Crazy Quilt With Velvet Rabbit

Years ago, I was given an undated, unsigned quilt that is in a very sad state, It spent years in an attic. The house caught on fire, the quilt was slightly burned, then soaked by fire hoses, but saved. To the family, it was a burden. I was thrilled to become its caretaker. I love everything about it. There is a beauty to the way the water spread unintentional colors onto other blocks. The silks are shredded but the flowers, animals and fanciful embroidery stitches are glorious. The rabbit is one of my favorites. Did the maker’s children carefully pet that rabbit? Who was that woman? Who were her friends who surely contributed a fancy patch, a pattern for a bird, an afternoon of shared time embroidering blocks? We will never know. I think of her often, as I go about my own stitching.

Old Worn Sign

A day of cold relentless rain has made me long for something hot and sunny. I am thinking about the rescued signs that bake in the sun at the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Whenever a day seems too chilly, too gray, I think about those layers of bright paint, weathered to perfection, the unrelenting sun casting dramatic shadows in the curves and angles of giant letters. I remember watching the patterns of softer shadows created by long-dead light bulbs, They moved as I moved, their shadows elongating or shortening. Sunny inspiration, waiting for me.  

Crocuses In the Lawn

The grass still looks dead but the crocuses are ready for spring. I don't know what variety they are, but after just a couple of mild days, lawns all over the neighborhood are dotted with them. Some are loners, others gather in friendly groups. Unlike the dandelions that will soon appear, they are welcomed by all, and seem almost magical in their sudden appearance. "It's a fairy lawn" my friend said. Yes, indeed.

Street Collage

They can be found in any city, but mostly go unnoticed. How does it start? Someone slaps an advertisement on a blank space. A kid adds a bit of graffiti directly on the surface (nature surely does abhor a vacuum...) A guy decides to ditch that name tag he forgot to remove after a conference that morning. Others join in. Time passes. Layers develop. The weather softens the edges. A street collage takes noticing, then choosing to participate, then deciding where to place each contribution.  Look around. Notice. Add to one. Help make some impromptu art.

Pink Window

A favorite bakery outgrew its original space several years ago. They moved into a building with an unfortunate-looking addition on the back. On a gray winter day a couple of weeks ago, I looked up and saw it differently. Yes, the tiles were dingy and worn, but the shell-colored ones echoed that pink glass window. I studied the way the grid of tiles set off the crisp reflection in the window. Even the drips of rust now looked like part of an intentional composition. Pink mirrored glass was first popular in the 1920s. Perhaps this rose-colored window was an escapee from a 1977 office tower clad entirely in colored glass. Just you wait. Pink glass might be back in style again in 2027.