"Solar Eclipse" quilt

Title: "Solar Eclipse"

Artist: Milla Malchow

Size: 37 in x 49 in

Year: 2016

Phone: 307-575-2870

Technique: bargello, applique, free motion thread art

Material: cotton fabric, thread

Color: Multi

This piece is named "Solar Eclipse" and is dedicated to the solar eclipse of 2017. This quilt represents three elements; history, mystery, and magic. On top there is a "time spiral" or better known as a wormhole along with three stages of the solar eclipse. I wanted to capture the beauty and mystery space and eclipses can bring, along with its magical properties.

Another piece of this quilt is the buffalo skull with the bear and devils' tower sewn on top. From time immemorial Buffalo have been sacred animals for the Native Americans for hundreds of years, however, they are now scarce. The skull is to represent the few buffalo that still live and the bear with devils tower is to pay tribute to the Native Americans and their legend of the rock formation.

Legend says that the bear saw the moon passing the sun. He wanted to catch the moon and keep the beauty to himself. He found hill and clawed his way up the hill. However the moon passed quickly and the bear efforts were in vain. The devils tower remains to this day to symbolize the bears evilness and taste of greed. From right to left, bottom of the quilt, one can see stitch designs of Indian wigwams, an Indian on the horse, an Indian warrior, pioneers (figures of a woman and a child), settlers, wagons, cowboy on the horse, and a bull and the barn. This is supposed to represent the past and present. Each figure represents a certain time period and symbolizes history being written. The quilt is done in Bargello technique in the shape of continuous time spiral. The border is scripts to also represent history being written. The background is to represent Wyoming’s beauty and richness in nature. Maybe we have this legend, maybe it is my imagination.....