Station 5

This year, I chose Station 5, Pilate Judged Jesus, as my contribution to the Stations of the Cross, produced annually by the artists in my church. It is not one of the more traditional 14 stations. Our volunteer coordinator, Margaret, pushed us to produce 28 (!) stations by combining the traditional list with others introduced by a pope, I believe. 

Side note - can you imagine *coordinating* 28 artists?

One of the aspects of this annual ministry that I dearly love is that we acknowledge that everyone is an artist! All ages, all *skill* levels, all who claim they cannot draw, and so on. The only requirement is that it fit on a 24" x 30" canvas with a wire on the back for hanging in our church nave.

As usual, I sketched, fussed, trolled the internet, fussed, and sketched some more. A few days before our presentation at the Starving Artists' soup supper, DH asked me if I was finished. I replied that I was either almost finished or about to start over.

That is because I decided to add some paint. I knew that it would be either done or ruined. Spirit led me to done. Of course, it is always hard to say it's done. Maybe I should add this or that. A deadline has a way of reining me in. 

There are many layers to the story of Pilate judging Jesus. Herod refused to judge Jesus and sent the decision back to Pilate, a local Roman official. Pilate saw the mine field involved in judging this charismatic and spiritual Jesus. So Pilate turned it over to the people. And we all know what the people did. Just like Herod, just like Pilate, they turned their backs on Jesus.

My meditation for this is to wonder when I have turned my back on someone. I still have lots to ponder there. I sat with that thought throughout Lent. And I'm still sitting with it, praying I will be more open to the needs of people I encounter.

The quilt is composed of appliqued shapes of people from the back, silhouettes, really. I used remnants from various sewing projects and varied the contrast so that the upper figures read as fading into the background. The idea was to show lots of people turning their backs on Jesus.

After much gnashing of teeth, I decided to cut a stencil of Jesus based on an image I found online. I never could find a source for the original image, as it only appeared on someone's Pinterest page without a link to the original. It was just right for my idea.

First I printed it on my printer in 8x11 format. Then I enlarged it 175% on the printer in sections. Next I taped the pages together and, using a light box, traced it onto some wonderful stencil paper I purchased from Roland Ricketts. I have no idea what that stencil paper is called, but I enjoyed working with it. It has been sitting in my stash for years. It was nice to finally use it.

The next step was to cut with an exacto knife. That was back-breaking, even using my raised cutting table. Luckily DH has a work table adjusted for his much-taller height. That allowed me to cut the stencil without the awkward curve in my back. It still took a long time but the result was and is very satisfying. I love that stencil.

It occurred to me that the back of my quilt would be a nice test spot for the paint. The fact that the surface is quilted in long fluid lines created a surface not ideal for use of a stencil. I pressed it as flat as I possibly could and taped it to the table. Then I taped the stencil to the quilt. Next I placed my blank screen over it and applied fabric paint to it using an old credit card. It worked.

After the back dried, I did the same to the front. Again the paint sank into the crevices formed by the quilting, but I decided to like the effect. I was done!

This year, I attached the quilt to the canvas with hook-and-loop tape, applying a glue-backed hook strip to the canvas. I attached some sew-in loop tape to a strip of fabric and hand-stitched it to the back of the little quilt. That way, I can remove it and add a sleeve later for hanging in my sewing space.

And I like it quite a lot. And it's done. And it has been hung in the church.

After I finished mine and could relax a bit, I pulled out all my previous pieces. That was another meditation for me. 

With one exception, my pieces are quilts. One is a watercolor painting. It was a good challenge to make but not as much fun as working with fabric.

Most of the other artists use paints - oil, acrylic, pastel. And some add 3-dimensional pieces. But mine are soft and can be rolled for storing. Typically I have sewn them to a canvas that is painted a dark solid color. That tends to destroy the canvas over time. We'll see how I like hook-and-loop tape over time.

Here is a link to the document about all Stations of the Cross for this year. 

And now for a little palate cleanser:

1937

In 1937, Roosevelt was sworn in for a second term. Amelia Earhart disappeared in her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. And Zora Neale Hurston published her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. 

