Art Quilt: To Protect

I woke one morning with the image of a vertical brown wing on a black background. Immediately, I painted it in my journal, then researched wing shapes, choosing an Osprey wing to draw in detail that would make a workable stencil. 

Osprey is my spark bird: watching the Golden Gate Bird Alliance (formerly Golden Gate Audubon Society) nest camera since 2017 showed me how caring the ospreys are for their young. The mother, in particular, props her wings open on a hot day to shade her growing chicks, and gathers them under her wings at night and during a storm. This quilt, in a shield-like shape and with sparkling gold bead, is in honor of Rosie, the mama osprey, and all those who offer shelter and protection for those in need.

To Protect

16"w x 31.5"h at the widest points (40.5 cm x 80 cm)

Hand drawn image stenciled on cotton; metallic fabric paint; hand-dyed cotton; cotton thread; 24k gold-lined crystal seed beads; reverse appliqué; hand and machine quilted

Details:

This quilt also ties back to my childhood interest in the Leo Lionni illustrations of Tico and the Golden Wings, [Amazon link] which I wrote about in 2012, and reminds me of the line from Psalms 17.8: "Shelter us in the shadow of your wings," which I wrote about previously in the 2021 quilt, In the Shadow of Wings.

Nest season at San Francisco Osprey Camera begins when Rosie returns, anticipated to be the middle or end of February, early March, annually.