The Road to a New Home

My home for the first 21 years of life revolved around the city of Chicago and all that entailed:  family, friends, the Chicago Cubs, Chicagofest, Hot dogs wrapped up with fries, Italian Beef Sandwiches, Lake Perch, heat & humidity.

After becoming engaged the road was leading to California.

We had plans of stopping in Salt Lake City to marry in the temple and continue on to Southern California, however the world had other plans for us when the car broke down in Iowa. 

We spent 5 days in a hotel waiting for the car to be repaired.  We pondered how we were like the pioneers of old breaking down and having troubles across the plains.  Once the car was repaired we continued on our journey, slipping and sliding across I-80 in the biggest storm of the decade.  When we finally arrived in Salt Lake we had $5 in our pockets and were thankful for friends who took us in and helped us find work and eventually our own apartment.  We have tried to find work and move to California many times but things have never worked out for us.  It seems the road home will always lead to Salt Lake City.

Slick Rock Thunderstorm

The word ROAD is represented in this little quilt that makes me think of heavy rains over the red rocks of Southern Utah. The lighting flashes and the thunder rolls and the clouds part letting the rain spill across the landscape of slick rock country, leaving a glistening glow on everything the rain touches. Last summer when it was warm and dry, I dyed multiple colors of fusible web. If you have never tried it, do so; it's a blast. I then decided to build a picture out of the painted fusible. It comes off the paper backing easily, and you can tear it into any shape that you desire. I placed it on my hand dyed background and started building layer upon layer until the picture emerged. The more I layered the more fun it was. The only thing you need to remember is to use a teflon pressing sheet to protect your ironing surfaces. When the word ROAD was chosen for November, I decided to make the road going into the desert landscape in my picture. Again, I used fusible and added organza for the road. Machine quilting completes the Slickrock Thunder Storm vista.