Alicia Bay Laurel created this patchwork crazy quilt as a sort of diary from 1967 to 1974, inspired by a crazy quilt passed down from her great-grandmother and by the fabulous scrap barrel of the psychedelic tailor in the art studio next door to hers. Alicia embroidered and appliqued images of her astology signs, her guitar, her houseboat in Sausalito, the Divine as a sunrise with an eye, lots of trees, hearts, wheels, the solar system, a duck playing in the rain. There is a solar face embroidered by Ramon Sender, and a mountain embroidered by Ray Mungo. Charlotte Lyons, today a famous quilter in Santa Cruz and then an artist friend at Wheeler Ranch, contributed an traditional eight pointed star. Alicia signed the piece in embroidery, adding the dates it was made below her name.
Alica with quilt - 1969
Says Alicia, "Unlike traditional crazy quilts, which are sewn into squares which are then sewed together, this one grew organically and for years looked like the pelt of some fantastic animal. Finally, I laid it out on the floor and figured out what to add to make it more or less rectangular. I added the top of a purple satin curtain from a Catholic Church that I found at a St. Vincent de Paul, thereby adding a row of metal curtain rings that fit over a cafe curtain rod. I backed the piece with a gold flannel print and slightly quilted it with buttons here and there. I hang it wherever I live."
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