Award: Members' Choice: Honorable Mention

Artist Name: Maude Wallace Haeger

City/Town: West Chester
State/Province: OH
Country: United States

Materials and Techniques: Cotton pieced with embroidered faces done with Aurifill thread. Drawings done by the artist and transferred to the piece by drawing on Solvey and then sewing over the Solvey using the darning foot so I could manipulate the piece as needed. There is a small amount of gold lame over one person as well. The inspiration for the people is from iconography.

Artist's Statement: The theme of Voices evokes speech of some type – or at least sound. Our country is undergoing some difficult times, as is the rest of the world. There are people in the world that have some beliefs I do not agree with. "Where Have all the Children Gone?" is specifically asking about the gay men of Chechnya who are being killed. These are young men who grew up in homes that surely must have loved them at one time. And now the parents are being told to kill those children because of their sexual orientation. Once a child is your child that child is always your child and should be protected and cared for even if a parent does not always agree with what the child has become, believes, or whatever... It can also be asking where have ALL the children gone?, as many children are battered or abused or have any number of things happen to them. Their voices of anguish should be heard. (Inspiration for title is Bob Dylan's song "The Answer is Blowing in the Wind") The statement above has been included on the label on the back of the quilt.

Size: 16" x 16"