Swan Inspiration
by Patricia Cummings
Recently, we took a ride through the north country of New Hampshire. There, we saw several swans swimming in a small pond. I asked the photographer in the family, my husband Jim, to pull over and take a picture. Already, an idea for a quilt had formed in my mind.
Making small quilts is a lot of fun. This one was created for a challenge project, the challenge being to make a small quilt that would fit onto a wire hanger made by Mike Ives, husband of Patti Ives, editor of the Appliqué Society's newsletter. Patti lives in the desert area of Nevada. Her local group of TAS members call themselves "The Northern Nevada Needle Nuts." I am an honorary member. The group that we challenged is another chapter of TAS in Texas. As Patti said, "They out-gunned us" with twenty-one submissions to our lonely seven, (but all of our members participated!)
Like much of my creative work in quilting, the images are symbolic. The title, "and then there were two" says it all. This little 6 7/8" x 10 3/8" quilt represents marital fidelity. Swans mate for life and so, the analogy is not lost.
The quilt was displayed with the rest of the challenge entries, and also along with my "On Windy Whispers" quilt, in Sacramento, California at The Appliqué Society's 2002 annual convention.
©Copyright 2002. Patricia and James Cummings, Quilter's Muse Publications, Concord, NH. pat@quiltersmuse.com