"Jersey Shore, Winter 2012"

This is the quilt that I am donating to the Nutley Thriving Survivors this year.  It will be a door prize at their brunch on Sunday, October 27, 2013.

"Jersey Shore, October 2012"

Quilt size:  64” X 65”    Date Finished:  April, 2012     Machine pieced and machine quilted

The ocean in winter at the Jersey shore was the inspiration for this quilt.  The miles of boardwalk and blocks of homes are mirrored in the linear design.  The colors are those of winter at the shore.

Standing on the boardwalk at dusk in the off season, dark power was visible in the colors of the sky, the water and the beach.  There was a feeling of quiet energy.  I tried to capture all of this in these colors.  The purples represent the sea.  The tans and browns bring together the sand and boardwalk.  The pinks and greens are the colors of closed boardwalk businesses and homes.  Aqua squares are the bright spots in the view – the wave caps, last rays of the sun, lights coming on along the boardwalk.

Now, after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the shore in October 2012, I think of the aqua squares as bright spots in a storm – the volunteers, neighbors and public safety workers who were there to lend a hand.  In that way, aqua symbolizes “community,” the same kind of “community” that helps survivors thrive.