House Rules

I created this piece, “House Rules,” for Quilting Arts magazine’s 2009 calendar competition, but it was not selected, so I can show it to you now. (My other entry, “Home Planet,” is a finalist!)

I had a lot of fun making this piece. For years, I've had a list of rules of the house posted on my refrigerator for my children (and, let’s face it, for me, too... we all need a little reminding once in a while to act like decent human beings!) I decided to make it into a little quilt. It features my daughters and our dog, Sophie, and a stylized version of our house. I fused Angelina fibers to make the rays around the sun, and positioned her smiling down on the kids, holding hands and smiling (yeah, like that actually happens!). That's the BIG RULE, the "Golden Rule" -- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you -- paraphrased by me, arching over the sun. And those dots around the sun are French knots done with varigated perle cotton.


I wrote out the words using a Pigma pen. The house, heart, sun and kids are all done 3-D, pillowcase turned and then appliqued to the background, so they really stand out from the surface. Sophie is done in needle-turn applique. I used water-soluable wax pastels on the girls to make them look like they were done by kids with crayons. Then I did big chicken scratch embroidery all over to quilt it. It was very fun.

I’m going to frame this piece and hang it in my kitchen. Want one of your own, featuring your own kids and pets? I'd love to discuss a commissioned piece with you!