Unknown women all over the country were making quilts to keep their families warm during the depression. I have one from my namesake, a frail Sun Bonnet Sue quilt. My father's Aunt Mattie gave it to me when I met her once in the late 50s or early 60s. In one corner, there is a simple embroidery that reads 1937.

A number of years ago, maybe 10, a friend in my book club was downsizing and brought in several old quilts to give to anyone who would have them. She had no idea who made them, but someone in her husband's family, probably. 

The Poppy quilt came home with me. It was frayed around the edges like mice had gotten into it. The binding was sheer in most places, missing in others. And there were stains, of course. 

With four large applique designs arranged symmetrically along the axes of the quilt, the colors seemed bright, though not the original colors. The applique work was lovely, accented with French knots and other embroidery stitches. I now know that it was made entirely by hand. Even the binding was applied completely by hand. The quilting outlined the applique and, in between, she used diagonal lines to create a kind of lattice work.

I've washed it a number of times and worked on the stains without any success. I purchased some orange-red Kona cotton that I could have used to repair, or replace the binding. I hung it on a bedroom wall for a while. I put it on the guest bed for a while. And then I folded it up and put it away again.

When someone in my Fiber Art Fusion group asked for a class on making quilted jackets, I decided to make the leap and cut into this quilt. And I've convinced myself it was the right thing to do. In fact, I really love the jacket. 

The Tamarack jacket from Grainline Studio is very popular and a perfect silhouette for transforming an old quilt. With only 3 main pattern pieces - front, back and sleeve - it could not be simpler and still be pretty, IMO. The pattern includes pieces for welt pockets, as well as instructions for quilting the pieces as you go along.

I spent quite a lot of time deciding how to position the pattern pieces, wanting to avoid stains, yet show off the beautiful workmanship effectively. I placed one large applique motif down the front, but off-center in order to extend the design into the shoulder. Another large applique was placed on the back along the fold line. I was able to connect the two at the side seams.

There were 2 major motifs remaining. I placed one along a sleeve and left the second sleeve mostly white, a place to rest the eyes in this busy design.

The yard of Kona cotton worked out great for bias binding along the edges, as well as Hong Kong finishes to the interior raw edges. I have enough left over to create little appliques to cover the remaining stains, if they bother me. So far, they don't.

The side seams were a bit challenging. The instructions are non-existent vague on that juncture where the hem binding and the side seams meet. My hems are covered with 1/2 inch binding, and most interior seams have the HK finish. All seam allowances are 1/2". I chose to press the seams to the back, as instructed, and then graded them a bit. Then I applied a quasi-HK finish to the one exposed edge. Unlike standard HK finishing, I hand-stitched mine to the back of the garment. It is still a wee bit lumpy there.

While cutting it out, I noticed that there was one small *signature* on the corner, much like the one on my great-aunt's quilt. That corner became an interior pocket with new binding. I may add some embroidery here clarifying that the quilt was made in 1937 and the jacket in 2021. 

Honestly I became a little emotional as I added the pocket. I could not help wondering about the woman (or women) who made this beautiful quilt. What were their hopes when they gifted it to my friend or to someone else in her husband's family? And how many hours of loving stitching did they invest?

I have convinced myself - and please don't dissuade me - that this jacket honors the maker, whoever she was, whatever her story. I will think of her each time I wear it. I love it.

Wedding Dresses

Recently I've been thinking about weddings and wedding dresses. My niece became engaged in February with the hope that they would be married this year. Chelsea has been a bride's maid for probably twenty friends or more, so I'm thinking she visualized a large wedding with a good size wedding party.

But I was not totally surprised when she announced this past weekend that they are having a super small wedding rather than waiting for the virus to go away. I am sad that I cannot be there, really sad. But this gave me an excuse to pull out my maternal grandmother's wedding dress and send it to Chelsea, in case she can incorporate it in some way.

After I had been married a number of years, my mother mentioned to me that she had her mother's wedding dress. I was very surprised because I had made my own wedding dress. I wondered if I would have used it in any way, had I known she had it.

1970

My mother married toward the end of World War II and so had a very small wedding. I don't think she ever thought about keeping something from her wedding. She wore a pink wool suit. I expect, given the war times, she probably needed to wear it, and she wore it out.

