Private Idaho

Quilt No. 69
November 2009

What would it be like to live underground “like a wild potato”? This question popped into my head when I heard the B-52’s song Private Idaho (see lyrics on right hand side bar). The song suggests that someone who is gripped by fear of the ordinary - patios, pools, “signs that say hidden driveway”- might be hiding in a lifestyle that mimics a potato tucked safely underground. What might this safe harbor look like? I couldn’t help but put my own spin on both the above and below ground life of such a marvelous sheltering potato plant.

This quilt features a hand-dyed sky. Each leaf of the potato plant was created individually and then sewn onto the quilt. A hummingbird visits the blooms at the top.

I drew each potato room on paper and then scanned it into a file. The files were then adjusted to create the high-contrast sepia tones. The potato rooms were printed out on cotton and appliquéd onto the quilt. All potatoes are connected by satin roots and are outlined in gold metallic thread. This piece is hand quilted.

Lyrics to Private Idaho

Written by The B-52’s: Catherine Pierson, Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson, Ricky Wilson

You're living in your own Private Idaho

Living in your own Private Idaho

Underground like a wild potato.

Don't go on the patio.

Beware of the pool,

blue bottomless pool.

It leads you straight

right through the gate

that opens on the pool.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.

Keep off the path, beware the gate,

watch out for signs that say "hidden driveways".

Don't let the chlorine in your eyes

blind you to the awful surprise

that's waitin' for you at

the bottom of the bottomless blue blue blue pool.

You're livin’ in your own Private Idaho. Idaho.

You're out of control, the rivers that roll,

you fell into the water and down to Idaho.

Get out of that state,

get out of that state you're in.

You better beware.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.

You're living in your own Private Idaho.

Keep off the patio,

keep off the path.

The lawn may be green

but you better not be seen

walkin' through the gate that leads you down,

down to a pool fraught with danger

is a pool full of strangers.

You're living in your own Private Idaho,

where do I go from here to a better state than this.

Well, don't be blind to the big surprise

swimming round and round like the deadly hand

of a radium clock, at the bottom, of the pool.

I-I-I-daho

I-I-I-daho

Woah oh oh woah oh oh woah oh oh

Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

Get out of that state

Get out of that state

You're living in your own Private Idaho,

livin’ in your own Private.... Idaho

Crystal Blue Persuasion

Quilt No. 68
August 2009

It was 1969 when my best friend Jane and I first heard the song. We were sun tanning at the cottage, accompanied by the ever-present A.M. radio. Since that day I’ve always loved Crystal Blue Persuasion by Tommy James and the Shondells. It’s not only a great tune, it has a wonderful message of hope – perhaps there is still a chance for “peace and good brotherhood” among nations. My dear friend Jane is no longer with us, but when I hear the song I am transported back to those sunny days.

This song is one of those exceptional pieces of music that has the power to create superb visual images. The first image that emerges is, of course, that of blue crystals. I looked at pictures of crystals until I thought my eyes would turn to quartz. I drew gawky clumps of crystals for several weeks before I came up with a configuration that pleased me. These were then used as patterns. The fabric was dyed with Setacolor fabric dyes, including Shimmer Pearl, which added sparkle. The crystals were hand appliquéd onto the quilt, and the facets were outlined with embroidery in metallic thread.

But the crystals needed to look worldly. When discussing this feature with my friend Ruth, she suggested adding a globe of the Earth. I thought of adding a series of different phases of the Earth on to the crystals, but this proved too challenging. The crystals looked liked they’d lost in a marble swallowing contest. Eventually I decided that a map of the world spread over the crystals would give the effect I wanted. To add this feature, I traced a map onto the crystals. One at a time, I painted the continents with Elmer’s School Glue (Blue No Run Gel). This glue penetrates fabric and is very precise – it doesn’t wander into areas beyond where it’s been painted. I sprinkled Trichem Downyfleece (it looks like loose powdered fleece) over the glue and let it dry for several hours, then dumped off the excess. The fleece adheres only to the glue-painted areas and forms a very durable bond with a clean edge. Where did I find this product? Ironically, I’ve had it in my craft stash for over 25 years – ever since I got it from my friend Jane.

