This is where it started. We completed this kitchen remodel using Amazon Verde Fire granite, custom cabinetry inspired by both antique red lacquer tansu and natural cherry lumber from the Leopold Preserve in Wisconsin, a custom light fixture, two family chopping blocks, and those many personal tweakings that make a cook's kitchen highly personal and just right.
And then came the question, "What goes on THAT wall?" I was reminded of an Oakland Art Museum exhibition commissioned in 1998, which paired women chefs and quilt artists, producing 50 varied, extraordinary art quilts. We looked at the museum's monograph of the show, selected our favorites, and were about to contact the artists, when I admitted my secret longing.....I wanted to make it. After all, I knew the homeowner was the Beet Queen, I knew that she got teary at the beautiful bounty of tomatoes at the Palo Alto farmer's market, I knew that she had been making Thanksgiving dinners since she was eleven. And I knew that her husband plumbed and wired that kitchen to code, that he ordered up the solar panels and music system speakers, and finally, that he grilled those beautiful vegetables outside. Yes, I had to make this quilt! They said, "We'd LOVE that, but didn't want to ask...."
And so, this wall hanging is a fantasy, a crazy salad of dancing vegetables, all of dupioni silks, beads, and embellishments. It is a combination of the homeowner's silk fabrics from her India travels, deer antler buttons she carved as a teenager in Minnesota, and pleated silk fabrics from my collection that picked up the kitchen color scheme of a redwood forest.
And then came the question, "What goes on THAT wall?" I was reminded of an Oakland Art Museum exhibition commissioned in 1998, which paired women chefs and quilt artists, producing 50 varied, extraordinary art quilts. We looked at the museum's monograph of the show, selected our favorites, and were about to contact the artists, when I admitted my secret longing.....I wanted to make it. After all, I knew the homeowner was the Beet Queen, I knew that she got teary at the beautiful bounty of tomatoes at the Palo Alto farmer's market, I knew that she had been making Thanksgiving dinners since she was eleven. And I knew that her husband plumbed and wired that kitchen to code, that he ordered up the solar panels and music system speakers, and finally, that he grilled those beautiful vegetables outside. Yes, I had to make this quilt! They said, "We'd LOVE that, but didn't want to ask...."
And so, this wall hanging is a fantasy, a crazy salad of dancing vegetables, all of dupioni silks, beads, and embellishments. It is a combination of the homeowner's silk fabrics from her India travels, deer antler buttons she carved as a teenager in Minnesota, and pleated silk fabrics from my collection that picked up the kitchen color scheme of a redwood forest.
Oh! And this all took place before I was a pet owner. The world looks different now, and this is one quilt that didn't require rolling with the lint remover before delivery.....
so good to read your voice and see your visions manifest, from the furry friend and "moon town scmatts" to "farmer's market" in the lovely the kitchen of the magnanimous beet queen.
ReplyDeleteall is well when win is quilting...