The other 2 were quilts I had made using a Cyanotype processing to print the fabrics.
I want to explain a little about the quilts first, and why they were made, so will reprint the story that hung beside them at the Employee Quilt Show.
First is Butterfly Prayers, a quilt made for a dear, dear friend.
Style Pieced cyanotype prints & cottons
Pattern Self designed
Credits Thanks to every member of Fellowship Baptist Church for writing out their prayers for this dear lady.
Size 41" X 41"
Butterfly Prayers was created for a woman I consider one of my closest friends and adopted mother. She is a widowed Pastor’s wife, a faithful servant of the Lord whose aged body is now limiting not only the service she desires to perform, but her very abilities to function in her home from day to day. Some days her body limits her ability to leave her bed, yet her spirit soars across the miles each time church services meet, and we feel her presence while missing her smiling face.
When considering making her this quilt, I wanted to remind her it was not only ME praying for her, but the entire church family. They all willing and lovingly wrote out their prayers for this dear lady who has been a testimony and blessing to us all. From the Pastor, Officers and Teachers, down to a 3 year old child who only put one hump on the M of her name, but daily, without prompting, she remembers to pray - they all wanted to be involved and show their love for this sweet, dear lady. I photographed my granddaughter Lily praying and imposed that pic onto 2 of the butterflies.
Once everyone had written out their prayers, I cut them into the shape of butterfly wings and had negative "films" made. Then the butterflies were scattered over a specially treated fabric and exposed to the sun to create the print. The quilting was done using flowers and butterflies as the stitching.
I think this is the favorite quilt that I have ever made.
This is my granddaughter, Lily, praying.
See the 3 year old's signature with the one hump on her M? That is my grandaughter, Emelia.
See how I reshaped the written prayers to fit the wings?
This poem explained my thought processes in making the quilt. I had written this poem for my first version of the quilt (not a cyanotype), which was made for another dear friend.The second quilt I made using the Cyanotype process is Decade of Love.
Style Pieced cottons
Pattern Inspired by Maple Islands BQ
Credits My daughter, Diana of Peters Photography, took the photos of the children. Machine quilting by Trudy Rhoads.
Size 42"W X 40"H
Decade of Love is a celebration of my daughter and her husband’s life together. While there have been many milestones in their lives – the quilt shows six special highlights – their children, who are the most blessed events in their married life. The children are the events which will touch and possibly change the world around us – as they have touched and changed me and mine. They are the events we will remember the longest, with the most emotion.
The quilt was created to tell my daughter and my son (I don’t think of him as my in-law, just as my son) how much I love the two of them, and thank the Lord daily for the help they are to me and my husband, and how we consider them our very best friends. Also, to praise them for how they are raising our grandchildren, to be responsible and caring persons.
Jaysen was 9 at the time the pic was taken,
Avianna was 8,
Isabel was 7, and is wearing MY grandmother's pill box hat with dotted netting over her face,
Lillian was 5,
Emelia was 3,
and Damon was 2.
I will blog more later about plans I have for a Cyanotype class I will be teaching, and the patterns I have designed for the class.
