I AM the Vine
11.75” x 57.5”

Commercial cottons.  Machine pieced, appliquéd and quilted.  Small amount of thread painting.

The inspiration for this piece was Paul Cezanne’s still life, “Apples, Peaches, Pears and Grapes”.  The vine in the background immediately caught my eye, and I had a title for the quilt before the design was worked out in my mind.  This is not the first time that has happened.  The vine reminded me of Jesus’ words in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

The background was pieced in randomly placed squares of red, orange and yellow, reflecting the colors of the fruit in the painting, and representing the fruit Jesus’ disciples bear when they are connected to Him; fruit that is attractive and varied, as each of us is individually. 

The blue and white border repeats the colors of the plate in the painting.  The blue also represents loyalty and steadfastness, “true blue”.  Jesus also said, “I am the truth.”  So, all of our fruit is held together by Truth, revealing to the world His work in us. 

I quilted the nine fruits of the Spirit in the border.  An interesting thing occurred when I was looking in a book on trees to see how I wanted to thread paint the leaves.  I had drawn them freehand in a sort of heart shape, and the real leaf shape I found which was closest to them was called “Balm of Gilead.”

NFS