Mississippi Musing

 

This art quilt started with the inspiration of a little kit called Minnesota by MAD for Wool.  I changed a couple of things--added some borders and had fun playing with lovely things about Minnesota.  My quilt's finished size is 21.5" x 32". I added fabric of morning glory's with hummingbirds  to the top and bottom borders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This close up for Minnesota has stitching on it in the shape of a question mark that represents the Mississippi River that starts in Itaska winds to Minneapolis and down the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin and through Winona.

Here are some of the details that I love:

"Sky Blue Waters" is a Minnesota saying.  I painted the sky in the quilt with acrylic paints.

On the left border, "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is one saying about all of the beautiful water in Minnesota.

And on the right border is embroidered "North Star State."

The bottom border reads "All Creatures Growing Harmony," it's a hope for all creatures large and small in this land and on this Earth to live in harmony.

On the back I added a hanging devise to easily hang in on the wall with a small nail.  On the left is a pocket.

Here's close up of the pocket.  In the pocket is a poem, titled the same of the quilt.

Minnesota Musings

Minnesota musings

an art quilt for you

of dreams,

hopes, nature,

hiking, good conversation,

friendship, books, coffee, love

a star marks Winona

a loon, Minnesota’s state bird,

bees, butterflies, nesting birds

dreams for tomorrow

the embroidered borders give voice

Minnesota’s glory

Sky Blue Waters

10,000 Lakes

North Star State

All Creatures Growing Harmony

to give hope, love, peace to you, dear friend.

MaryLee Eischen 2022 

 

I stitched on some small buttons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm stitching on the blue bird of happiness on her nest.

 

In the circle above Sugarloaf reads 'joy'.

 

A star marks Winona, the bird swimming is our state bird, the loon. And the clock above the loon represents that there is always time to hike--"no bad weather, just bad gear." That's what we say to each other all the time, and laugh.

If you'd like to make a Minnesota quilt, get in touch with the creators.  Find them on facebook  MAD for Wool.

You can also get in touch with them via email: ladyduck@charter.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up for the machine drawing around the hummingbird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I signed it. 

And it got delivered to the happy friend on Christmas morning.

 

Dawn and Billy

Spring Bird in the Summertime

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This artwork was created by an unknown artist from Sri Lanka--batik, wax applied to fabric and dyes applied.  The wax holds the dyes in sections.  This art was acquired by my friend, Kim Hammer on her travels to Southeast Asia.  My part of the art is to create an art quilt by adding batting and backing and texture through quilting.  I also added some of my own poetry to this piece as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this photo, the top of the art--leaves, the batting--the cream color layer and the back--turquoise and gold fabric that I'm cutting.  All three layers are pinned together and then stitched by free motion machine together. Free motion means that the stitches are guided by the stitcher--sometimes I call in stitch drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The bird sits at the edge of her nest,

She takes a moment to look at the five perfect eggs about to hack

She breathes in the spring air and settles down to sit, to warm the eggs

Her gaze becomes soft,

Her thoughts stay with the present moment

There is no where that she needs to go

She stays in this moment of stillness

Calm, relaxed, ready"

MaryLee Eischen 5/2022 

 

If you look closely, you'll see the stitching around the bird's feet and around the eggs.  In the nest of many lines of stitching to add lots of texture.  There was so much stitching on the lower portion of the art quilt that the dimensions were altered.  The lower portion was smaller than the upper one third of the quilt.  I was not sure how to fix this problem with the quilt.  It hung the quilt on my design wall for about two weeks as I worked on other art until an idea came to me.

I decided that I could stitch on the background in the upper portion and create the breeze blowing and add swirls around the words and the leaves and stems on the upper part of the quilt.  The color of the thread would be close to the background.

Here's an images of the stitching around the words, "in her eggs."  That heavy stitching made all the difference.  And the top and bottom of the quilt came into alignment.

 

 

 This is the hanging device that makes is easy to hang on the wall.

 

 

The completed Spring Bird Art Quilt measures 21" x 33".

Flow to Your True Home

The Brook, The Creek, The River Flow

 

The water of the brook sings a song of joy as it flows

It has a conversation that only it can understand,

or perhaps a grasshopper at the edge of the brook

can understand

scratching its legs

it seems to nod in agreement to the brook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The creek tinkles

like bells that a nearby fairy can hear.

The creek dances on the

banks and splashes and plays.

 

The river moves slowly

continuing toward the sea. It says,

“I am too sleepy to hurry or create such chatter.”

Then it flows down a hill

and starts to pick up speed and finds its

voice. 

A soft roar at first,

growing more steady as it caresses boulders and rocks.

A chatter of jubilation as it twists and turns

knowing that the sea is its true home.

                                         MaryLee Eischen April 2022

Where is your true home?