This prompt made me think of Halloween masks. 

I used to love to dress up in costumes.  I remember a few of my favorite homemade costumes from when I was small.  My sister and I, a year apart, once dressed as Siamese twins.  We each wore half of our mom’s sweater and skirt.  And one year, I got to play Pochahontas in a dress with lots of cut fringes.  We had magic wands, plastic high heels, and ‘mink’ stoles. I remember masks (and costumes) being hot and sweaty. 

At first, when brainstorming about the design of this quilt, I tried to think of some deep message I could aim to deliver.  I thought about it for two weeks, and came up empty.  Then I decided to just have FUN and play a bit.  I was happy to read an article about Annie Albers recommending just that – emphasizing the value of experimentation and fiddling about with shapes, having no end result or deep purpose in mind.  I knew I wanted a black background and bright colors.  I pulled out some multicolor shirts and skirts, and one heavily embroidered vest. 

I began by thinking about birds.  Maybe because they were chirping nearby.  I made some feather shapes, which reminded me of the leaves on our croton plants.  Soon, I was thinking about bugs – probably because we are being inundated by ‘lovebugs’ here in Florida.  

Once I had the features roughly delineated, my niece shared a photo of her two year old, who had posed for a portrait photographer, but refused to smile. 

Her mom joked that she instead chose to stare into the soul of the photographer.  I was surprised to realize that her expression looked a LOT like my mask. 

So, I was heavily influenced by my surroundings in this work.  Thanks, Beth, for the title.

Prompt 11   Masks

Into your Soul  40 x 30”

Hand applique, machine quilted