"Sicilian Summer" Quilt.... A Journey
It’s always a bittersweet moment when I finish a Quilt… I feel like I am going back through a Memory, re-living a place in time, channeling something beautiful, yearning to recall those pictures tucked into my Soul. Sicily and I had our ups and downs… I loved the wonder, the travel, the Mountain- Oh you all know how Etna lived in my heart- yet it was also a challenge… Away from family for so many years being stationed overseas, longing for something a bit more grounded…. Looking back, I wouldn’t have traded those 3 years for anything- The friendships made, the granita, the romance, the geep, the adventure- I would do it all over again….
In each place we have lived or visited, I have noticed the light is different…. Sunsets casting a different pallet of color across landscapes- In this Southern Island of Italy, it’s a prism of Gold. The tones glow from deep amber to soft, flaxen orange and yellow…. It’s magic, especially in the relentless months when the heat sets the land on fire, and the respite of the Moonrise is on the Horizon… The hills are a painting in the distance from our house, the roads look welcoming- Windows down, cooler air flowing- stereo on full blast, dog in the back, head out the window….
Summer.
I started this Quilt at the onset of June. I had finally set up a good sewing studio space in the house, and while organizing baskets of fabric, I came across some of the last of my Spanish Broom Steam Printed Linen… I created this fabric a couple of Summers back with my girls… We had trekked Etna during the Wild Flower Season of late Spring to find the entire Mountain in Bloom… I can’t even describe the aroma, it was un-real… I filled a basket in the back of the car, really just wanting my house to have this smell, to savor it, knowing how special it was to witness this crazy beauty. At the time, I was dying vats of fabric weekly… The inspiration was in full swing to create. I had some prepared cotton and decided to try a Print Bundle. We folded the flowers carefully into the fabric, wrapped it around a stick, tied with Jute, and watched magic happen as it steamed in a pot…
I added a piece of this to one square of the front of this quilt, then a larger piece to the back. It isnt much, but its special… i will never have another Summer in Sicily, I may never see the Spanish Broom on Etna again, I will never make anymore art from that pocket of the world…. But its there, a small detail.
That summer was also the 1st I played with Flower Dye Vats… i worked a little Marigold, and a bunch of Coreopsis Flowers. The past 2 Summer Seasons here in the south, I have grown both blooms as well, saving them in glass jars to created more of these tones- (I was also gifted a huge bundle from a Dear Friend thank you always, Sarah) the gilt I see when I think back to those Sicilian evenings… Plant dying for me is still an alchemy I am learning, the amazement of the colors Nature provides are just Magic.
When planning out this Quilt Front, I thought of a bunch of patterns I could try- crafting shapes with the few yards of organic fabric I had made… But simple squares, a patchwork in a gradient of how I remember the Mountain on those late evenings from our Navy Base, that is what I wanted to capture…. They were simple days, simple yet so special… I may have taken it a bit for granted.
The back of this Quilt is also in a patchwork- Organic Cotton, some umber linen, a sweet little cotton floral print… the binding and ties are hand-done in a golden sashiko.
I don’t know if this Blanket, if this Sunrise means as much to anyone besides myself, the Sicilian People, or those fellow Military Families who have had the chance to be stationed here, but this little Quilt is created with heart and intention… It is authentically how I see moment of Sicilian Summer.
This Sicilian Summer Quilt is officially up in my Etsy Shop… She is One of a Kind, a labor of True Love, never another like her. If you are interested at all, here is where you can find it <3
As always, thank you all for the Support—- The idea of this babe going Home to someone who will find her just as special, this place just as special, well that keeps me going… Much love- xoxo