The story began years ago ... as in 2011 when I first designed this unique art quilt using lots of small US flags retrieved from cemetery dumpsters and a discarded casket flag. My household machine was not adequate to stitch the large, heavy piece. It was shoved into a box and forgotten until 2022. By this point, I owned a Babylock Tiara which handled the free-motion stitching perfect. The finished work was blogged HERE. Earlier this year, the work was accepted into Spaces Between, a juried exhibit at Florida CraftArt in conjunction with Surface Design Association. I was happily shocked that it won first place. (I blogged a photo of me with juror Akiko Kotani HERE.) As it turned out, sharing this good news on social media brought the artwork to the attention of Garvin Design Group's interior designer. The firm was (and is still) working on a big project to turn a former fire station into a boutique hotel in Columbia, SC. An email discussion ensued and brought about a contract to transform Cemetery Flags into a unique, horizontal piece that will hang behind the reception desk. The discussion included brainstorming about fire hoses wrapped around the artwork. I learned lots and lots about fire hoses! For the past month or so, Steve and I have been working on this project.
I learned about double jacketed fire hoses and the fact that the two ordered are not what fire stations actually use! The ones used are much larger, heavier, and not really visually appropriate for this art project!)
In order to transform this art quilt, I wrote up a detailed work order ... starting with me hand-stitching the work to a giant piece of awning canvas using a super strong thread ... doubled. Please note, ten inches of canvas extended over the top edge. This canvas was folded over a piece of 1" x 6" lumber and screwed into place!
Screw eyes were sunk into the top of the lumber so that the entire piece could be suspended from the loft in my sanctuary/studio. Not every artist lives in a former church but I do! It made the physical needs for this project rather straight-forward!
Steve and I could easily work from both the front and the back of the suspended artwork.
We measured and worked hard to get the art quilt level with the floor!
Then, we wrapped the two fire hoses around the art quilt. At this point, we sent photos of the piece to the interior designer. Why? Well, I wanted feedback! I thought that showing the company name, Firehosedirect.com would make it more obvious as to what these things were. Another great discussion took place. As a result. Antique-looking brass nozzles were ordered for the two ends and instead of showing the company name, I stenciled "Ladder 13" onto the other side of the white hose.
Then, Steve and I screwed the fire hoses to the wooden slat ... generally using large washers to flatten them.
The flattening was necessary! We couldn't have the fire hoses "stick out"! Why? Well, between them we attached pieces of a 1" x 4". These pieces of wood became where we finally attached a metal hanging cleat.
The metal hanging cleat will work with one attached to the wall behind the reception desk. Right now, the piece is still suspended from the sanctuary loft. It had to be finished before we head to my one-month art residency in Hamilton, Montana! Why? Well, the piece will be delivered as soon as we return. With any luck, I'll have photos of it hanging in the hotel by mid-November. (By the way, Steve isn't staying in Montana. He's driving me there, flying back to South Carolina, and then returning to drive me home. The van, however, stays in Montana. Steve will have his new electric bicycle for transportation while I'm gone! Delivering the artwork does require the van, not a bike! LOL!)
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