The Mudflats

Here it is at last.  The final installment of the tour through the Mudflats quilt, that was graciously hand made and given to me by the Mudflats cyber-quilters and various other helpers and sneaky assistants along the way.  We’ve been going four squares at a time, and if you’ve missed any of the other posts, you can get to them here.

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

And here are the final four squares.

First is the one called “Native boots.” The boots have beautiful long suede fringe. Bordering the top of the boots are littel tiny seed beads in blue, orange and white. The fabric of the boots itself also looks like fringe and beads, so it’s a very striking effect. The background fabrics are fascinating. One has interesting looking petroglyph designs of people and animals. The other is a colorful display of what looks like woven Native American baskets with all sorts of interesting designs.  Jackie was the creator of this incredible block.

Then, we come to a square covered with little song birds of all kinds. Yes, it’s the Twitter square! Until yesterday, these little tweeters would have made me think of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s infamous Twitter account. But now, they make me think of the brand new as of yesterday, SarahPalinUSA Twitter account! I’m hoping the handlers actually let her write her own tweets, but I won’t hold my breath. But we’ll always have Shatner… AND this quilt square with little birds on every square inch! And the boot fabric is bird seed! Amazing!  The talent behind this one is Elizabeth, and it was her very first quilt block ever!

Square #3 is deep blue. Blue, blue, blue. Blue stripes, blue stars, blue sky, blue boots, blue beads! A fitting tribute to how all of us working together turned the country blue on November 4. And who might have signed this particular block, you might ask? Those of you on the Mudflats Forum will know in a second that it’s Administrator Maureen, known to you all as … (drum roll please) …. Deep Blue!  She has the distinction of signing blocks in two different cities!

And finally, the last square. And what a finale it is. The boots are classic yellow with a tiny little mud-colored satin trim. The fabric they sit upon looks exactly like the mudflats! Why? Because that’s what it is!  InJuneau is responsible for this one.  Here’s her description.

The photo in the center is of Eagle Beach, Juneau.  The photo was taken by [spouse] InJuneau and was selected for the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) Impressions NANPA Showcase publication in 2006.  One would need mudboots of some sort to play on the beach much, although we tend to wear Xtra Tuffs (aka “Juneau sneakers”) here instead of yellow ones.  I almost made them brown to match Xtra Tuffs!  The corner fabric is a Southeast Alaska/Northwest Coast Native design fabric.

A square from the state’s wonderful capital, that you-know-who couldn’t wait to get out of is a fitting end for this amazing piece of art.

But just like a great fireworks display, what you think is the end….isn’t! Because after looking at, fawning over, and touching every square inch of the quilt, there’s only one thing to do. Flip it over. Anything on the other side? You betcha! First, is a little sliver of fabric that says, “With (heart) & boundless appreciation to the Great AKM, assembled and hand-quilted by Quince, with special thanks to all contributing Mudpups and InJuneau, Erin, Deep Blue, Forty Watt, Futurexpat? & CO Almost Native. *2009″

But that’s not all. What would any blog be without….a troll?

And there he is…splatted on the back side. “Thrown under the quilt” if you will. Splayed out with his little balloon right on the dark brown mudflats (Merrimeko fabric from Cambridge!), where he can writhe and wriggle around for all eternity, or as may thousand years as this fabric will last. I can just hear him now in a teeny little voice, all muffled…. “You just hate Sarah because she’s pretty! You’re a hater! That fugus is smarter then you! You won’t be laughing when Sarah’s in the White House! You won’t be happy until we have a Marxist, fascist, communist, government and everyone becomes a gunless homosexual pot-smoking troop-hating unemployed athiest whiner who terminates pregnancies for fun and never bathes!  And furthermore, …” (I flip the quilt over and instantly it gets quiet.) Ahhh.

And like a really REALLY good fireworks display,  you’re really sure it’s finally over, but there’s still one more big surprise.

Yet ANOTHER box arrived mysteriously at my place of work. The handwriting on the box looked very familiar. I dashed upstairs, grabbed a box-cutter and opened it. A pillow! One last rogue square that didn’t make it into the quilt found life as an accessory!

This one came from the other “bookend of Canada,” the great state of Maine!, and is signed by Aeroentropy!  The background fabric is covered in berries of all kinds, and the blue boots sport a big fat red lobster! There are two interesting little bead embellishments – a silver peace sign, and a very handsome wooden moose! And in the lower right corner – a duck. It took me a moment, and then I realized that this was the Bill Allen duck! Because we all know that corrupt CEOs with lots of money are “sitting ducks” for politicians who take advantage of them, the poor dears. At least that’s the story you’ll get from their attorneys.

And that truly is the end. What can I say? (hands on my heart) Every one of you who contributed to this magnum opus has my deepest thanks. I am humbled and touched. I have visions of my great great great grandchildren looking up at my great great grandchildren and saying, “What is this again? Sarah who?” and getting told some great stories, and it makes me laugh. This is truly a treasure – the Bayeux tapestry of the 2008 election and beyond.

All of you, take a bow.

(standing ovation from my living room!)