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Courtship

By Vicki Tymczyszyn

"My first displays the wealth and pomp of kings,
Lords of the earth! Their luxury and ease.
Another view of man, my second brings,
Behold him there, the Monarch of the seas.
But ah, united what reverse we have!
Manās boosted power and freedom are all flown:
Lord of the earth and sea, he bends a slave
And woman, lovely woman, reigns alone.
Thy ready wit the word will soon supply.
May its approval beam in that soft eye!"

The quilt is titled "Courtship." The poem is from a very well known work of fiction, Emma, by Jane Austen. The riddle is given by Mr. Elton to Miss Emma Woodhouse for a book of riddles she and her friend Miss Harriet Smith are compiling. It takes place in a part of the story where once again, Emma is mistaken about someoneās feelings and intent. (The charm of the story is that Emma means well, but is a bit dense and misguided.)

I chose this particular riddle because I have been a fan of Jane Austenās since my early teenage years, when I read everything she wrote. I must admit that part of the attraction for me was that my maiden name was ĪAustin.ā Emma was definitely my favorite book of hers at the time, so that choosing this riddle brings back fond memories.

The quilt is made with indigo blue fabrics, appropriate for the time of the novel. The background pattern is Courthouse steps, and in shadow appliquˇ I have added a Ship to illustrate the riddle. The back has a man down on one knee proposing for the answer to the riddle, "Courtship." This outline is also quilted into the design and so is visible in gold thread on the front of the quilt. This quilt took more thought than I anticipated, I kept changing my mind about how to execute the design, but once I got started it was very simple and fun to create.