Since the last post, some finishing details have needed to be done to prepare the work for jury presentation next April – just as well to have this done well ahead so that I can move on to new projects.

Pinning selvage

Blocking with steam

Securing interfacing stabilizer

Stitching top layer to stabilizer

Stabilizing some “twisted” stones

Centre in its “collapsed” state

Backing the work is a delicate and time-consuming process that either “makes or breaks” the finished result.  Every piece and type of edging, requires its own process.

The work was photographed in a “pinned down” state.  This had to be secured and completed.  Small stitches secured the selvage edge then a light steaming creased and set the selvage in place.

A stabilizer was added to give the work “body” and to provide an interface backing that would capture the work’s exact, intended measurement and to rotate trapunto stones to their correct position.  I have worked through this process before; it does two things:  first it provides a means to draw in extra areas that have not been pulled together during the quilting process.  At the same time, it allows you to sculpt the quilted fabric.  However, this then leads to the next dilemma.

The centre of the work, which captured the First Nations burial grounds, lay flat but “puffy.”  Not at all the intention; however, to align this section to its quilted surrounds, it had to be pulled in during stabilization.

Stuffed centre section

Finished section adjoining lower gravestones

Crow resting on centre section

We had discussed various means by which the crow could be raised and supported, to allow air to flow under the wings.  It dawned on me that by creating a “pillow” for the crow to rest on, I would fill the flat but puffy centre and create a raised section for the crow.  Voila! I was so excited that I immediately emailed Barbara with the idea.  She had no qualms.

The pillow was further stabilized to the backing.  With the quilted background pulled in severely and the added dimension of the raised gravestones, the edge was overly wavy.  As with tailoring/dressmaking, a firm ribbon can be used to pull in this extra surface area.  The ribbon was hand stitched to ensure that nothing showed.

Edge is wavy

Ribbon used to stabilize edge

The final backing required a cover that would also house the hanging device. I have used a section of skirting board that I have in plentiful supply, which provides just the right height and top lip to take the eye screws and hanging twine (there is no need for picture wire on a quilt project of this light weight).

The fabric for the backing would ideally have been felt, but the next best thing was to shrink a piece of cotton quilt batting.  For the size of this piece it was perfectly suitable; however, for anything much larger, I would prefer to use a stronger and more resilient fabric.

Support for hanging

Support inserted into pocket

Pocket with eye screws and sein twine support

Finished back using shrunk cotton batting

The final step was to secure the crow in a way that was both secure but able to be detached.  I used eye hooks and fashioned my own loops.  The top was secured tight to the quilt but the centre of the wings had to have about an inch and a half of slack to allow for movement.

Barbara came over at this point to help me test fly the piece.  I will add her photos to this blog shortly.  One or two minor adjustments have yet to be made before our piece is submitted in the spring of 2017.

Use of eye hooks to secure bird to quilt

Looking underneath crow

Juried art submissions work in various ways.  This one was unusual in that it required an early submission of work, even if not completed.  Our goal was to have at least an overall vision completed.  We had worked from the initial research and photography, through the composition of our images to printing and a large portion of the quilting and construction.  The crow would act to unify the composition.

Six compositions stitched together

Crow laid out

Close up

Crow lifted to flight position

Full view

Pelham, heart of Niagara and four-chambered heart of the crow

I collected all quilted sections to piece together.  I found that because of the precision needed to follow the exact edge of the image, hand stitching with quilting cotton was my best option.  The stitches could easily be pulled apart for Barbara to complete her front sections.

We both took photographs to allow for the best results to be used as required.  The quilted section was photographed first, with the crow laid out and again with the back section of the crow propped slightly as it would look in flight.

We submitted 6 photographs showing the work as completed to date.  A title was decided along with the following information:  Mewinzha (a long time ago):  Winds of Change

Size: Width    36 inches     Height:  24 inches

Medium: cotton, direct to garment digital print, aquarelle, charcoal, balsa wood, silk fabric, sari and combed silk fibre, beads

Technique:  hand painted photographic enhancement, hand quilted, silk fibre fusion

Participants: Greta Hildebrand and Barbara Westergaard

Insurance Value: 1,500

Statement:

Mewinzha (a long time ago):  Winds of Change

Our collaborative journey started by photographing historic burial grounds throughout Niagara; of people who lived prior to or through confederation.  Our documentation includes the First Nations of Niagara (protected beneath crow’s wings):  Neutral, Aneshnaabeg, 5 Nations Iroquois and Mohawk allies of the British. Crow, guardian of the land and ancestors, is on reconnaissance. He sees the United Empire Loyalists who fled the US followed by African slaves, British, European and Chinese who sought peace and prosperity.  Although at times turbulent, the winds of change have also seen their moments of tranquility and 150 years since the “birth” of a nation.

