In the Beginning

IN THE BEGINNING

BY AMY STEWART WINSOR

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

SIZE: 64 inches high, 57 inches wide

YEAR MADE: 2000

In the Collection of: Dr. William Gurley

AWARDS AND HONORS:
Juried into the 2001 International Quilt Festival
Juried into the 2001 American Quilters Society Show
First Place--NC State Fair, 2000
Judge's Choice, Best Embellishment, Durham-Orange Quilt Guild Show, 2000
First Place, Capital Quilters Guild Show, 2000

FABRICS: Cotton, lame, tulle, organza, Soft Touch cotton batting

THREADS: Cotton, rayon, metallic

EMBELLISHMENTS: beads, sequins, seashells, embroidery floss, silk ribbon

TECHNIQUES: "Heat n Bond Lite" fusible machine applique, "Easy Tear" stabilizer, machine piecing, couching, hand quilting, machine quilting, hand embroidery, permanent pens. The curvy pink border is not appliqued, it is pieced using the technique I teach in my "Curvaceous Pieced Borders" workshops.

ABOUT THE QUILT:

This is my interpretation of what the Garden of Eden looked like before Adam and Eve ate the fruit. The blocks at the top and bottom represent each day of creation, with the verses from the book of Genesis (King James Version) embroidered on each block.

The scripture references for each block, top row, left to right.

1) Genesis 1:2--And the earth was without form, and void...(Not a day of creation, exactly, but necessary to the story.)

2) First Day: Genesis 1:4--and God divided the light from the darkness...

3) Second Day: Genesis 1:7--And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament...

4) Third Day: Genesis 1:9,10--...and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth:...

The descriptions of each block, bottom row, left to right.

5) Fourth Day: Genesis 1:16--And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.

6) Fifth Day: Genesis 1:21--And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, that the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and God saw that it was good.

7) Sixth Day: Genesis 1:25--And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and God saw that it was good.

The center scene is also included in the Sixth Day, portraying the following two scriptures: Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." and Genesis 2:8, "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

8) Eve's hand with the fruit. Genesis 3:6--And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.