1945

I never knew my maternal grandmother. She was pregnant with my mother during the great influenza outbreak and died from flu-related pneumonia a few days after Mother was born, December 31, 1918.

My maternal grandmother (light hair) with her older sister.

As we experience another world-wide pandemic, I continue to wonder about my grandmother. I've never really sorted out the design of her dress. There are no wedding pictures, and my own mother had no knowledge of her parents' wedding.

Grandmother with my uncle Ed, who was a few years older than my mother.

It is made of either cotton or silk organza, edged in lace. It is all very sheer, so I imagine she wore a full slip, and even white stockings underneath it all. I believe it is what is called tea length.

I think the waistline is slightly raised. The bodice has a V neck and snaps up the front. It has a blouson effect at the waistline. The back of the bodice is solid and extremely sheer with a double layer across the shoulder blades. The back neckline also has a little pleated lacy flounce attached. The set-in sleeves appear to be 3/4 length with a lace edging on the organza. 

The skirt was gathered onto Petersham that is about 1.25 inch wide. The Petersham is turned down. The skirt has an opening at the back that is about 6 inches long. Like the front, it closes with snaps.

There are two layers to the skirt. The upper skirt is wider and has a lace border that is most intense near its hem. The under skirt is about 6-8 inches longer than the upper skirt. The lining is more narrow and has pin tucks near the hem. The hem is finished with a row of lace like that on the sleeve hems.

Then there is a sheer sleeveless bolero or vest that I assume slips over the bodice with the back neckline flounce pulled to the right side. It has V neckline that is deeper than the bodice and closes in the front with a large covered button and snap.

The skirt was only half attached to the bodice so, in order to get a better understanding of it, I basted the rest together. 

It looks like the Petersham, and the skirt, and the bodice are only basted together. The entire garment appears to be stitched by hand, so it's hard to be sure if it was basting or permanent.

This brings me to the mysterious part. You may have noticed that the bodice opens in the front and the skirt opens in the back. So, unless she was sewn into it, I cannot figure how she put it on.

Probably about 1916 with my grandfather and uncle Ed.

She married June 21, 1915 in Ellis County, Texas (USA), probably in or near Maypearl. I have a few pictures of her, as you can see. After writing most of this post, I uncovered an additional picture of my grandmother. As I look closely, I'm quite certain that she is wearing the dress we thought to be her wedding dress. She is pictured again with my uncle, so some years after her wedding. 

 

All these decades, we have thought this was her wedding dress. Now I'm pretty sure we were wrong. I'm still glad we kept it. It is a sweet example of sewing from more than 100 years ago.

From the front with the bolero/vest over the bodice

 

Maybe she wearing her wedding dress here. It does look like a wedding portrait. 

Reading and Watching Too

For watching, I've just started Mrs. America on Hulu recommended by my DIL. Cate Blanchett is brilliant as Phyllis Schlafly. I loved it from the first scene. I'm also a big crime drama fan, watching Baptiste on Masterpiece. In that genre, I highly recommend Rectify and Reckoning on Netflix, both starring the very intense Canadian/Australian actor Aden Young. 

For reading, I've almost finished One for the Black Bird, One for the Crow, a period piece about two strong women on the Wisconsin frontier in the 19th century. It's based loosely on the author's grandparents. I'm enjoying it but I think it's too long. Or maybe my attention span is too short. 

I like the back better than the front.

For a group my husband and I are in, we're reading Evicted, an eye-opening account by a Princeton sociologist. Also for my activist bent, I'm reading American Prison, the history of our penitentiary system. Every other chapter describes the author's experience as a prison guard in Louisiana. 

I may need to read something light now.

I have a baby quilt in process. So far, I've constructed it with fabric on hand. But this is the point when I realize that I don't like making quilts. The color scheme chosen by these new parents is gray, blue, white and a little gold. My design went awry and it does not read baby at all. I have an idea to fix that and I will finish it though.

Have you two been watching Linda Lee each Tuesday on FB live? I've been enjoying it. She's such a good salesperson and I'm such a good customer. 

Hope you are inspired to create during this time of #stayhome.