Celtic cross finished at last

What a fantastic week! After almost a year of starts and stops, I finished this white Celtic cross.

Teresa Duryea Wong. Dawson Hill, 2015. Machine pieced, hand applique, machine quilted.
 Cotton, cotton and silk thread, glass beads, vintage handkerchief, lace.  39 x 49 inches.

As I stand back and look at this cross, I am in awe of the finished product and proud that this is an original design... with a most unlikely inspiration.

In late 2013, the husband and I traveled to Nebraska, for quilt research actually. Nebraska is home to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. And as things happen in life, Nebraska is also where my parents grew up and where most of my family lives. (I'm a native Texan.)

During that trip to Nebraska, we visited the tiny St. Mary's cemetery where my father is buried. Many of the families that once lived, worked, farmed and worshiped in this part of America were Irish Catholics. The Celtic design is mostly credited to Scotland and Ireland, and sometime to St. Patrick. Nowadays, you see it most often as cemetery markers.

When I was standing in the middle of that cemetery, I was stuck by this large family marker (with a Celtic cross carved in it) bearing the name of my grandmother's family. For me, all these ideas, all this history, memories of my family and thoughts of my faith flooded my mind. As we drove home, I was determined to capture all this somehow.

So I began working with photos of this particular cross and pondering ideas. Previous 2014 blog posts about making this quilt are March, part two April, part three November and a week ago.

I built the foundation for the cross from hundreds of one-inch squares, which are machine pieced. Each one inch square is machine quilted with a tiny original design - inspired by the quilting of Hilary Florence.  The batting is an ultra-firm Peltex. I used this instead of traditional cotton or wool batting because I wanted the cross to be sturdy when hanging. 

The Celtic designs on the four arms of the cross are hand applique and hand stuffed trapunto. Here's a close up.

Teresa Duryea Wong. Dawson Hill, 2015. (DETAIL) Machine pieced, hand applique, machine quilted.
 Cotton, cotton and silk thread, glass beads, vintage handkerchief, lace.  39 x 49 inches.

The circle is completely cut out so that light comes through and around the cross.

I took the quilt to a professional fine art photographer to photograph it for competition. When he placed a light focused on the background behind the quilt - it almost brought tears to my eyes. It looked so beautiful with all this lovely white light shining right through the circle.

The center features four small circles which are appliqued (one for each gospel). Layered on top is a vintage handkerchief which I embellished with a beautiful lace which mimics the same Celtic design. Next I hand-sewed glass pearl-color beads over the lace. The handkerchief is tacked onto the quilt, so it floats off the surface.

Teresa Duryea Wong. Dawson Hill, 2015. (DETAIL) Machine pieced, hand applique, machine quilted.
 Cotton, cotton and silk thread, glass beads, vintage handkerchief, lace.  39 x 49 inches.

Detail photo of the tiny clear glass beads (with gold centers) hand sewn around the outside edges.

I titled my art quilt "Dawson Hill" and I've entered it into the Sacred Threads juried quilt competition. This exhibition is open to quilters in US and Canada and features art honoring themes of peace, healing, grief, spirituality and joy. The exhibition will be July 10-26 at a church gallery outside Washington D.C. 

If this quilt is selected, I'll be thrilled. If not, that is okay too. The journey of making this and the memories that resurfaced while making it are priceless. And I think there may be a beautiful permanent home for it out there somewhere.

I'd love to hear any comments, thoughts or stories of your own along these lines!

Linking up with
Off the Wall Fridays
Needle and Thread Thursday
Free Motion Mavericks - a new FMQ blog (new to me anyway).

Love sharing the quilting love!