Some traditional block patterns are featured here; often with a novel twist or
unlikely color combinations or choices of fabrics. Many of these have been made using paper
foundation piecing for some or all of the quilt top.

"The best way to know life is to love many things." ---Vincent Van Gogh

 



How it was
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49” x 49”
Completed in April, 2009

This quilt represents an early autobiography complete with scanned photos and excerpts from my journal. Many of the blocks represent painful memories of a dysfunctional family and my place in it. I used rubber o-rings, vintage buttons, beads, snaps and hooks from both my collection and that of my late mother to accent the stark white regions. Additional texture is provided by the multiple quilting patterns employed throughout as well as the use of trapunto for the photos.

 

What really Bugs me
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30” x 30”
March, 2009

An exercise in a strictly black and white composition, my pet peeves make an appearance here, hand written and spiralling around all of the bugs in the individual blocks.





 

(My) Life’s like that…
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47.5” x 67.5”
Summer, 2003

I consider this quilt an abstract autobiography on several levels.  The top is pieced in the bright colors that make up my life.  The colors and values shift and shimmer as does my life from day to day, year to year.  Of course, the brightest yellows catch your eye first and you look here and there to pick them all out. These are the highlights of my life: my wedding day, the birth of each of my children and other successes.  These bright colors must be seen as a contrast to the darker colors and events.  There is much black and other deep colors---beautiful in their own right, but too dark to stand all alone.  Divorce, alcoholism and death are the dark colors.  They are present throughout the quilt, without them, the yellows wouldn’t be as bright.  Together they yield a complex, colorful pattern.

The block pattern is an intentionally simple one---random strips of color placed this way and that.  Life is random sometimes.  Corners don’t always match, but my life’s not perfect in the details either and that’s OK.  In fact, I revel in my lack of perfection.  Each block is quilted with a different pattern---all have some sort of personal meaning.  Against the colorful backdrop of my life, the meanings are not very obvious—easy to overlook, one must peer closely to see the stitching at all.  Looking at the hidden underside of my life, however, reveals the images in sequential order.


Good Fortunes Squared
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40.25” x 40.25”
July, 2005

Good fortunes collected from many visits to a favorite Chinese restaurant are featured in the nine (three squared) central blocks.  With fortunes such as: “You will soon achieve perfection”, “Shopping expeditions should prove all you’d hoped for” and “In dreams and in life, nothing is impossible” who could have a bad day or even a bad life?  The paper fortunes are mounted to the fabric background
by an over layer of light-weight vinyl whose colors integrate with the foundation paper-pieced block borders.


Tropical Floral Dawn
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29 x 30”
January, 2005

This piece is a counterpoint to the Floral Sunsets major and minor. The colors are more delicate and subdued as befits a dawn.




Tropical Floral Sunset-major
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42” x 42”
September, 2004

Private collection The solar theme is represented in this piece on a more figurative level and is manifested by the Gerbera daisies and the more abstracted star-burst log-cabin blocks.  The chard print in the border also has an emanating sun-ray effect.  The incredibly bright color palette is drawn from the lurid colorways that are often present in tropical sunsets.

  
Tropical Floral Sunset-minor
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27.5” x 27.5"
September, 2004

As the piece “Floral sunset-major” was being assembled, the overall design shifted resulting in extra blocks that evolved into this piece.  Execution of this pair was simultaneous.  The two pieces function together or independently and represent the diversity of sunsets with elements that remain the same while still possessing unique identities.


Orlando Rhapsody
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43” x 43”
2004

This quilt was executed as a response to my first visit to central Florida early in 2004 prior to my move here. I was struck by the bright colors and vivid flora of the area and so interrupted the work I already had in progress to produce this quilt as snapshot of my inner landscape as a reaction to this bright and active setting.


Solar Mandala
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86” x 86” (round)
2004

This quilt grew from a planned standard rectangular format of repeated blocks to the large circular format during the piecing process.   After creating the block design of a circle within a square, I decided to continue repeating that visual rhythm: “squaring” the circle and then “circling” the square.  The entire piece is an abstraction of the sun image several times over from the fine focus of the small red sun to the individual blocks and finally the entire round piece.  The focal point is the center; an intentional feature meant to aid the viewer in a pathway toward meditation and reflection.  I particularly enjoy the resulting round shape; a nontraditional shape for a more traditionally pieced quilt.


Too Many Triangles
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40” x 40” (point to point)
May, 2006

The inspiration for this piece was the incredible gilded and painted ceiling of the restored Ohio Theater in Columbus Ohio . I wanted to portray the deep rich and shimmering red background as well as the gold of the stars.  This piece depicts an original pattern and was entirely pieced with paper foundation templates that were worked out using the computer. Each basic triangle module was approximately 2-3 inches on a side and consisted of two or three triangle of different colors of cloth. 24 triangle units made a 12-inch block.  I tried counting all the triangle modules but gave up—too many! The quilting is also incredibly dense and in a loose meandering pattern that contrasts with the strict geometry of the piece.

 

PLEASE CONTACT ELIZABETH BELOW FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ARTWORK AND AVAILABILITY.