"Passing Mars" 2002 & "Mars Passing" 2003 Del Thomas 02-06-11

The top quilt, a 2002 Journal Quilt, was inspired by the fact that on August 27, 2002, the planet Mars  passed closer to Earth than it has since Neanderthals looked skyward in about 57,617BC.  And the planets won't be in such close relationship for another 284 years.  This quilt is my vision of the glowing red orb in a starry sky, hanging over Los Angeles.   I had dyed the half a yard of red/yellow fabric and I had enough to do both quilts.  The lesson I learned from naming these two quilts is that it is a mistake to have two names so similar - I can never remember which is which. 

"Passing Mars"  Del Thomas  2002  8.5"W x 11"L

Hand-dyed & commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batt, cotton & rayon threads. Glass beads, plastic squares.
Fused, machine pieced and quilted, hand embellished.

This is the second quilt using the same hand-dyed fabric and the same design idea.  The center part was made for an exhibit, but I didn't know what I would do with it after it was done traveling.  So I made the two side panels to create a triptych.  The long yellow and red strips represent the tall buildings of a city. 

"Mars Passing"   Del Thomas  2003  36"W x 40"L 

Hand-dyed & commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batt, cotton & rayon threads. Glass beads, plastic squares.

Machine pieced and quilted, hand quilted and embellished.

DETAIL  Mars Passing  2003  I'm never going to be enchanted with beading!  The quilting on the grey is almost the last hand quilting I have done, due to the arthritis in my hands. 

 

DETAIL  "Mars Passing"  2003  I used Beacon's "Gem-Tac" for the plastic squares and none of them have come off yet.