Living on a farm I truly understand the value of water. Although modern conveniences are at hand; my family and I still rely on water from a well 1/4 mile from home. Water safety is our responsibility. Water well maintenance is our responsibility. Anything that is good or bad about the water system is our responsibility. Several times the system has failed and my household was left at a standstill sometimes for hours sometimes for weeks. Although most were minor inconveniences; one can only imagine the agony and struggle that must occur each and every day when these conveniences are absent.
I was drawn to Water is Life Challenge to help promote the necessity for modern sources of water in the most remote regions of the world. Water is precious everywhere around the world and Canada is not excluded. Many remote reserves have been without fresh running water for years. I hope this exhibit will encourage leaders around the world to monitor usage and provide access to all citizens.
I carefully assembled this piece from thousands of tiny snippets of colored cotton fabric to achieve the results I hoped for. Piece-by-piece I assembled my quilt. Much like the women who gather water for their families, step-by-step she gathers water for her family. During her daily journey for water, women in remote, drought-affected area of the world are confronted by treacherous and time-consuming obstacles. The average distance women and children walk for water daily in Africa and Asia is six kilometers (3.7 miles).
Every drop of water makes a huge impact on her life. Every day she brings them water.
“She Brings Them Water” has travelled extensively with Quilt For Change: Water is Life Exhibit.
What was I thinking? These little pieces were everywhere and the process was very time consuming. My fingers cramped up on me many times. It took a lot longer than I had expected to fill in the background.
I used a Sulky product called Sticky+. It was perfect for the job. This is the point that I loved the piece the most. The texture was awesome. However, there was no way that the pieces would stay put for the long term; no way this was going to travel the globe. So I decided that the best solution would be to cover it with a fine tulle. The result made me happy.
In mid-June, I received notice that “She Brings Them Water” was featured in the July/August 2016 Issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited Magazine. Needless to say I was over the moon with excitement.
