Chernobyl

Fini~ 

 Nuclear Disaster occured 4/26/86 at 01:23.4 am

I have had a lot of questions as to why I made this Chernobyl themed quilt.  The short answer is I wanted to make a tribute to the people who were killed during the accident and in the months and years after working to contain the disaster.

I used many different themes within the quilt from wildlife, snow, flowers, art, architecture and yes; death.

I used Jen Kingwell's steampunk templates because the propeller design reminds me of a radiation sign.

The disaster was the result of decades of cost cutting and cover up by the scientific community and the Home Office in the USSR.  Ultimately the accident happened during a safety test of the back up power generator.  

RBMK is the Reactor that was housed in building #4 in Pripyat,  Northern Ukraine SSR in Soviet Union.   Here is an aerial view of the wreckage.

After machine appliqueing the letters, I  back stitched embroidered around them to give them more dimension.  It is not perfect on the back, but the sleeve hides most of it.  Needs Must.

For the backing I used this beautiful collage of flowers, birds, music and architecture.  Russia has such a rich tradition in the arts.  It seemed an appropriate contrast to the sciencey nature of the front.

I considered several binding options but the simple black frame seemed best.

The straight and ripply quilting is how I imagine the radiation that is still and will be detected in the exclusion zone for hundreds of years.

Mr. Fun and I have been scouting out photo locations for a while and we ended up using a old forestry shack on the edge of a wooded area near our home.

and a old school building that is right off the Boston Post Road here in Madison, CT.  It was the original school for the town but has fallen into disrepair.

Both seemed fitting somber locations for this quilt.

Thank you for your interest in this quilt.  If you would like to learn more about Chernobyl here is a good link from the World Nuclear Association.

The HBO mini series is what first piqued my interest.  The attention to detail was incredible.  There is also a companion podcast to the series.

I also listened to the audio book "Midnight in Chernobyl" by Adam Higginbothom, which offered more details about the disaster those involved.

If you are still here, thank you for stopping by for the full story of my Chernobyl Quilt.

xo