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"

Embrace Change, Dream

 This quilt was called the Orange quilt; it's new name is 

Embrace Change, Dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This wall quilt is filled with color and interesting shapes.  

It has painted fabric, text, machine drawing.

Hand written text in the sun:

Jump for Joy, Create, Dream , Breathe, 

Embrace Change, Radiate Positivity, Inspire, 

Rest, Choose Kindness, Be Happy

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." 

                                                         Mahatma Gandhi

Here's a picture of the stitching that's inside the quilt 

now; it is so cool, I wanted you to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you could add some words to make your life more 

full of passion, what would they be?

This art quilt is currently showing at the Lanesboro Arts Center.

Know Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Know Life gets it's title from the Vincent Van Gogh quote, 

"The way to KNOW LIFE is to Love  many things." 

This quote resonates with me; I love the arts: music, dance, 

theatre, visual arts, film, spoken word, poetry, literature and 

writing of all sorts.  All the arts enrich our lives and fill us up.

We need the arts in times like these when some of our ways 

to connect with others are more limited. 

Here's how this art quilt came together.  I live in SE Minnesota 

with lots of bluff land surrounding me and the Mississippi River 

flows a few blocks from my house.  I appreciate this land so much 

for its raw beauty and how the light lands on it to create 

a new image every day and in every season.

Here's an image of the stitch drawing close up.  

The bit of blue stitching represents water.

This close up is the pop of color with yellows 

and greens and a variety of thread colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the text with a white paint pen before I stitched 

over the text.  I decided that I'd stitch over the 

writing to pop the color more.

Signed and dated 2-2021 with gold pen.

Back of the quilt with a hanging device and card 

with details about the quilt.  It's interesting to see all the 

texture created with the machine drawing.

This art quilt is currently showing at the Lanesboro Arts Center in Lanesboro, Minnesota.

Fill Up

 

Fill Up is an art quilt using hand dyed fabrics, repurposed fabrics of velvet and embroidery stitching, text that is stitched over and text that is written with pigma pens and machine quilting that I call machine drawing.

Words that are stitch drawn:

Celebrate

Rise

You Got This

 

 

 

 

 

In the hand dyed fabric is text that is drawn reads: Fill up with all that feeds your being.  Making, creating, dancing, writing, cooking, caring for people, caring for the land...

Color, light, movement, joy overflowing.

What words would you use to create the life that you desire?  Go after it.  Share in the comments, if you like.

This art quilt is currently showing at the Lanesboro Arts Center in Lanesboro, Minnesota.

Hope and Gratitude

 

Remember the warmth of a wood fire

to warm you deep into your core of being.

Remember the sun that give you warmth and nourishes plants to grow

and give you breath.

Remember the sweet air in the woods, on the mountains,

on your sheets drying on the line.

Remember the gardens in your back and side yards

that gave you so much joy in the growing, the watering,

and the food nourishing you.

Remember your nourished body--you

choosing the delicious food to give pleasure and sustenance.

Remember each moment is a choice

to live, to grow, to be, to dance, to create, to know gratitude,

to feel sorrow, to live your whole amazing life.

My poem is inspired by Joy Harpo called "Remember."

The quilt image above is called, Know Life with a quote 

"The way to Know Life is to  Love many things." Van Gogh

Ferns

Some of my earliest art quilts were from the natural world of fern leaves. I created three art quilts for the seasons of Spring, Summer and Autumn. Here are a few still available.

Spring Fern Series
#2
Shield Fern Leaf

Spring Fern Series
#3
Interrupted Fern Leaf

The irregular hand stitching shows on the back that gives an organic quality to the art.

Summer Fern Series
#1
Interrupted Fern Leaf

Summer Fern Series
#2
Lady Fern Leaf

Fall Fern Series
#1
Interrupted Fern Leaf