Bugs - Bern Johnson - "Our World Needs Bees!"

When this theme was chosen, my first thought was, "Oh no!"

Memories of having Christmas beetles flying at me and crawling up my legs as a child still haunt me. Then there is the issue of cockroaches - ugly-looking creatures that they are ...

But then,  knowing that I had to do this quilt challenge, I remembered that butterflies, lady beetles and bees are also insects and I do like those insects ...  particularly bees which are so good for our environment. I’m a keen vegetable gardener and know the benefits of a pottage/companion garden so bees became the theme of my challenge quilt. 

My flower garden is made up of artificial fabric flowers sourced from local op shops. The flower In the centre of the quilt was cut off the front of a hat.

I recently joined  a textile group at my local arts and crafts centre in Caloundra, Queensland, Australia. Through that group I have learnt to use non-cotton items in my quilts, hence the fabric flowers and some plastic leaves.

With this quilt, I built it up as I went. I didn’t start with a sketch as I usually would. I just kept adding flowers and stitching the petals down with one of two stitches so that I could give the quilt a 3D effect.

I chose purple flowers as purple is my “signature” colour (thanks to a teenage crush on Donny Osmond whose favourite colour is purple). It’s also a colour that I wear a lot as it is the colour best suited to my complexion. Thankfully my husband loves purple as well!

As I was researching the topic of bees, I came across the quote from Albert Einstein and felt that it was a suitably strong yet simple message to go with my quilt.