Journal Quilt 2007 on Display @ International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas

I'll post the story behind this piece 11/2 when I get to work where I saved it.

Title is "Water Tiger"

17" x 22"

A Page from My Book:
Journal Quilts 2007 Journal Quilt Project

Water Tiger

Creative Quilting techniques used: painted fabric (p. 152); couching fun fur yarns (p. 81); pieced background in color values (p. 79 & 130).

In April, my boyfriend who had so recently come back into my life (we were high school sweethearts in 1980) died suddenly of a heart attack at the tender age of 45. Our short two year romance had begun 4 months after my painful divorce. He called me out of the blue, not even sure he had the right person as he left his message on my answering machine. I called him back and our relationship started by catching up over the past 16 years of our lives since the 10 year reunion. The time we shared was so wonderful & meaningful I’m glad I had it at all. I would have never made it through 2005 or 2006 for that matter without his constant affirmation of me as a person, lover, friend, business professional & in his words 'a terrific mom'. I gained much needed confidence & self esteem. His constant reassurance of my inner strength & light really helped me reveal it and it shows in my personal life, professional life & most especially in my art.

I chose the Great Blue Heron as my subject; my own "Water Tiger". To some Native American tribes Heron medicine teaches us about solitude; and--if we let it--grants us the insight to rise above the water and tall grasses to view our surroundings; to see our future clearly; to quietly move towards our goals with diligence and patience. I no longer have my teacher, lover and friend, but his lessons are clear and I must now give myself my own affirmations and recognize my own capabilities. If I must be solitary; I will handle it with grace & humility.

I continue to experiment with the Asian aesthetic in my art. I machine pieced the background; fused the heron, fish, reeds & water onto it. I stitched everything down with various threads including, but not limited to, metallics, rayons, variegated rayons, silk and decorative yarns. The piece is bound with silk ribbon in place of traditional binding to give it a lighter feel; sort of a 0 horizon line. On the back, the Chinese symbols for Water Tiger were painted by me & the Koi was rubber stamped.