Quilt Testers In Action

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Friday, August 20, 2010

Russion Icon Rabbit



(EDIT:  Of course I only noticed the typo in my title after I linked to it from Sewcalgal"s blog, so it's too late to fix it now.  I really did mean Russian. I apologize!)





OK. My quilt for the Pets On Quilts Show  isn't finished, but I wanted to show it to you anyway. Ginny was helping me baste the quilt this morning. She wasn't too sure about the process. 


She thought it looked sort of interesting, maybe a closer look?


Then she decided the project needed a little paws on attention.  One pass,


and a second pass,


and a whole hearted disapproval. These feet are flicking in distaste.


Maybe she thinks I didn't portrays her as being as beautiful as she is?  Here is the full quilt,  basted with pins.



When I first heard about the Pets on Quilts project, I thought it would be a good place to use the portrait of Ginny that I had made using Shiva Paintsticks in a class with Elin Waterston last year. This had been pinned to my wall, and I had had no idea what to do with it.

Then I thought about our recent trip to the Museum Of Russian Icons, and decided to add a halo, and make Ginny into an icon. From there, the project grew, and life happened, and between those things, I have only reached the basting stage.

First I decided to put her on a chair (throne). Regular readers may remember that Ginny's chair is brown, but that wouldn't be enough contrast, so it got changed to white. I added lettuce,  as many of the figures in the icons carried corresponding symbolic objects. And of course many of the icons had smaller (adjunct ?) saints or religious figures, as well, so I added a smaller Weasley.


The scroll, with scientific names of her favorite plants was added, because I noticed many of the icons had scrolls on them. I also added smaller figures, coming to honor and bring tribute to, the great rabbit.


The landscape background was similar to some of the icons, and I added the giant parsley "trees" to also correspond to some of these features.  The moon is from my own "rabbit in the moon" stamp, and then I finished it off with the larger words stamped in gold. Since I don't write in Russian, I fudged a little here, and used Latin (sort of). The words are the scientific name for rabbit, along with the Latin word for "rule".

This has been a real blast to work on so far, and I am excited about adding detail with my quilting. Miss Ginny, however, seems to be looking down her regal nose on the entire project.

And for anyone wondering, Ginny seems to have gained her weight back. We are still waiting on the pathologist's report from the new vet at the Littleton Animal Hospital. If our old vet's diagnosis were correct, Ginny would be gone by now, so we are hopeful. We found this new vet through the House Rabbit Society, and we are very grateful for all the help that they have provided us with through our rabbit years. 

28 comments:

Lisa said...

That is amazing! I Especially love the slaves bringing tribute to her. Ginny looks good. Sounds like she's feeling good. I'm so glad to hear it!

Nina Marie said...

WOW an amazing piece and the bunny is so cute!!

The Fab Furs said...

What a beautifully detailed quilt! Perhaps Ginny was wondering where her carrot slaves were in real life as well as wanting to add some bun fur to the project. Glad to hear she is better. Won't Weasley want his own quilt now?

Mary Grace McNamara said...

Another work of art, Karen! I love it!

MGM

Marsha said...

What a precious bunny! Her personality is certainly captured in your photography. And what a lovely quilt!

Diane H said...

Wonderfully creative quilt and great post! Hugs to Ginny.

Kim said...

Your quilt is beautiful. The rabbit is adorable.

Katie :o) said...

I love the quilt! What fun to work on! Even more precious, though... LOVE Ginny's reaction!!!! Especially the "feet flicking"... tooooooo cute!

Wacky Woman said...

Wonderful quilt and adorable pet rabbit. Wishing for a speedy recovery.

Wacky Woman said...

Wonderful quilt and adorable pet rabbit. Wishing for a speedy recovery.

SewCalGal said...

Delightful post. I'm so happy you entered my Pets on Quilts show. And very happy that Gina is doing ok. She is such a cute rabbit and I love your quilt too!

Thanks for sharing.

SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

SheilaC said...

First, I LOVE the name of your blog!!

And your quilt is amazing!! Thank you for sharing the story behind it, so that we can fully appreciate all that you put into it (halo, tributes, scroll, etc).

I can't wait to see it when it is quilted!

Beautiful :)

SheilaC

QuiltSue said...

That's a very clever quilt. Thanks for showing it to us.

Anonymous said...

love the quilt! I'm so glad to hear that Ginny is doing well :)

Dana Gaffney said...

What a great quilt and I love the way you took the pictures. I'm surprised she doesn't love it, but you know how those icons are.

Michelle May-The Raspberry Rabbits said...

This is gorgeous Karen! I love it! Oh my gosh!
Glad Miss Ginny is doing good and her weight has come back. Also glad that you have a new vet and that the other one was wrong!! :)
xx, shell and sugie bunny

hetty said...

Wow! This is definitely a work of art! Just beautiful!

Talin's Corner said...

Very cute quilt. It is truly an art quilt.

Dee said...

What a great story to go along with your quilt! And your rabbit is so cute and fluffy. I've never had one so didn't think they interacted much, but she looks like she does.

Nancy Sue said...

Here's hoping Miss Ginny gets some good reports coming back and glad to hear she has a new doc :)
Love Love Love the parsley trees!!
Great quilt!
nsue21702 at gmail dot com

Janet said...

What a fun project! Funny what inspires us sometimes. Your rabbit is cute. We babysat a pet rabbit for a year once. Hubey. He was fun.

The Vegetarian Hunter said...

I love this project! You are doing a fantastic job. I really wish I had seen it sooner as I already voted. =(
I will just have to follow your blog to see how it turns out!

d. moll, l.ac. said...

The quilt, the quilt! gorgeous! Hoping Ginny stays well, sounds like your new vet is a good thing.

Emily said...

BUNNIES everywhere, wonderful!
And the quilt looks a delight!

Cara said...

Ankles says your quilt reminds her of Little Nut Brown Hare.

Whatever.

Ginny has wonderful hair.
She must be a proficient shedder.
Maybe she can give me pointers?

bunnits said...

Really neat. And the buns are beautiful.

Karen S said...

What a great quilt! I love the pictures with Ginny peeking out at the quilt -- so happy she is doing better.

birdlady said...

Gorgeous! Ginny doesn't appreciate it enough! She looks like she's really feeling better.