American Gothic Challenge

There is a group on the About.com quilting forum who designed quilts based on different works of art this year. It is called the ARTImage Challenge. I did not participate, but read the posts and looked at the new works of art as they were revealed. The October challenge was the famous picture American Gothic.

When this challenge was announced, I was taking a trip with my dad to the family farm. My grandmother has gotten too old to live there by herself, so we helped her move into a retirement home and auction off some of her stuff and a small parcel of land and the buildings. Part of this farm has belonged to my family since the late 1700's as payment for fighting in the Revolution. We still own that part.

Do to this coincidence of events, I decided to take on the American Gothic challenge. This piece is the first time I have worked as an artist instead of a crafter, and I can feel the difference. Making the quilt did not take very long. Designing it and getting over the hump of actually starting it with some sort of confidence took a long time for me. It was going to have more stuff on it, like a farm house, barn, silo, sheep, etc. I decided I like it better plain.

Runyan Farm
by Julie Kokan
15x15 inches

This quilt depicts my dad as a little boy feeding a lamb named Oscar Pepper. What you don't see in the picture is that as soon as the lamb finished the bottle he turned around and knocked my dad down. I found this picture in the house the night before the auction and knew I had to do something with it.

This picture was my first ever attempt at putting a picture onto fabric. I did it the expensive way with the Printed Treasures. Although it worked great, I will buy some Bubble Jet Set when I run out of the fabric sheets. However, I wanted something easy that I knew would work for my first attempt at this process.

I think this quilt will be the first in a series. I am working on getting a picture of my mom when she was little to make a similar one of her. She grew up in the city, so I am thinking of more of city background for hers. From there, I will go to my husband's parents.

I hope you all enjoy my first foray in to art.