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Marica Ente
Sarasota, Florida

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Sepia Woman
circa 1992

In the early 1970's, my friend Vee Lowell and I opened a small quilt shop, "Cabin Fever Quilts," in Waitsfield, VT. We made mainly 'traditional' quilts, along with some of our own whimsical designs. I really enjoyed the act of quilting, but the best part for me was selecting the colors and fabrics to be used.

I eventually tired of so much sewing, and swore I'd never make another quilt again. I put my machine very far back in the closet, and didn't touch it for years. After dabbling in other craft media, I developed an interest in computers and computer graphics. It was amazing what one could do with the touch of a button...if you knew which button to press!

After staring at the pixelated images on the screen for a while, it dawned on me that it would be an interesting challenge to try to reinterpret those images in fabric. I guess the bug didn't totally die.

I made a whole series of quilts using famous face images- Marilyn, Elvis, Einstein, Warhol, Mona Lisa, to name a few. My favorite quilt from this phase is the one I called 'Sepia Woman'. It's approximately 60" x 70", and made of 3-4,000 one and a half inch squares. Finding all those brown and sepia tones was difficult, but most rewarding.

Now I hardly ever have time to sew, what with family and job, home and obligations. I do occassionally long to rummage through my vast piles of fabric pieces to find just the right one to complete an image... but I'll have to save it for a less busy time.

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