Thought Process: When I think of Peace the word seems to morph into "peaceful" and when I think peaceful I think trees, forests, nature and cemeteries. It may sound morbid but let me explain. Cemeteries are quiet places where one can think without much interference. Also my mother and I have always enjoyed going into cemeteries and looking at the names, dates and inscriptions on the tomb stones. We wonder about the people each tombstone represents. Who were they? How did they live? How did they die?
Recently my family and I went to Washington DC. While there we visited
Arlington National Cemetery. The Cemetery is 200 acres of grass, trees and white tombstones and although the surroundings are very peaceful, the immediate effect upon entering the cemetery can be anything but a feeling of peace. Despite my facination with cemeteries and wanting to know about each person who lies buried there, I couldn't help but remember that each person is buried there because of our nation's search for Peace. And no matter how you might feel about the subject of war I think you can't help but feel the irony in this. As a result I felt this image would best represent this month's word.
How I made the quilt: I cropped a photo I took at Arlington and then used photoshop to superimpose the word "Peace" into the grass. I printed the photo in reverse and then took the print to a copy shop to be enlarged and color copied by a copier that uses toner. I then used
Citrasolv to transfer the image onto a cotton fabric. I enhanced the image using colored pencils and
Paintstiks. As I quilted the image with my friend
Juliette's really cool
Bernina, I did a bit of threadpainting on the trees & grass and then quilted around a number of the tombstones and the word "peace." Next I used a homemade foam stamp, which I learned to make when I read the book
Inspired to Quilt, to put leaf images across a piece of silk organza. I placed the organza on top of the piece and quilted more. Lastly I cut the organza off of the main tree, the word "Peace" and the foremost tombstone. The edges are left unfinished.
Still catching up...
This was 99% finished for a long time. I wanted a special peace quote for the label. Instead, it is better that I waited, the right words came to me this afternoon. Blue background and tie dye shirt were done in Anne's batiking class this summer. Mini clothespins were courtesy of Kaye. Now to frog.
By Nancy
So, I started thinking about the word “peace” and I saw a peace symbol (of course) and a dove. Ho-hum. . . Then I thought about “white” - the color of peace. Then I just stopped thinking about it - for now.At the same time, I recently received three quilts back from two shows with evaluations. The only criticisms were “uneven stitches”, “irregular stitches”, etc. They loved the fabric, the design, even the finished edges. Frustrating, because regular, even stitches have become the standard now that their are so many stitch regulators on so many machines, including regular home machines. But to me that takes the art out of what I’m doing. I’ve heard that the stitch regulators are even frustrating to those people who care about even stitches. So, it came to me - make a piece that has purposefully uneven stitches. The image came right away. . . To be fair Sylvia and others have not taken these judges seriously for a while. They do what they like and what they want and just laugh at the criticisms. And rightly so. It’s just taken me longer to realize in my heart that it’s just a bunch of baloney. I feel free. I’m at peace. Oh! That’s our word this month! Revolution can bring about true inner peace. So that is why my “peace” piece is called “Unregulated Stitch Revolution.”
Well, did decide not to continue with the "faces" I had thought of putting a 'ho-hum' dove on a hat but was not able to make the 3-D idea work.. then when I started thinking about peace I thought of water. This piece of fabric is very strange... got it from a fabric exchange..it is sort of transparent and very stiff... I thought it would soften after I washed it... well it didn't.... what I did was use two layers to give the feeling of distance and then did some thread play to create the land (horizon) and added bushes to the water... 
Thought Process: When I think of Peace the word seems to morph into "peaceful" and when I think peaceful I think trees, forests, nature and cemeteries. It may sound morbid but let me explain. Cemeteries are quiet places where one can think without much interference. Also my mother and I have always enjoyed going into cemeteries and looking at the names, dates and inscriptions on the tomb stones. We wonder about the people each tombstone represents. Who were they? How did they live? How did they die?
