The dreary weather calls for something fantastic. Like fairies. And stories woven with magical threads. Sibylle von Olfer's Mother Earth and Her Children, illustrated by Sieglinde Schoen Smith, filled the niche.
The captivating quilt in this book was Sieglinde Schoen Smith's first. She had not been a quilter before she started making this one in 2002 after the unexpected death of her adult son, John Steven Taylor. Sieglinde wanted his name to live in a place apart from his gravestone, so she embroidered a pillow. Then, spontaneously, something drew her to begin quiliting the background around his name. It took her 366 days to complete this.
After seeing her pillow stitching, a friend suggested she make a quilt. Sieglinde began to wonder if she could make a drawing of her favorite fairy tale and then use this drawing to make a quilt. She chose the center page of the fairy tale as a model, and began to make the quilt. As she stitched, she discovered that the quilt story took on a life of its own.
She kept making it until all the tiny children, depicted in fabric and thread, were seen sewing, mending, gardening, playing and cleaning and telling the story of the four seasons, the circle of life. Her grief over her son's death is woven into this story and this 85 inches long by 50 inches wide quilt constructed from Hoffman batik fabrics.
Max read the tale to the girls, and then I re-read it to them because Micah seemed to have many questions about the kinds of stitches and quilts in general. The versed text also excites Milla, who is currently a big fan of nursery rhymes and metered poetry.
