Grandmother Moon Textile Project Found Its Branch

It took me a minute to figure out what this textile project wanted to be. Over many months, I worked intuitively and spontaneously--allowing my stitching to reflect my encounters in the natural world through the four seasons. I'd assumed I was a making a quilt about the moon. But when I set my panels down on the floor in the shape of a blanket, I felt despondent. The panels couldn't hold the shape. Everything collapsed in and looked wonky and wrong. I feared I'd wasted a lot of time and effort for nothing which can happen in the creative process.

But a few days later, I stumbled upon a large branch in the middle of a Brooklyn sidewalk while walking my dog. There was something about that branch. I couldn't let it go. So I dragged it home like a crazy person and up several flights of stairs. Made a mess of my living room, sanding and sawing. Today I set the textiles below the branch where I imagined they'd hang. And there it was. They fit almost perfectly. No need for more. This is what they wanted to be. And we're almost there.