First piece of the year

For various reasons I've been struggling with a rather important piece for Fiber Revolution, so I decided to step back and finish something I started in the summer for my Textile Abstractions group.  This piece came to mind as our nation's political parties debated how to address America's budget.  We're all part of the same country, but boy, do we all have different ideas about how to solve problems.  It can be wonderful and debilitating all at once.

I know the symbolism's not immediately apparent,  so let me explain.  The background references the fields covering so much of our country.  The hole represents the gap in the budget and the square represents the financial debate -- you know, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.   Finally, the quilting can be equated to lines of communication that sometimes intersect, but lots of times, especially when it comes to a heated topic, can go 'round and 'round in circles, never coming close to meeting.  I don't know how Carol Taylor sews all those beautiful circles in her work; I think they're a bear!

Throughout the process I considered how to abstract my thoughts and feelings into the piece and that's something new for me.  Let me also say that working with a hole in a quilt can be a ________.   Overall, I'm satisfied with the effort and I think I'm ready to get back to work on my other piece.  Just FYI -- this one was for the Textile Abstraction "Contrast" challenge and is called "The Debt Crisis: Trying to Fit a Square Peg into a Round Hole".