Habitat : Species #3 - the making of

In 2013 I made a quilt called Habitat : Species, for SAQA's Earth Stories project. The exhibition of 25,  size 72" by 72", international quilts depicting positive earth stories, was based on portfolio and project-based applications. The exhibition has been touring since 2014 throughout US university museums and galleries. It is a fascinating show, and extremely successful.  The tour is due to finish in June 2017, when the quilts will be returned to the makers.

My quilt is based on Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve in the Avalon Marshes, Somerset Levels, a protected area where habitats are created to attract and protect endangered species. I hope to exhibit it at the Reserve when it comes back - they would love to have it.

A second, smaller 'lead-in' piece, of the same name as the main quilt, was also included in the tour.

As I said in a previous post, this Boxing Day, a beautiful sunny day, I went on a family walk in the reserve, where my daughter is Reserve Warden, and I was overwhelmed by the light and the beauty of the place, and took numerous photos.  From those I created Habitat : Species #3:  Migrants, Returnees and Settlers. Some of the photos are in my previous post about it.

When I came home, I searched for fabrics that evoked the colours of that day. I arranged them on my design wall.

There are many birches in the reserve, so I represented them with light coloured lines.  There are reed beds, open water, meadows, and more, and I tried to evoke all of them in my quilt. Here all the sections have been stitched together and the top is being stretched by pinning to the design wall.  Stretching it overnight makes the top much flatter. You will see that there have been several changes and additions in the arrangement of the sections, compared with the fabrics on the wall, above.

There are paths for visitors, so I tried inserting dark lines between sections, but I felt they broke the connection between areas and the relationship between colours, so I decided against it.

I quilted it quite densely, as I usually do.

Finally I added the names of several of the species inhabiting the reserve, using fused appliqué letters. Those are not quilted.

I'm pleased with the final product. The colour palette is different from the work I've been doing recently, and I find it appealing.

I've been intending to post this much earlier, but time and computer problems delayed me. But I'm still keeping up with my New Year resolution of blogging regularly, even if I do it less often than I intended. Maybe next time I will post a photo of the original Habitat : Species quilt.

Alicia

Shapwick Heath, habitats, and migrant wildlife

On Boxing Day we went for a family walk to Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve, in the Avalon Marshes, Somerset Levels.  I have been there at other times, but I never had experienced the light and the colours in the Reserve as I did in that sunny, cold, winter day.

A quilt inspired by those colours unfolded in my mind. The next day I put some fabric colours together and started working on it.

The point of the nature reserve is to create habitats that provide shelter and food for the many animals, birds, butterflies, insects, etc. that need it.  Some species are residents, others are winter or summer migrants.  The most noticeable of them all are the starlings, and in January up to nine million migrant birds join the residents and form the most extraordinary 'murmurations', flying in changing organised shapes all over the area.

The reeds and open water are home to many birds and waterfowl, and there are other visitor attractions, such as bird hides.  See more in the captions to the photos.

So full of colour! I can see greens, yellows, reds, blues, and all shades in-between. 

The fern colour changes according to whether the leaves are in the sun or the shade, illuminated from above or from behind.

Amazing colours on the autumn leaves underfoot.

Downy birch wooded areas next to meadows.

The reconstructed Sweet Track - as it says in the photo above. Not very easy to walk on! Just as well that if you miss your step you just fall into a path covered in autumn leaves, and not onto swampy waters, as it would have happened 3,000 years ago.

The reed beds and open water, home to many waterfowl. And a view of Glastonbury Tor.

More reed beds shining in the sun.

My first attempt to a colour palette for my new quilt in the Habitats : Species series, focusing particularly on migrant wildlife.  

The quilt is nearly ready, but not quite.  See next blog post for details of construction and finished product.

Alicia