quiltstravaganza- girl art to the max

This is my first photo quilt. I made it as a documentary tribute to Colleton County, South Carolina. It was made with funding from the South Carolina Arts Commission and with an Alternate Roots Grant. My husband, Bill Storz helped to do the massive amounts of technical work that creating this quilt involved. I worked on it through two pregnancies.
When I moved from urban New England to the rural South Carolina Low Country in 1991 (to begin life as a schoolteacher) I felt that I was in another world. I began to explore my new home with my camera in hand. I printed these images on fabric and then made a quilt. This work was completed in 1998. It is 100" x 100".

warm and fuzzy

The first kid's quilt that I made was for Sammy. She was one and we had just moved to Colorado. I always go running in the early morning before anyone wakes up. That didn't work with Sammy though. She'd wake up if I wasn't there. I had to take her with me. Even in the frigid winter. So I made her a very warm quilt. Wool blanket on the inside and backed with fleece. It had many personal images printed either with cyanotype or van dyke brown.
Well now I live in a colder place and also have lucy. So I made another warm quilt. This one has all kinds of pictures- her favorite doll, me w/ my mother and grandmother, her sonogram, a snakeskin, her favorite flowers, etc. I also used pieces of the sling I carried her in and the maternity dress I wore when I was pregnant.

It's a fair day!

A rare hot and sunny day here in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I spent the day today at the Caledonia County Fair. I photographed many people along with the animals that they had brought to the fair to show. Kids with cows, a woman with her various rabbits, a man with baby pigs and pygmy goats. The CCF brings rare Kingdom weather and special generosity of friendliness. People enjoy talking about their animals and sharing.
I had to shoot with my medium format camera today as I am running out of the polaroid film that I'm using with the 4 x 5. These images were made about 4 years ago with my wista. It was the first year I shot at the fair. I printed the negs on cloth and made this bag- "Fairpiece". I use it to keep my lupe in and hang it on my tripod for handy help when focusing the 4 x 5. I've been showing it to my Kirby subjects as an example of how the photos on the Kirby Quilt will look.

saying no to velvet

When I made this quilt square, I was experimenting with formats for the great Kirby Documentary Quilt. I took this photo of Walker and Sammy, (children 1 & 2) a few years ago. I printed the image on cotton, bordered it with velvet, then had their names monogrammed on the velvet. I was planning on doing the whole kirby quilt like this, giving each Kirbyite their own velvet frame, monogramming each name. I've since decided that this idea is pretty dull and heavy. Plus there are so many grumpy vermonters who don't want their portrait made, so the idea of all residents being represented has also gone away.