Celestial Home
Just as the month turned over to April, I completed Celestial Home — which you can see here. The last time that I shared this piece, I was still debating on the background. I ended up with a batik and didn’t piece any of it. The cloud layer is really at the base of the mountain — and to add clouds to the sky behind the eagle would throw the piece off balance. Really, above the clouds, there is only sky. To break up the sky would diminish the importance of the eagle given its size relative to the rest of the piece.
The goal of the piece is for the eye to look to the eagle and then move across the expansive sky to the left. With the blue background added, I found that the eye just moved out in any direction. Adding the black border on the top & bottom are an attempt to keep the sightline moving in the direction that I want.
When I began quilting, I knew that I would add something worthwhile to the black background. From past experience, I’ve found that matching the thread to the background is a great way for the quilting to become completely unobtrusive — so if I’m going to spend time adding interesting quilting, use another color. I used purple so you can see the quilting design.
I also did some research on the eagle and found them fascinating. Their wingspan is incredibly large — 10 inches more than the width of the quilt — and they mate for life. I think that the black markings on their face give them the ferocious look that the founding fathers of the United States found so compelling — although the eagle has been used as a symbol for other noble civilizations including the Sumerians and Romans.
They live in the celestial regions of this world and call the vast sky their home. I hope I’ve conveyed some of the feel of that home.