Repetition of Days: Art Quilt

The days are getting longer, and the sun is getting brighter. To take advantage of the stronger UV light, I sorted through photographs in order to make negatives for solar printing on cloth with the Solar Fast dye. I had taken photos recently of the signage at our local park and a billboard at the nursery down the street, which were the photos that called to me. It all came back to our current situation, no way around it. This time, about time. The May 2020 calendar.



A couple weeks ago I read an article in the NYTimes about how people are coping across the United States, both written and edited by my former professor Peter Orner, (reading list, below) in which he used the phrase, "there is comfort in the repetition." That line kept repeating itself in my mind and was the catalyst for the title of this art quilt, Repetition of Days. He used it in reference to people saying the same thing over and over, but it worked for me here.

The billboard at Flowerland anchors the concept: I miss / hugging people / I'll try a / tree [i]nstead.



Signs from the park. Tie-dye from my Brazil Nut dye experiments looked treelike to me.



And the addition of a few stenciled numbers to suggest the May calendar. The days alternate between confinement/punishment and vacation: anxiety and comfort. Do what you can to make your experience comfortable for you.


I finally understand corners. (Sew a 2" or 2 1/2" binding strip open, right sides together; sew with a 1/2" margin; stop 1/2" from bottom edge; from there sew diagonally to the corner; fold over diagonal then square up; turn and start at the top to continue sewing the next side.)



Repetition of Days
42.5" x 39"
Tie dye, solar dye from original photos on cotton, 
hand-quilted with embroidery and cotton sashiko threads


Stay safe. Be well.


*


Books by Peter Orner
(These are Amazon Affiliate links that help support this blog)

A story is a story; never mind if it is true, partly true, or completely fabricated. His stories balance on that edge between fiction and nonfiction, but they  always resonate with truth at the emotional core.

The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo: A Novel
When I was deciding on grad schools in creative writing,  I read the works by the different professors and fell in love with this book, based on when he was teaching in Namibia. It is beautiful fiction way beyond memoir.
Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge
Compressed stories of how people relate to each other and to the places in which they live.
Love and Shame and Love: A Novel
Generational stories that follow various lives in one family. (He told us that he was thinking of calling it Love and Shame, but he couldn't end the title with shame.)
Am I Alone Here?: Notes on Living to Read and Reading to Live
With chapter illustrations by his brother Eric Orner. Peter reads constantly. His office was packed with books. He always had a book to recommend. The reading lists in his classes were phenomenal and changed how and what I read. Here's a book that pays homage to books that influenced his life in some way, by reflecting on why and how.
Esther Stories
The first book of family stories.
Maggie Brown & Others: Stories
His most recent book to date. A variety of subjects: some disturbing, some very beautiful and haunting microfiction. The stories may be short, but they are meant to be savored, read over and over, and they last.


Comments