"Rainy Day Ballet" is one of Geri Patterson-Kutras' favorite quilts that she has made.

The inspiration for Rainy Day Ballet just came straight out of Geri's imagination. She thought about the big city, and in the big city when it rains everybody is doing a kind of dance along the sidewalks trying to make their way around the droplets. Notice the details of the gal whose umbrella is turned inside out, the businessman with his newspaper over his head so he doesn't get wet, and the child doing the child-like thing of performing the "swan lake ballet" by jumping in the puddle. It's details like these that bring Geri's quilts to life with her inspired imagination.

Artist Statement: "Rain in the Big City creates a kind of sidewalk ballet. Dancers perform rapid, leaping steps trying to avoid colliding with other dancers and splashing in unforeseen puddles.

The joyful choreographed steps of the tiny ballerina's production Swan Lake reminds us to slow down and relish the lost childhood gifts of imagination on a rainy day.

Dancers perform to a ballad of frenzied rain drops hitting the surfaces each with a unique lyrical note, windshield wipers on cars beat steady rhythms, while wind sweeping through alleyways and over roof tops provides the colorful tones of a wood wind section.

Rainy days challenge us to witness the grand performance created by overlooked gathering of elements that surround us in our haste to stay dry."

Techniques: Machine appliquéd and quilted