August TIF - Balanced

Sharon's question for August was in response to her admiration for people who are able to maintain balance in their lives. We were asked to define our own meaning of balance, say if we maintain a balanced life and show how we balance aspects in our day to day existence.


I thought about this for a few weeks trying to work out what I would do, and being fairly literal was stuck with images of scales, tight rope walkers, people on stilts etc etc. Then I decided that my own life has, at times been a bit rocky, and even though I am retired there are now so many things I want to do that must be balanced against those I need to do, and other responsibilities, that there can still be a degree of stress in making choices. A perfectly balanced life could be a bit boring, and taking risks is often a challenge that can bring rewards. This little quilt is the usual journal size - 11 x 8 1/2 inches.

It is a depiction of me on top of the rocks that are the foundation of my life. The words on the rocks are those of significant people, my interests, activities and responsibilities. They were made into a word cloud at Wordle, printed onto fabric in this month's TIF colours, and then tea dyed. It is machine appliqued and machine quilted. The tiny figure is appliqued as well, but coloured with fibre tipped ink pens.