Hearts Held Close

"Hearts Held Close" is a 7" x 5" Quilty card, made for a very special friend's birthday.

The poem was written to express the difficulties of having a friendship with someone who is on a different continent, in a different time-zone, in another hemisphere. Although our communication is via email, instant messaging, and very infrequent phone calls, and we have never met, there is a very strong connection between us.

The entwined couple on the front were inspired by an illustrated edition of Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet". Embellishments show points of connection between us - the gecko, moonlit nights, puzzle pieces. Also included are precious and semi-precious stones that we both like - amethyst, sapphire, emerald, ruby.

The fabrics are commercial batiks. The figures were fused with visoflix to black cotton, then to the backing fabric with a glue-stick. I then free-motion stitched using two shades of purple thread to enhance the body contours of the couple. A heavy-grade fusible, non-woven backing and a sheet of card were used to stiffen the piece. The paua shell laminate, paua shell piece, letters and embellishments are all handsewen on.

The poem was printed on transparent vellum paper using an inkjet printer, then cut out with "heartbeat" patterned scissors, and free-motion stitched using rayon and cotton variegated green threads.

I now make duplicates of all my art pieces, the best version being sent out into the world with my love, while the other stays home with me.