THE WORRY TREE
Quilt Details
Year: 2002
Collection: Emily Shevell
Dimensions: 102″ H x 105″ W
Technique: Machine pieced, Hand appliqué, Machine quilted by Janice Jamison Hariston, Newark, NJ.
The Story:
This quilt celebrates my daughter Emily's Bat Mitzvah, March 16, 2002.
The Worry Tree is to remind Emily of the story I used to tell her at night before going to bed: Dig a very deep hole by the base of the worry tree and place all your worries there. Bury them well and then go and play with the fairies that live in the tree.
The Story (Continued):
The worry tree thrives on the worries of humans. The pictures on the drops of the quilt represent things that are important to Emily - her stuffed animals Pink Zippy, Old Simmy and Chops; Blue Zippy, New Simmy and Spaz. Her gerbils David and Alvin. Marcy's horse Burt. The seagull she named Come and Go. Jo-Jo, her imaginary monkey, who is hanging off a branch on the worry tree (we never could keep him in one place). Her diving. The lake. A plate with bread and gravy for Grandpa's song. A marigold for the inchworm song I sing to her. Her b flat and bass clarinets. Yin-yang cats for Chairman Mao Tse Tung, Imperious Ruler of the Red Regime, and Princess Anastasia Nicolaev Romanov (aka Mao and Stasha, our cats).
Chinese Saying
A Chinese saying, "If we love nature as we love ourselves, the earth will become beautiful and all good things in our human lives will come to be part of the earth," because Emily is studying Chinese at school and loves nature and the earth.