"Rachel Carson": Quilt Art by Rebekka Seigel

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

The eighth quilt in my paper doll series honors Rachel Carson for her brave pioneering stance on the protection of our environment. The format of the quilt is meant to represent the title of her second published book, The Sea Around Us. Rachel loved bird watching and beach combing all her life and these activities are reflected in 2 of the outfits on the quilt. Because she wrote so extensively about the sea at a time when we knew very little about it, she felt it important to do some deep sea diving. She only went down once as it was a very frightening experience for her in the heavy diving gear and aqua lungs of the day. Rachel is best remembered for her book, Silent Spring, in which her research on the devastation to wild life and the food chain perpetrated by the agricultural use of DDT heralded the beginning of the environmental movement.