Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois is a "living museum". It is a working farm and a center of education and enjoyment in suburban Chicago. In 2006 the Glenview Park District is opening a new education center on the farm. This art quilt project was formulated to be the "thank you" to those people and organizations were the major donors to the center.
The image above shows the quilt as displayed at the donors' reception. It will be hung on the decorative rod on the wall behind.
The scene in the diamond-shaped area shows the main buildings on the farm. The border around the scene was quilted with this quote, provided by Park staff: "We don't accomplish anything in this world alone...and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something." ~ Sandra Day O'Connor
Details
This triangular area shows some of the crops grown on the farm: cabbage, pepper, corn, wheat, pumpkin, and radish. The root systems are intended to be as accurate as my research allows. The "crawlies" include earthworms, sow bugs (pill bugs), cicada larva, ladybug, carrion beetles, cucumber larvae, bumblebee, scorpionfly, and may beetle larva. It is intended to remind the viewer that what goes on underground is also of critical importance to the farmer.
There are fifteen quilt blocks on the right side of the quilt, set into diagonal brown strips reminiscent of plowed soil. The blocks are (widest strip to narrowest): Corn and Beans, Weathervane, Illinois, Turkey Tracks, Churn Dash, Fox and Geese, Anvil, Ducks Foot in the Mud, Country Farm, Hole in the Barn Door, Economy, Shoo Fly, Boxcar, Whirlwind, and Empty Spool. I selected blocks for names related to farms and life on the farm. The blocks either have farm animals (cow, pig, draft horse, sheep, chickens) quilted in them (the block on the right has draft horses), or novelty buttons sewn on (the other block has a rooster, hens, chicks, and an egg). The brown background is quilted with blue rivers and brown contour lines, based loosely on the topography of Cook County -- where Wagner Farm and the city of Glenview are found.
The left and right borders have designs based on butter molds - which were blocks of wood carved in a design particular to one farm or butter maker, and pressed into the top of a tub of butter, leaving a relief of the design. Between these designs are the names of some of the donors to this project. I had to leave space to add future donor names.
The top and bottom borders show the names of the major donors to the project. The upper left corner is a landscape of rain falling in the distance;male and female cardinals (Illinois' state bird) fly before the oncoming storm.
Inspiration for the center barn scene (photo courtesy Glenview Park District)
