Straight Is the Gate & Narrow Is the Way
February 2005
12 x 60
NFS
In late 2004, the Quiltart online forum began discussing Fibonacci numbers and using their characteristics for developing the dimensions of a piece that was beyond the ordinay. Olof Davidsdottir issued a challenge to make a quilt in the proportions of 1:5+. Given that the pieces would be long and narrow, she suggested the challenge name “Sraight and Narrow” which gave way to a lot of discussion about the interpretation of those two words. Two members noted biblical passages that made an image begin to form in my mind. The first one is obvious:
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24)
The other one provided the title for the piece:
“straight is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” ( Matthew 7:14)
I also challenged myself to work exclusively from my scraps — which I did except for the embellishments, the camel, and one piece of blue gray just above the camel. My intention was to show the horizon line and indicate as much change in depth as possible through color, but I laid the pieces below the horizon randomly except for color consideration. When I was done, I liked the range of color and decided that the binding color had to be purple to pull the piece together.
I did not bead it as much as I thought I would. I added a layer of blue, green, and yellow beads at the rim of the water to give the impression of sunlight glinting off the edge. I added three beaded trees in the hills close to the eye of the needle — but try as I might to add more, I just kept ripping them off, so I decided that there had to be a reason there were only three and to just leave it that way. I added an edge of large yellow beads around the yellow path leading into the sky which hints at a crown of thorns. The large camel at the bottom needed a black bead to suggest the eye. The camel charm was actually tied to a candle I received for Christmas last year, and it was too perfect to not include.
This was the first time for me to try Superior King Tut threads. Although they are a size 40, they are much thicker than I am used to, and quilting with them was more difficult than I had anticipated. However, I am getting to the point that I want my quilting to show and thicker threads is the best way to do that. The King Tut variegated thread colors are just too yummy to pass up — I used Lapis Lazuli in the blue and black and Fahl green in the green area. The sunset is quilted with all kinds of threads that I had on hand that matched the colors in the sunset to give the impression of the colors leaking from area to another.