel 

to recognize those killed and harmed during the Holocaust 

and to acknowledge those who worked to rescue the survivors.

The software programs Electric Quilt and Blockbase 

were used to design the quilt layout and print templates 

for cutting out the pieces of the blocks. 

The names of the 77 quilt blocks 

are listed in alphabetical order as follows:

American Homes

At the Depot

At the Square

Attic Window

A Victory Quilt

Boxcar Patch

Broken Windows

Brown World

Children Israel

Church Steps

Churchill

Day and Night

Danger Signal

Depression

Father's Choice

Follow the Leader

Ghost Walk

Hide & Seek

Home Again

Hour Glass

Lost Children

Memory Block (seven - each containing one of the texts below)

..."Men to the left, women to the right"

..."Work will make you free"

..."Break the body, break the spirit, break the heart"

..."Where is God"

..."Whatsoever you do to the least of these my brethren, you do unto me"

..."I was only following orders"

..."Never again"

Next Door Neighbor

Nothing Wasted

Our Country

Path Thru the Woods

Peace and Plenty (backwards)

Peaceful Hours (backwards)

President Roosevelt

Prosperity (backwards)

Railroad Crossing

Road to Paris

Rob Peter to Pay Paul

Salute to Loyalty

Secret Drawer

Star of David

Swastika

Target

The Stockade

Trial and Troubles

Underground Railroad

Victory

I am drawn to tell stories about my quilts. 

This one has been the most difficult so far. 

In addition I have found that remembering history

opens my eyes to the current lack of justice and peace

in so many areas of our world.

 Keep your eyes open. 

Be courageous and speak up. 

You just never know when you might make a difference. 

Do you know of a venue which would welcome 

a short term display of this eye-opening quilt with a serious message?

Peace,

Carlene