Art Quilts and other impossibilities
Linda March 11th, 2007
My quilts are not “traditional” quilts per se. They tend to be more theraputic for me. I find the actions of sewing to be meditative, so when I am feeling “scribblie”, I either bead or quilt. Below you will find these little bits of art therapy:
Journal Bag front
My friend Dawn from “Mother Rubber Stamps”, came over one afternoon for a “art play date” and we made books/journals. I wanted to be able to carry mine around with out it getting scuffed up so I decided to make a journal bag. I had originally picked out some fabrics, but on my way to our ironing board I noticed some great scaps that Scott had on his cutting table. He is making a quilt for Sara Nephews’s new book out of Kaffe Fasset fabrics (can we say yummy?!). They were lovely strips of brights about 2 inches wide and in different lengths. I called up Scott and asked if they were free for the taking. Being the kind person he, is he first asked why??? and then after he heard my project said yes. I love this skull fabric so decided to fussy cut it out and use the skull as the center. Now why a skull on a 48 year womens bag? Yes, I know it is trendy right now but all the better for me because for some reason lately, I have been very enraptured of anatomy. Now I must add here that I also have been struggling with depression (thank God for drugs) so make your own decissions.
Journal Bag back
I did the bag ala “Teesha Moore”. I sewed the strips together and then made pillows out of that (using low loft batting that my mom had just given me.) Then I crudely hand quilted it using pearl cotton. The front and the backs are seperate quilted squares and the sides and handle is one long quilted piece. I attached them all, again, with pearl cotton. The little girl on the back is actualy a button style I make and am trying to sell on Etsy and through galleries. This one had been dropped by a customer and a bead had broken as a result–so here she sits for me to enjoy. The beads on the top of the closing flap are from “Beads for Life”, a non-profit organization. Indigenious women in Africa make beads out of our cast off magazines and sell them on-line. I love supporting groups like this because the $$$ goes back to the laborers not to high paid officals. I am told by my friend Dawn, when she last visited the site that they were all sold out–how cool is that????
When I graduated from high school I went straight to work and worked at the same job for 14 1/2 years. I met Scott, we married. Now 18 years later I have 3 kids and have been out of the “work force” for so long that I find my old skills obsolete. I realized one day how dependant I am on my husband–what if something happened to him??? It was a scary position to find myself in. You hear about it happening to “other” people and never really contemplate that it could possibly happen to you. This quilt is called “In-security” in response to the panic that I felt with that realization.
“Leaf Man”, I find the traditional scultptures and pictures of the Leaf Man to appear sinister to me. I wanted to show a more benign persona.
This is a valentine that Scott made for me in 2005. It was inspired by the childrens poem: “two little love birds sitting in a tree…….” I think it is very charming, and yes, those are are childhood faces!
This one has no name but is about my sister and mine’s changing relationship. My picture is on the bottom right and hers is in the upper left.
Warning: this picture is very fuzzy for some cyber reason, but if you click on the close up it is clear.
This one has no name either but, in Dec. of 2006 I found myself spiraling down in to a depression. It was a hole I could not seem to get myself out of. I found myself feeling hopeless and things only seemed to get bleaker as time went on. Thank God for medication and an understanding Doctor.
This the back of the same quilt. Since I am not a tradional quilter, Scott helped me to piece the back and add the border.
Very cool.
These are some beautiful things Linda! I absolutely love that journal bag.