On the Wings of a Dream

This quilt won Best of Show at the International Quilt Festival (Houston) 2009.
On the Wings of a Dream is about starting a new life in a new place. In 2005, my husband and I moved from the Fox Valley of Illinois, where I had spent my whole life, to Paducah, Kentucky where he could have the rural farm he had always wanted, and I could build a studio and workshop center in the nearby arts district. Shortly after my studio was completed my husband died.

The loss of a life partner means the closing of a chapter, but also the beginning of a new chapter, with new possibilities. Flying cranes and herons have frequently appeared in my work as symbols of the ultimate feeling of freedom. I have wanted to dance all of my life, and never had the opportunity to learn. To me dance seemed very close to flying.

As a new life chapter begins there is freedom to make new choices and try new things. The dancer and the transparent white bird merge together to represent this freedom. The eagle represents the past which must be left behind in order to move forward. Two weeks after I started this quilt in July of 2007, I began taking dance lessons, and the quilt was completed in August of 2008 as I finished my first year of dancing.
More information is available at:
http://www.bryerpatch.com/images/quiltrecords/OnTheWingsOfADream/OnTheWingsOfADream.htm