Evangeline’s Addiction

The dark, ominous colors of New Orleans, flowers dripping from wrought iron balconies, are where she sleeps, dreaming, like a child, of far away Japan. The gold sun and golden band around the city are her euphoria, and the dark crows tentatively stand on fresh grass, representing the hope that she will be reborn to a new day.

Many of these scraps come from Mardi Gras costumes and pyjamas and sheets sewn for my siblings and me as well as for my own children. Snow White is from the lining of a jacket my mom made for me when I was a toddler. The fish kites are from a dress a wore to the wedding of one of my brothers. There are again a lot of scraps from my best friend whom we lost to gun violence, who was close to all my family, and was an amazing artist. The Evangeline who is the subject of this quilt loves Klimt, and the gold band on the horizon mimics his vibe, drawing the sunrise around and through the darkness to her new day. The crows are my wish for her to find joy, from the nursery rhyme: