About 15 years ago I read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit for the first time. Great Epic Stories well worth reading. My sweetie and I were camping along the North Fork of VA, among the tall, thin, old pines. The canopy high over head, dropping needles onto the floor. He would fall asleep while I read “deep” into the night, meaning like 10 pm or so. As I read The Two Towers, with the battle between the Trees and the Orcs at Orthanc, (it’s been a while so if this isn’t exactly right, don’t be surprised) a storm raged a few miles from us, over the water. The lightening brightened the night sky, thunder rumbled low and deep, and the trees swayed and creaked in the breeze. While I tried to sleep that night the I dreamed of The Trees walking, the battle, and all. It wasn’t the fitful sleep that one generally desires.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. When I was really little, about 7 or so, all the kids in the neighborhood were going to see Jaws. One of the teenagers told me enough about it that I had nightmares that night.
As I write at this moment I can see both of those moments clearly in front of me. I can hear the creaking of the trees, I can see me getting out of bed completely freaked out because of dreaming about a movie that I’d never seen.
So last night I’m texting with Melissa Thompson Maher, Editor-in-Chief of Generation Q Magazine when she told me to have an ice cream bar. For most of us this brings to mind some kind of ice cream on a stick, right? That would be the normal thing. But no, not this quilter. I see two full images in my imagination:
The first is a quilt of an ice cream bar on a stick in wild, Teri Lucas, kinds of colors, all quilted out, and dripping with sweetness. mmmm
The second is an Ice Cream Bar. This is a full-on bar complete with an ice cream case, clad with old barn wood, all warm, and rustic, and inviting. I love the smell of old wood, it kind of has a history with it. The bar,complete with adult beverages, would extend beyond the ice cream case, with the same wood protected from “the elements” with layer after layer polyurethane. The back bar would have the old mirrors, the silver or coppery silver ones where the light bouncing back is a bit warmer and softer. The glassware would be the old, colorful, carnival glass – oh it gets better, not just the carnival glass but the milk glass and the “mental health” green glass, oh the color and variety! There would be an art deco juke box. I can see wrought wire painted in cream, slightly distressed cafe tables and chairs scattered around the room, interspersed with pub height tables in rich wood tones.
I can assure you it’s hard to get that across in a text. I think I managed to though. I can see the Ice Cream Bar being both a reality and a quilt.
Where does your imagination take you?
Happy Quilting,
Teri
