The two pieces in “What the Tide Brings” series were completed in the same week but in different rooms. Tide #1 began with traditional -but also playful- log cabin blocks that build outward until the traditional grid disappears. Tide #2 uses many of the same fabrics, but block structure drops off and gives way to overlapping raw-edges, reflective of the ever-returning shoreline waves. The collaged shell cluster embellishments (on both pieces) represent the treasure remaining on the beach after the tide goes back out. The rose and orange-toned fabrics are actually vintage traditional blue and white hand-stenciled Japanese summer yukata kimono remnants that had yellowed greatly with age, but given a 2nd life by over-dying. Tide #1 has machine-pieced top and employs both hand-quilting (with batting) and Japanese Sashiko decorative work.
(35 1/2 “Ht. x 19.5 ” W.) 2005
The blocks in this wall hanging (no batting) were each stitched one at a time and later assembled into a finished piece. There are four “secret messages” stitched into the work; one of them is “Japan” in the upper left. Fabrics are mostly Japanese vintage hand-dyed indigo cotton kimono remnants. This work is one of two pieces in the “One Thing Leads to Another” series which considers approaching a work from point A without knowing where M is or when Z is. The 2nd piece in the series is Ocean Mist. (41” Ht. x 19” W.) 2009
