Life of the Snowshoe here

Life of the Snowshoe here

MaryAnne LeBlanc

British nature writer, John Lewis Stempel’s most recent book, The Running Hare, The Secret Life of Farmland was the original inspiration for this quilt. Reading this book made me aware of the declining populations of the brown hare in Great Britain. Reading further, I discovered that the snowshoe hare in North America is also in jeopardy. The snowshoe hare’s fur turns white in winter so it may camouflage itself in the snow. With a changing climate, snowfall is less frequent and in fewer locations, and the white hares stand out against the dark landscape.

I strive for irregularity in my quilting. I often neglect to use a ruler when cutting fabric. My goal in this piece was to describe movement and a labyrinth of chaos representing the hare’s struggle for survival. I pieced the lettering with fabric slashed haphazardly so that it might look like it was written by a very clever, albeit desperate hare. The variegated quilting thread suggests rain and other precipitation in lieu of a winter’s snow.

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