The words “crystal blue persuasion” always suggest great expanses of blue water to me – or maybe that’s just latent heatstroke from listening to the song in the hot sun. I wanted a visual element of the Earth as a globe, so ocean seemed the natural choice. Dolphins, killer whales, and other marine life were added to take advantage of the crystal blue water.

The lyrics called for “children of every nation.” This seemed like a pretty tall order, especially the “every” part, so I settled for only a few representative children. I drew the figures, transferred the drawings onto cotton, and embroidered them by hand in satin stitch. Each child took a few hours to complete. Each figure was then fused to another layer of fabric, and then fused onto the quilt.

The waves and the quilt binding were dyed in various blues to finish off the quilt. Small music symbols are featured on the binding fabric. The song lyrics are reprinted as part of the label on the back of the quilt. As a final touch, clear beads were added to the stars on the background. A new day is dawning – but not quite yet.

I think Jane would have liked this quilt.

To read the lyrics to Crystal Blue Persuasion, check the sidebar on the right hand side of the page.

Lyrics to Crystal Blue Persuasion

Composed by Eddie Gray, Tommy James, and Mike Vale

Look over yonder

What do you see?

The sun is a'risin'

Most definitely.

A new day is comin'

People are changing

Ain't it beautiful?

Crystal blue persuasion.

Better get ready

To see the light

Love, love is the answer

And that's all right.

So don't you give up now

So easy to find

Just look to your soul

And open your mind.

Maybe tomorrow

When He looks down

On every green field

And every town

All of this children

Every nation

There'll be peace and good

Brotherhood

Crystal blue persuasion.

Quilt Show At Timmins and District Hospital

Eleven Concept Quilts created by Julie Domenico are currently on display in the Artist's Promenade at Timmins & District Hospital, July 13 - August 21, 2009. These quilts, collected together here as Our Beautiful and Terrifying World, illustrate the contrasts in our world that we take for granted. Wildlife and landscape quilts are featured along with quilts representing themes based on war.

Origins of Life

Quilt No. 66

April 2009

The black velvet acacia tree featured on this quilt serves as a back drop for jewelry owned by my mother, my mother-in-law, or me. Several layers of gold or orange organza stretched over a layer of pale orange cotton were used for the background. Chains from necklaces outline all outer parts of the tree as well as the boundaries in the background. The jewelry ranges in age from one to fifty or more years, and includes a rhinestone necklace from the 50’s or 60’s, charms, pins, earrings, and bracelets. A Ten Commandments bracelet that was given to me around 1960 can be viewed on the mid- to lower-right of the tree.

Quilting Notes

All jewelry items were sewn onto the tree using ”invisible” thread (MonoPoly from Superior Threads). Only a minimal amount of hand quilting was added to avoid “wrinkling” the organza.

Mexico: Beyond the Reef

Quilt No. 65

March 2009

In January 2009, fabric proved difficult to find during a trip to Mexico. A cotton beach cover up was purchased in Playa del Carmen. The material was used for the dolphins and the flowers on this quilt. A 320 peso ($3.20) necklace was purchased and plundered for the white shells used to create the tall flowers.

Quilting Notes

The dolphins were fussy cut and heavily stuffed, trapunto style. Glass beads were added along the length of the dolphins to accent the sparkle of the background fabric. The tall flower stalks were created with wool. The flowers were also fussy cut, hand appliquéd, and decorated with glass beads. Silver metallic thread was using for the hand quilting.

Hibakusha

Quilt No. 63

January 2009

The hibakusha can only stand and mourn as radioactive fallout destroys their lives and their city. Their clothes have been burned off. Waves lap up around them in the dying city of Hiroshima, a city that is crisscrossed by many rivers. Flames will consume the city, and those who seek refuge in the waves of the rivers will succumb to the fire storm. Hibakusha, literally translated as "explosion-affected people", is the Japanese word given to the injured survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

August 6, 1945 was a calm and sunny morning in the city of Hiroshima. At 8:15 the atomic bomb, Little Boy, was detonated over the city with a blast force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT. Within minutes 80,000 people within a half mile of ground zero were dead. Many more would die; injured survivors would become the hibakusha.

As the citizens tried to make their way in their ruined city, many became sick and died. Had they been attacked by a new chemical or biological agent? They were unaware that a nuclear weapon had been detonated. No one was familiar with the specter of atomic bombs or their aftermath - radiation sickness. Little was known about the effect of radiation at that time, and the disfigured and ill survivors, the hibakusha, experienced severe discrimination. Feared as carrying a contagious or hereditary disease, they were often denied jobs and marriage partners. Although medical science gradually revealed the cause of their illnesses, the negative attitude towards the hibakusha continues even today.

