During my visit to the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, this landscape stopped me in my tracks…
At first glance, it looks like a painting, but it is actually BEADWORK! The Land That Claims Us was created in 2022/2023 by Mel Beaulieu of the Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, using antique and modern glass beads, King Cole tea, and quills on felt. It was inspired by the bog at Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick and reflects the artist’s deep connection to that landscape.
Of course, my brain immediately started translating what I saw into fabric!
Look at those trees on the left. Their leafy tops are clusters of circles in different sizes and shades of green. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful starting point for a collage quilt?
I can imagine cutting circles from green scraps—some light, some dark, some with a bit of unexpected color—and overlapping them around narrow fabric trunks. The circles wouldn’t need to be perfect. A little irregularity would give the trees even more personality!
Then there are those curling lines across the sky and water.
Can you say FREE-MOTION QUILTING?
I don’t have a new quilt planned, but the idea of building trees from a handful of fabric circles is definitely coming home with me.
What catches your eye first—the circles, the colors, or all that wonderful texture?
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