|
Home >
Quilts >
If You Can't Say Something Nice... Don't Say Anything At All>
About the Quilt
|
If You Can't Say Something Nice... Don't Say Anything At AllBy Ellyn Mossbarger & Paula Collins
|
|
One of the oldest and most familiar admonitions passed down from parent to child over the years, "say something nice or don't say anything at all" has probably affected more sensibilities around the world than any other single jingle known. Agreed upon by almost everyone, it is also probably one of the hardest to keep uppermost in mind in a sticky social situation, and the cause of much guilt when the situation disintegrated. This saying presented itself immediately, resonating with childhood memories in both of us, and promptly divided itself into the two parts... how you felt as you offered a complimentary comment (energized, positive multicolored palette) and what your feeling was as you tried to resist a negative observation (black, white, shades of gray). A silk painting class with Mickey Lawler produced a toss-away woman's face that was intended eventually to go into a project using a collection of faces. As the concept began to take shape, there was that face, right size, suitably wacky and begging to be used. The second face was traced onto dupioni silk in indelible pen from the original and given a more austere, though tongue-in-cheek, rendition with red stop signs, a warning finger and "button your lip" buttons for the completion of the thought. |