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

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?

Two Friends

 "A bird is washing in a puddle."

I wrote a poem to go along with this art quilt; parts of the poem are sprinkled around the quilt.

 

The wave brown is a close up of this quilted section--I call it machine drawing because I move my quilt around under the needle and draw with the sewing machine.  It's a little tricky and sometimes I have to rip out the stitches if it doesn't look right.  It gets easier with lots of practice.

 

"We are mirror images of one another; though our stories are wildly different." 

There is a line of turquoise hand stitching on the right side.

The back of the quilt shows the outline of the berries in the quilt drawing.  The stitching on the back of the quilt is very important to the beauty of the whole piece.

I'm touching the quilting.  The quilting adds an interesting textural and tactile quality to the art quilt.  It feels so good.  You can see the binding at the top of the picture.  The binding finishes this quilt.  I chose to use the same fabric for the binding as the backing.  I liked how the colors pulled it all together.

Close up detail of the quilting.

Stitching on the binding.  I use the little ruler at the bottom of the picture to measure a quarter inch to stop at the mitered corner before turning and going forward.  A little detail that makes for a crisp corner.

This is a photo transfer of the image onto fabric with the turquoise embroidery stitching around the edge.

I added this cool measuring tape that I received as a gift from a dear friend.

More parts of the poem surround our friends. Here's the prose poem:

“Today brings conversation with my friend about the worries in the world.  She listens deeply and puts her arm around my back.  My shoulders relax a bit.  I put my hand on her shoulder.  We are mirror images of one another; though our stories are wildly different.  Our way of listening deeply to each other makes everything feel a little lighter.  At one point a bird is washing in a puddle.  All the feathers are soggy wet in the drenching.  And then the bird flutters and all the feathers stand up to attention. “A little porcupine bird,” she jokes.  In the silliness and the love of this moment, the world becomes a little more bearable with the help of a bird and a friend.”

MaryLee Eischen 3/24/2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Our way of listening deeply to each other makes everything feel a little lighter."

"All the feathers are soggy wet in the drenching. And then the bird flutters and all the feathers stand up to attention." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"A little porcupine bird!"

 "In the silliness and love of this moment, the world becomes a little more bearable with the help of a bird and a friend."

 

Finished size of "Two Friends" 

19" x 24"