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Crossed Quilt Top

I finally put together the quilt top for this throw — see previous posts here and here. Another month and maybe I’ll actually get it quilted? It’s odd that since I’ve turned sewing into a business, I actually have less time to sew.

I’m sure I’ll get some comments about the paintings above, which I just haven’t had a moment to actually hang on the wall since I painted my sewing room last year. The painting on the right is by self-taught artist Mose Tolliver who lived in my hometown of Montgomery, Alabama. I remember visiting his home with my mother, during a time when she was very interested in folk art. And the painting on the left is by Steve Keene, whose work resembles that of self-taught artists, but he is in fact a Yale-educated, Brooklyn-based artist who paints in multiples. My husband became interested in Keene’s work when he started painting album covers.

Lately when I talk I end my sentences, with “blah, blah, blah” as I tend to go on these days and bore even myself. Maybe I should start ending posts this way too? Blah, blah blah.

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Red and White Quilts

You’ve probably seen photos from the American Folk Art Museum’s exhibition Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts that ended last week in New York. Displayed at Park Avenue’s Armory, the exhibition was designed and installed by Thinc Design and curated by Elizabeth V. Warren. The massive grouping of 651 quilts came from the collection of Joanna Rose, who wished to see the quilts on display to celebrate her 80th birthday.

You can read more about Mrs. Rose and her “accumulation” of quilts here. But what I find most interesting about the exhibition is the way that the quilts were hung, in spirals from the ceiling, creating a breathtaking display that overwhelms with its sheer volume. After reading this article, I started to think more about this issue. As the curator of the exhibition said in this article “…when you bring them together, the whole is greater than the part.” This is an interesting idea. You have all of these quilts that were made by different individuals and are beautiful on their own, but become remarkable when grouped together. Suddenly they are transformed from craft to art. There was a grouping of chairs in the center, reminding the viewer of the quilt makers who have become inconsequential, lost in the floating sea of red and white geometry.

I just think it’s something to think about as I see so much possibility for quilts to enter the art world in new ways. I think everyone makes things for different reasons, but what does it take to elevate craft to an art form?

You can see more photos of the exhibition on flickr here.

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400 Kids Made This

The auction quilt is finally finished! I’m excited about the result, but I think for this project the process of teaching kids to sew was more important than the end result. We’ve been working on this over the course of the past two months with more than 400 children ranging in ages from three to twelve.

As you can see, the stitch pattern starts off simple at the top with the three and four year-olds, then becomes increasingly more complex as you move further down the quilt, going in order and ending with sixth grade in the bottom strip. After the kids finished the embroidery, we then sewed the nine strips of fabric together and parent volunteers helped to hand quilt it. The quilt is approximately 5′ x 5′ and is really meant to be hung on the wall since it isn’t very practical with all these stitches.

The children really seemed to enjoy the process and I think many became interested in sewing. Kids come to sewing with far less trepidation than adults who have never sewn before, but many were still intimidated. Once they picked up the needle, they all learned quickly and seemed to really enjoy it. The best reward for me was seeing the kids’ enthusiasm for sewing; learning a new skill with such tangible results can be extremely satisfying for children. My idea for this quilt came from our experience with Montessori learning, where sewing is a routine part of the environment, so I knew the kids could do it. This whole experience reminded me of the need for these hands-on skills in our digital age — hopefully home ec will make a comeback.

I think that the combination of bright colors and beautifully imperfect stitching gives it a wonderful folk art feel. I hope someone will love this handmade style as much as I do and will want to buy it. There is a lot of love in this quilt since it took more than 800 hands working together to make it!

Special thanks to Whipstitch Fabrics for donating the fabric for this quilt. You can read more about the design and preparation for this quilt in my earlier posts here, here, and here.

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Crossed Quilt Block

I finally started doing something with that long strip of string pieced fabrics I was working on a while back. I plan to intersperse these with plain white blocks and make a throw quilt. Looks like I need 18 of these blocks. Three down, so check back with me in another month.

And since it’s Monday, I thought I’d include a quick tutorial for the block so you can skip the math. This makes a 10″ block. Click on the image below to print out the instructions.

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Auction Quilt Update

I thought I’d show you some photos of how the auction quilt is coming along. We still have kids who need to work on it, and of course we still have to put it together (and remove those chalk lines), but I’m really loving the handmade look. Over 400 kids will have sewn on this quilt when it’s all finished. And while it’s been a time-consuming process, it’s so exciting to see the kids get interested in sewing!

You can read my previous posts about this project here and here.