Paperclay doll in process

Huge feet are weighing her down. Don't jump.

Little Bird Awakes - DQS7

I'm pretty much finished with my Doll Quilt Swap 07 (DQS7) quiltie. All that is left is to bind it up and mail it off. I've titled this quilt "Little Bird Awakes: She Sang So Strong Her Little Reality Tore In Two" which is a mighty big name for a small 19"x 19" quilt.

I started with wanting to do lots of circles. I've had circles on the brain for awhile now. I just began making circles figuring the theme would come to me as I worked. As I laid them out I liked the rhythm they made juxtaposed to each other. I thought, "hey that looks like what it would look like if one could see words all piled up." Who's words? I wanted something small and cute - a little chirpy bird. Some of the tiniest birds can make big noises - especially at the crack of dawn on the one day I get to sleep in.

Here's the story I came up with: A cute little spunk of a chirpy bird has finally awakened from being asleep all winter. It appears as if she is in a perfect bubble. Now that she is awake her eyes are open to all that is going on around her. She is overwhelmed and does the one thing, the only thing she knows how to do. She begins to sing. It's tentative and quiet at first. As she goes she begins to gain more and more confidence and pretty soon she singing her heart out. All that singing piles up and begins to pull at the fabric of her world. The fibers that knit her world together begin to fray due to the weight of the music. Eventually, the tension is too much and her present reality is torn in two. Behind it a new one is revealed. Now her song can fall into it as well.

That's what it's about -- one tiny bird with a big mouth. I hope my swap partner likes it.

During the making process I got to the point where I knew I wanted to cut the quilt in half so I could add that inner peace piece. I had a really hard time doing it. I had to give myself a little pep talk before running my blade down through. I whispered, "You've gotta do it. Come on, do it already. Chicken. Hear that? balk balk balk."

As you can see I did it and now it's done. I was hoping that by doing the DQS7 it would jumpstart me into my creative world again. That it has. I'm glad I did it. What's next?