Mancuso World Quilt and Tribute to Rachel Carson

Tomorrow (15th) will see Mancuso's World Quilt Show - New England open in Manchester, NH with Australia well represented at the premier of the 2013 World Quilt Competition XVII. This is the second year I've entered this competition  - the feedback and experience gained from that first time is hopefully reflected in "Tribute to Rachel Carson". Visiting the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge last year was an amazing and enlightening experience. The beautiful salt marsh country has been preserved since 1966. The centre piece of my entry is a rubbing of the below memorial plaque.

Inspired by Rachel Carson

 

I had the privilege of visiting the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge on the coast of Maine last year. It was the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Silent Spring". The sounds of the Atlantic ocean crashing onto the muddy marshland, the smell of pine underfoot and wandering through soft, dappled light are memories that will be with me forever. Friends, Tom and Susan from New Hampshire shared this wonderful place and helped out while I took a rubbing of a memorial plaque. The refuge covers approximately 50 miles of the Maine coastline. The vegetation, wetlands and forest are unique, especially for an Australian visitor.  As the transition from rubbing to quilt begins, I am playing with different fabrics, each printed with foliage from many places of refuge I've visited - and I hope to do the memory of this wonderful place justice. 

Rachel Carson Refuge

Rachel Carson 's legacy is, in part, this refuge of second growth forest with tidal salt marshes that wend their way to the Atlantic ocean. It was a frigid afternoon - and I could hardly feel my fingers taking a rubbing from a memorial plaque in the park.  It is early spring and there is evidence of renewal after one of the mildest wineter's on record.  A beautiful place for quiet contemplation, even as the sound of waves crashing along the coastline came tumbling through the treeline.