Work In Progress:

The lower panels have yet to be completed with textural quilting.  The work will then be stabilized (sewn down to an interfacing that will retain the desired shape and size) and then backed.  Before it is attached to the quilt, a horizontal pocket will be sewn down to the backing (2 inches from the top of the work) which will hold a flat wooden rod as a hanging devise.  Eye screws with hanging wire will be fixed to the top edge of the rod, through the sleeve.  The crow will be raised slightly and tethered to allow air movement beneath the body, to lift the crow and create the illusion of flight.

We will update as this exhibition comes together.  It does not have to be submitted until April of 2017 in celebration of Canda’s 150th anniversary.

Our quilt incorporates 2 First Nations sections.  My earlier blog discusses the nations that we found within Niagara:  Neutral, Aneshnabeg, 5 Nations Iroquois and the Mowhawk who fought with the British during the War of 1812.  Our focus was on the people who lived in Niagara and who were buried here.

Traditionally, First Nations of this area used mass graves for their burials.  Both the Neutral (known to their Huron neighbours as the Attiwandaronk, were called “la nation neutre” by the French because of their refusal to become involved in the hostilities between the Huron and Iroquois http://www.tbhs.ca/hughes/treasure.html) and Aneshnabeg (including Odawa, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Oji-Cree, and Algonquin peoples) 5 Nations Iroquois also know by their indigenous name Haudenosaunee (comprise Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora peoples) The Mohawk joined the confederacy in 1722.

It is believed that outlying bands would gather every 7-10 years, bringing with them their deceased’ carefully wrapped remains, along with treasured artefacts. These would be ceremonially buried in mass graves.  Hence, the distinctive mounds that can still be observed today.  http://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/ossuary.aspx

As the Neutral primarily inhabited the areas of Grimsby through Lincoln and further to the South/Thorold, the left wing of the crow would shelter these sites.

Trial quilting of plaque

Horizontal quilting of plaque

Completed panel

Sign at Centennial Park, Grimsby

Noting the cement covered reburials

The composition comprises the Federal Government’s plaque with information pertaining to the reburial of human remains and artefacts.  Behind are the 6 concrete slabs used to cover the reburials.  In the background are 4 trees photographed behind the plaque – one of which is partly showing behind the sign.

The right wing would cover the Fort Erie section which represented  peoples who travelled freely across the Niagara river:  Aneshnabeg and 5 Nations Iroquois. By all indications, this mound was created when human remains and artefacts were removed during the expansion work on the Peace Bridge at the turn of the new millenium. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_113_e_28835.html  The First Nations Interpretive Centre and Gallery also known as Mewinzha: A Journey Back in Time, was built at this time.  The clan animals were photographed in the Gallery as they formed a design in the polished stone floor.  We have rearranged the symbols to form a “banner” in our composition.

Beginning the quilting by outlining animals

Section with wildflowers. Working up texture

Banner with more texture

Close up of clan animals

Original image of floor design

During the early part of the millennium I had been completing my undergraduate degree in Canadian Studies and beginning a Masters of Education:  both degrees centred around First Nations peoples of Canada with a focus on the peoples of Southern Ontario.  My research took me into various 6 Nations Iroquois communities where I got to know elders and artists who provided me with invaluable insight into life as it had been historically and during the present.  Concepts that predominated through my journey were Turtle Island (North American continent over which First Nations had the rights and responsibility of protection), Medicine Wheel  which centred around the four directions of the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental, and crow, the protector of the ancestors and vision for present and future.

This textile call for entry “As the Crow Flies” spoke to me on all these levels.

My crow had been partially completed but now all feathers had to be assembled. Stitching seemed the best option for attaching to the silk cloth covering the wood frame.  We were now ready for photography.

Crow form with silk fabric covering

Crow feather anatomy

Assembling allular grouping of feathers

Assembling and stitching lower flight feathers

Close up showing covert feathers

Tail section