The story that seemed to incorporate itself into the quilt the most is A Rose for Emily. You can obviously see the dominant presence of roses within the quilt. She is a southern belle w/ a controlling father & she finally ends up w/ a 'man', whom she keeps by poisoning him w/ arsenic. His corpse is found after she dies. Of course there is more to it but that is the super nutshell version.
Here are all her elements:
the girl (she represents all the female characters from all the stories)-her "steel gray hair"
roses
the brown patch on the left w/ the carriage
the skeletal guy next to the tree
the fabrics w/ china--Emily gave china painting lessons in her home
Hills Like White Elephants: A young woman & an "American" are @ a train station discussing (or not) the trip they are taking--which I don't want to give away.....
The general color scheme of the quilt is inspired by this work. Brown & barren on one side & green/fertile on the other. (left to right) This is a significantly symbolic part of the piece's landscape.
Babylon Revisited: Story of a man after the roaring 20's who has come back to Paris to retrieve his dd, who is in the care & guardianship of his SIL--after the death of his W.
That story is most represented by the girl on the swing--he dreams of his wife on a swing PLUS the fact that he has a young dd. Also the black & the back of the quilt is black w/ outlines of stars----his SIL is dressed in black w/ a necklace of black stars.
Trifles: a short play that all takes place in a kitchen. A woman has killed her husband & the men are trying to discover WHY/motive. The women in the kitchen discover the motive but don't tell....throughout the men are putting down the "women's work".
the quilt itself because the wife had been working on a quilt
the birdcage, her friends discover a broken bird cage in her kitchen
the uneven edges--she has a spot of uneven stitches
a patch of fabric that is truffles--alluding to trifles
Also they mention that she will KNOT her quilt to quilt it--so the pink ribbons in the trees--I used to knot/quilt that portion of the quilt.
Oh & the ropes to the swing are NOOSES--because she kills her husband w/ a rope.
The Story of an Hour A woman w/ "heart trouble" learns of her DH sudden death then receives the shock of her life to discover he is still alive.
the birds in the trees--she is in her room looking out over the trees & takes note of ALL the birds in the trees.
The Open Boat : men in a dingy after their ship has sunk, they can see the shore but the waves are too rough to make it in, they keep expecting help--based on a true event of the author.
Towards the upper left is a patch w/ a light house & it says FL. The event happened off the coast of FL & during the story they can see the shore & light house but can't make it in...
The Real Inspector Hound--couldn't find the text online. I didn't like it-- a modern play that I found annoying. ;)
Up at the very top, toward the middle is a swatch of fabric of playing cards--because they play cards in the play. Plus the fact that it is a *modern* quilt.
I also sewed random squares to also emphasize the *modernity* of the piece & quilt.
The Cask of Amontillado: the narrator is so offended he kills his *frenemy* by walling him in ALIVE, deep in his families crypt.
It's very small & almost hidden, but on the right, in the crook of the tree, is a jester (square like a playing card). His friend is dressed for a costume party as a jester.
Also the pile of skulls & bones @ the base of the tree--there are bones every where in the crypt & a pile that he has moved to make the space to trap his frenemy.
Young Goodman Brown: a naive young puritan man travels into the forest to a satanic meeting & is surprised to see all the members of his village whom he considered pious & holy, including his wife.
The tree is the most significant representation of that.
But also the pink ribbons represent his wife because she had pink ribbons on her bonnet & then later he sees a pink ribbon float down from the sky & get stuck in a tree in the forest.
Cathedral: a man hosts a friend of his wife as a visitor--who happens to be blind...& ends up having his own eyes 'opened'.
Upper right corner is black & then black & white & moves into black w/ color & then into regular colors of the sky---indicative of how the main character has an enlightening experience. Also the black 'frame' of the quilt itself.
Some general items: the leaves also are mostly green on the right (your right) & are more brown on the left, to mirror the landscape of fertile & barren.
Across the bottom I made large up & down zig zag stitches, they start as green & then become brown--as grass & then dead grass.
I sewed the edges using steel gray thread. A few patches of fabric have gray or green squares sewn into them but most of the sewing was done w/ brown thread.
There are a few fabrics in the middle that have a mix of green & brown for *transition* between the two.
Far right, utmost corner there is a definitive square w/ NO fabric. That is representative of the 2 stories I did NOT intentionally include. & of the blind man in cathedral.
Up @ the top is a swatch w/ hearts on it--as most of the characters are looking for love or learn something about it etc...
The tree has all the female characters initials on it (as if they were carved) in brown fabric paint.
I think that's most everything.
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