Garden Statuary | Handmade Quilt
The woman garden statuary stands before a shed on Route 1. She is in a yard where a variety of garden statues are sold—deer, little rabbits, roosters and so on. While the other statuary comes and goes, she remains, steadfast and abiding. I have never quite been able to decide if she is a representation of the Virgin Mary or simply a thoughtful woman in the garden. I’ve taken photos of her surrounded by vibrant orange trumpet flowers. And I’ve watched her stand apart from the shed, naked, without ground cover, foliage or flora. But just now, she is surrounded by Queen Anne’s Lace. They wrap around her, looking up toward her like angels or adoring children at a mother’s feet.
The quilt is another Thrift Store find. I’ve hand-quilted many quilts using a tiny needle, called a between, and a sturdy thimble on my finger, rocking stitches one after another, as many as 8 stitches on the needle at once. It’s meditative work. The kind of project where you just show up, over and over and over again, with dedication and faith that one day you will finish and the quilt will be done. Many of the quilts I made took a year or more to finish. Knowing the amount of work and the degree of skill that goes into quilt-making, I could never leave one unloved and unused.
I continue to photograph with film and fall a little more in love with the process every day. I just received word today that my digital camera is repaired and on its way way back to me by mail. It’s been 6 weeks, and now I wonder if I will even want to go back to digital. It’s been a beautiful summer.