As night follows day

I made these quilts for a competition but I didn't make them up to the minimum required size so I couldn't enter them. Boo hoo!

Creative rationale (the full story)

Day - the sun moves from east to west, the light breaks through the darkness (batik material, orange on blue, on the right of the quilt). The colours represent the heat and cooling of the temperature as the sun rises and then sets again, as well as the intensity of the light. The horizontal lines (machine stitching) are the latitudinal lines on the earth. In the southern hemisphere l used more red thread since it has on far hotter climate than in the north. The 'flares' represent the different time zones as the earth turns during the day. The bead work is to show my African heritage. On the right it mirrors the fabric, day breaking through night, blue and orange beads. On the left, orange and white, colours for the setting sun. I chose the white because it represents the glare of the sun as it sets.

Night - moving from east to west (right of the quilt to left), the night starts to seep into the fading light of the day (batik material, orange on blue). There is hardly any true darkness on the quilt because we all try and light up the night. The piece of fabric, navy blue with white dots, reflects intensity of the 'grid' of artificial light we produce. The horizontal lines (machine stitching) once again are the latitudinal lines on the earth. In the southern hemisphere l used more earthy coloured thread since the land is more arid, and therefore green thread dominates the top of the quilt in the north. The bead work is representative of the starry sky. The strip of shimmering material (silver and blue) shows us the milky way, with the bead work concentrated in this area but spilling out across the sky. The movement of the beadwork encourages us to think of the changing night sky. The colours of the fabric get lighter as night fades into day.

Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

Victor Hugo , Les Misérables