Security Blanket

After years of recycling my junk mail, I have recently slowed down and fully examined all of my mail. My CoachArt student and I have been doing a lot of collage work, and unsolicited catalogs and magazines have lent themselves toward some really fun art pieces. A few weeks ago I started to look a little closer at the numerous security envelopes that come through my mailbox. I was surprised to see just how many different patterns are hiding on the inside!


As I started to unfold the envelopes and cut them into little squares, I was reminded of my beloved baby blanket, tucked away on the upper shelf of my closet.

Nearly 30 years old, this little quilt is faded and frayed. I still marvel at the patterns in each square - gingham, dots, blackberries, rose buds and tiny wildflowers.


Using my blanket as inspiration, I'm in the process of creating a quilt of security envelope squares mounted on canvas. This canvas is fairly large, so I'm still gathering envelopes with black and white security patterns. This past week, the postman has brought more blue patterns than black, so the hunt continues for a diverse array of patterns. Here's my progress so far:

More to come!