"Trail of Tears

This is my road trip quilt for my Berea group.  It is entitled "Trail of Tears."  It is to commemorate the Cherokee Indians who suffered during the Indian Removal Act.

Poem: 

Trail of Tears

Spring does not erase

Our passage

Nor warm the lingering spirits

Left behind, far from home.

Wagons rumble on, as we lie
In shallow graves, names not spoken.

Four thousand brethren forever
On the trail where we cried.

Betrayed by broken promises,

Forced to leave the land

We tended for countless moons.

Miles and miles through frozen valleys,

Trees the only witness

The wind the only answer to our tears.

What I've been up to...

I have not posted because I have been busy working on my challenge quilt for QAK, Quilt Artists of Kentucky,  Quilts with a Kick Exhibit.  The challenge this year:  “Search for an APRON to inspire your design for the 2013 QAK challenge.  It’s that simple!  No strings attached to this challenge except to use a technique new to you.  Search your kitchen drawer, your mother’s, grandfather’s!!, anybody’s.  Try boutiques, flea markets… The apron is the impetus, not to be copied, for your work. “
  
The exhibit is now up at the Berea Arts Council.  They did a fabulous job hanging so many quilts.  The Exhibit runs from July 8th - August 23rd.    My Quilt has a very long title: "Broken Apron Strings; Women Pioneering Reform in Kentucky."   Eight of these quilts quilts and a couple of alternates are selected from this group of quilts and photos are submitted to the American Quilt Society (AQS) as entries in the Guild Challenge quilts that are shown at the AQS show in Michigan the following July.
So with this possibility no photos available.

I will also have another challenge quilt I am working on for our "Road Trip challenge.  My quilt is called "Trail of Tears."  I cannot show a photo, but I will share the original poem I wrote for this quilt.  A special thanks to my husband who assisted with the editing.  This quilt will be hanging during the Berea Quilt Extravaganza Exhibit August 2nd and 3rd.

Trail of Tears

Spring does not erase

Our passage

Nor warm the lingering spirits

Left behind, far from home.

Wagons rumble on, as we lie
In shallow graves, names not spoken.

Four thousand brethren forever
On the trail where we cried.

Betrayed by broken promises,

Forced to leave the land

We tended for countless moons.

Miles and miles through frozen valleys,

Trees the only witness

The wind the only answer to our tears.