It''s woman power and the stages of a woman's life. I had no idea this would be it when I began. I just wanted to use a beautiful carved cameo cabochon of a girl which I have had for a long time.
This lovely maiden made we think of the stages of a woman's life: maiden, mother, wise woman. And a theme was born.
I added the vintage brooch of a woman I bought at
Accessories of Old several years ago when they still had their bricks and morter store.
I needed the face of an old woman for the wise woman image, so I pulled out the package of sculpey my son-in-law gave me for Christmas and made one. Actually I made 3 and picked my favorite, although I almost decided to look for something else, because I'm definitely an amatuer sculptor. I think now she looks like she could give some good advise.
I also added a dragon charm as a symbol of woman power. Way back in 1978, as a slightly frustrated feminist (the Equal Rights Amendment to the constitution was going down to defeat), I was reenergized and inspired by reading,
When God Was a Woman, by Merlin Stone. It was in this book I learned that the dragon was an ancient symbol for the goddess and I have used and collected dragon images and items since then.
My friend Helen, of my crazy quilt group told me it is also a symbol of transformation. And, doesn't that fit with the whole theme, too!
At last April's Crazy Quilt Adventure in Connecticut, we exchanged hand-made motifs. Some pretty ribbon flowers I received were the perfect color for this block. I regret I discarded the card that was with them, so I can't personally thank the friend who made them. I hope you see this to see how pleasingly they were used.
After all the seams were embellished, I had one spot left for a motif, so I furthered the mother theme with an image of madonna and child.
Here is the completed block, finished 2 days into March. I hope to make up that slippage and stay on schedule to have a complete quilt at the end of the year. I didn't want to start slipping this soon. These are 8 inch blocks.
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