Rachael Tyndall HC SVNT DRACONES - Here be Dragons
My first thought for the challenge ‘Uncharted’ was of the mythical creatures and sea monsters that Medieval and Renaissance cartographers put on their maps, in the remote and unknown regions. Urban legend claims these areas were labelled ‘Here be Dragons’. In fact, there is only one surviving globe with this saying. However, there are abundant, engaging sea monsters and animals on early maps. My quilt is inspired by the northwestern portion of Olaus Magnus’s Carta Marina of 1572, reproduced along with lots of sea monsters and creatures in Chet van Duzer’s book Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps.
The background fabric is cotton dyed with Procion dyes and tea stained to reflect the colour of the original map. The quilt was made as one piece and then folded in half and finished. The compass lines were quilted on. The islands and dragons are lightweight, painted Lutradur. These were machine appliquéd onto the background and wadding. The waves were made using Markal Paintstiks through a stencil. The edges were brought together with a ladder stitch and then top stitched.