This quilt, with its post-apocalyptic setting, depicts a small part of their story. The red-crowned crane flying over the scene is a symbol of long life and fidelity, or of luck and peace. In Japanese folklore this crane is said to live for a thousand years. Today, it is a highly endangered species with less than 1,500 birds remaining in the wild.

As of March 2008, there were 243,692 living hibakusha in Japan. Their average age was 75 years. Memorials record the names of more than 400,000 hibakusha in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many more names are added each year.

Quilting Notes

The border of this quilt is one solid piece, with the figures and city viewed in a central “window.” One figure was hand drawn and repeated with minor variations to create the groups of hibakusha. The human figures were done in appliqué and outlined with hand embroidery. The city was created by dying various fabrics in slightly different shades, and fusing them to the background. Buildings were then outlined with embroidery. This piece is hand quilted.

Quilting in the Wind

Quilt No. 62

July 2008

This quilt was inspired by a session of fabric dying that took place under less than ideal circumstances. A friend had given me a magazine that outlined a dying technique where strips of tissue paper are placed on damp fabric. Setacolor fabric dye is then painted over the strips, and the dyes from the tissue paper and the Setacolor run together to create interesting patterns. The process is done outdoors, as Setacolor dye is light sensitive.

I set up my work area on a table on the deck of our cottage. I was very enthusiastic about trying this new technique, so I ignored the fact that it was a very hot and windy day. Dying fabric with Setacolor paints requires limited air movement and high humidity to allow time for the dye to spread out slowly before it dries. However, as the wind blew fiercely, the tissue paper strips kept blowing off the fabric. The fabric kept losing its required dampness, so I didn’t chase the strips, I just kept spraying the fabric with water and adding new strips of tissue paper and more fabric dye. Eventually, I left the project to dry in the sun. As I made my way around the corner of the deck a new vista greeted me. All the strips that had blown away were hanging in the trees – in effect, I had “toilet papered” my own trees with messy strips of dye-laden tissue paper. When I related these events to my friend, she immediately suggested this would make a good subject for a quilt. Her comments became the inspiration for Quilting in the Wind. The tissue paper dyed fabric was used in the quilt entitled, Uncharted.

Quilting Notes

Although I tested several brands of tissue paper it was all dye-fast, and did not release any dye. It did however causing varying effects by blocking the sunlight to different degrees in different areas. The design of the tree trunk was “borrowed” from a drawing on the internet, but I drew the branches and leaves. A small amount of fabric was dyed to create contrast near the base of the tree. Purchased “transition fabrics” were used to get the gradations in colour for the sun and the pink strips.

Let It Be

In Let it Be we see a figure holding the planet Earth in his hand.

Despite the cloudiness of the night sky, beams of light break through.

In his famous song, Let It Be, Paul McCartney wrote

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me.

Quilt No. 61
June 2008

McCartney wrote this song after a dream about his mother, Mary, who had died many years previously. In the dream, she soothed his tensions, advising him, “It will be alright, just let it be."
Often, during our darkest moments, someone will step in to shine a light and show us which way to go.

When we have learned to accept that there are limitations and situations beyond our control, we will have learned to let it be.

Is the figure divine? Is it human or alien? It’s up to the observer to decide.

What a world we could have, if we could learn to let it be.

Quilting Notes

I wanted to use some sheer material in this quilt as part of the beams of light. This proved to be exceptionally difficult, as various types of this fabric shredded along the raw edges when I tried to sew them on. Gluing them simply made a mess. The raw edges could not be turned under, as they would show. Eventually I found a fabric that could withstand stitching along the edge with invisible (nylon) thread. A different sheer fabric was layered over the star fabric to give a dreamy quality to the light beams. The central figure was put on and removed a number of times, as the tight curves and the thick material (two layers of cotton to hide any seam allowances that were turned under) made appliqué very challenging. The cloud and the figure were both painted with Setacolor Shimmer Pearl prior to being added to the quilt. When assembled, the quilt was much too dark. Additional Shimmer Pearl was painted on the finished quilt to give a much lighter look.