Oz II quilt, Virginia Jean Cox Mitchell

Exhibition Label: "Personal Geometry: Quilts by Yoshiko Jinzenji and Virginia Jean Cox Mitchell," Feb-2014, Susan Earle and Cassandra Mesick In October 1979, Mitchell created a quilt combining ideas from the book and the movie versions of The Wizard of Oz. It features many elements from the Oz story including Toto, the lion, and bluebirds flying over the rainbow. It also incorporates Kansas-specific symbolism and Mitchell’s own personal touches. The farmer boy in overalls depicts her brother, Marvin Cox, who traveled the road to the Capitol as a state senator. Other Kansas symbols include a floating Kansas Star quilt block in the sky. Exhibition Label: "Kansas Quilts," 6-Jul-29-Sep, 1996, Nancy Corwin Kansas children were invited to the State House grounds in Topeka, October 20, 1979, to celebrate “Oz II.” I wanted to remember this festival in a quilt, so I combined ideas from both the book and the movie, The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and Toto begin their journey along the yellow brick road in the Land of the Munchkins where everything is painted blue. A blue morning glory climbs on the blue fence. The pumpkin, a fruit of fall, represents the crops grown in their field. The tree of fruits stands for the forest Dorothy and the Scarecrow pass through. Here they meet the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. Later the brave King of Beasts returns to the forest as ruler. Dorothy and her companions fall asleep by the poppy. They visit the land of the South where the Quadlings paint everything red. It is a land of ripening grain. They cross a river and visit the land where everything is made of porcelain. This country is represented by the china Horse of a Different Color. He is being led by a farmer boy wearing overalls, in reality my brother, Marvin Cox, who travelled the road to the Capitol when he was state representative and senator. After the Wicked Witch is killed, the kindly Tin Man returns to watch over the Land of the West. It is desert-like, with fences of yellow and with daisies and buttercups blooming there. During her journey, Dorothy looks up to the sky and sees a bright star; “Kansas,” she says, “ is the name of that star.” There is a quilt block called Kansas Star, and it hangs in the heavens on the right. Thirty-four quilted stars are also in the sky, for Kansas was the 34th state admitted to the Union. She sings, “Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly…and troubles melt like lemon drops…” At one end of the rainbow is Kansas’ pot of gold: a sheaf of wheat. Their journey ends in the Emerald City, here represented by the fence of green and the green-domed Capitol, which is almost hidden by sunflowers, wheat, and the cottonwood tree. Sitting under the tree is the wise scarecrow who helps make the laws after the Wizard waves goodbye from his balloon. Virginia Jean Cox Mitchell