Mazes and labyrinths… I found that whilst I was creating this quilt, I was thinking about mazes and how the symbolic meaning of the maze suggests a journey with many twists and turns. I find quilt-making very meditative and use it as a means to enter a silence and drop any mundane concerns. There is something in mixing and matching the fabrics that create a kaleidoscope of colour, it begins a journey through the memories of the fabrics former uses and origins. The Mandala centre piece is a spiritual symbol representing the universe and the maze spreads out from this centre as the Fool in the Tarot begins her/his journey through the labyrinth of life.
This quilt has been a new exploration for me and I thank the author and quilter Rayna Gillman for her lovely quilts and techniques that inspired me to try her explorative methods of quilting which gave me fresh inspiration in creating and meditating with my own quilts.
I love how each piece of fabric has a history, many pieces are from worn-out clothes given a new life within the quilt, many are valued pieces of found-fabric from trailing around the charity shops. Its always a delight to find that ‘special-something,’ I never buy new material, and this is another reason I enjoy recycling all the old scraps.
This ties in with the symbolic maze expressing the passage of time and rebirth. When walking the labyrinth, the maze, our perspective is constantly changing as is the quilt, when putting together fabrics and then cutting them up again and again, until your own inner pattern and vision is revealed. A simple quilt representing an inner journey to self.
