My Mother’s Cats
Quilt No. 130
It all started out with a photograph of my grandmother that
I had printed out on cotton at least 15 years ago. I had tried to use it numerous times and
failed every time. This time was no
exception, so I’m pretty certain it’s okay to designate that creative path a
certified dead end.
I built the entire crazy quilt around Gramma in the center,
but the longer I worked on it, the less interesting it got. Definitely a contrast problem! I finally trotted out my Box of Special
Things I Don’t Know What To Do With. This
is where I keep all those cute panels and odd cushion covers and weird socks and
bits of embroidery that I Don’t Know What To Do With. It helps to legitimize this
warehousing process if you mentally capitalize the name of box.
Absolutely nothing in the box worked until I came across these
two exquisite sleeping cats done in crewel work. They were on a white background
in a piece my mother had done sometime in the 1980’s or ‘90’s. Cutting them out and using them on a leopard
print background added the warmth the other neutral toned fabrics lacked. Everything woke up. Except the cats.
Thanks Mom! And since she got left out of the quilt, here’s a photo of my beautiful
grandmother.
