This fabric story began when a portion of a well-loved quilt was given to me, it reminded me of an old quilt from my youth and the lessons my mother and grandmother taught me.
In my mind, a garden seemed to grow up over the surface. Armed with this inspiration, I began pulling old zippers, bias tape and a Sunbonnet Sue, and old crochet books from my collection. The land and sky were defined by the heavy lines of stitching. Then the garden rose into the sky reaching toward the sun.
Stitching this assembly took my spirit on a trip through places in my memory. I hope that it will do the same for you.
Materials: vintage quilt and fabrics, solid cottons, fulled wool, vintage piping, embroidery floss, cotton threads, pearl cottons, new and vintage crochet threads, glass beads, old buttons
Techniques: Kantha stitched quilt, hand applique, crochet, hand piecing, beading, couching, laying of threads in long stitches.
Finally: a select portion of the Sacred Threads exhibition will be touring into May of 2024
Bits and pieces remain (scraps) when a project is complete.
When the remnants are combined, very little is left for the trash.
Every upcycled, recycled and reused piece of fabric and button has a story.
The story is a history of the materials, combined with the thoughts and spirit of the maker/s.
Not allowed to disappear.
Displayed: Creative Crafts Council 33rd Biennial, The Mansion at Strathmore, North Bethesda, MD, May 29 – July 24, 2021
When water can percolate into the ground and organic matter is broken down—the earth will remain healthy and promote growth.
Consider the earthworms who promote this activity; they process organic matter, moving soil around creating their tunnels. Tunnels that allow water to be absorbed through the layers of earth.
Left to its own devices, nature takes care of itself.
Techniques:
Front Panel: machine pieced and quilted.
Back Panel: front--loose threads woven into screening with crochet hook, back--threads handstitched through front threads, suggesting soil.
Materials: Discontinued commercial upholstery samples, cotton fabrics, men’s ties, window screening, fulled wool, loose threads from torn fabrics, cotton thread, pearl cotton, embroidery floss, wool yarn.
Juried into SAQA Global Exhibition: “sustainABILITY”, at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts from October 5 through December 31, 2022. The exhibition catalog is available through the SAQA store.
“sustainABILITY” continues to the Wingate Museum of Art in Conway, Arkansas from February 3 through March 17, 2023.
Further venues - AQS QuiltWeek shows in 2023:
Grand Rapids, Michigan: September 13-16, 2023
DesMoines, Iowa: September 27-30, 2023
