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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It's a beautiful block Bobbi and I'm really enjoying all the stories that are accompanying your blocks. I looked up my motifs and I have a flower made in the same purple ribbon but a different leaf...from Theresa Rapstine theresarapstine@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteI think your sculpted wise woman is inspired and hope one day to try to scuplt something from sculpy...maybe you can show me how...
I laughed at your talking about slippage so early in the year....that's my middle name...Susan Slippage Elliott...
Thanks, Susan you slippery one. I will email Theresa a link so she can see how I used her flowers.
ReplyDeleteBobbie, your blocks are stunning! I have been collecting fabric and embellishments for years and one of these days I'll start my crazy quilt. I need to find out about the basics, (stabilizer? joining blocks?, etc. ) Thank you for posting. Terri, Delaware, formerly from Maryland
ReplyDeleteI always love your work, and the imagination that went into this one is really special. After all the hard work of feminists in the 1960's - 1980's (I fought a few of those battles myself), it almost seems like young women take it all for granted nowadays, while older women are rejecting feminist ideas. I'm glad you took the time to create this beautiful CQ message.
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