Work In Progress: Stripy Scrap Quilt

After looking at my collection of small fabric scraps left over from other projects, I decided to make a quilt using as many of them as I could.

Scraps sorted into piles of dark, medium and light tones.

The 'rules' were that they would all be made into stripes and sewn into squares 5 1/2 inches across (to give a 5" finished square). The width of the strip depends on the size of the scrap, with some pieces being joined to form larger pieces. Stripes vary between 3/4 inch and 2 inches in width before being sewn together. I tried to make a variety of light and dark combinations so that I have something to play with when I join them into a quilt. Each square has a coherent colour combination within itself, but some of the resulting squares clash pleasingly with others. I haven't decided yet whether to make one large quilt or a number of smaller ones. I will wait until I have a large enough number of finished squares to arrange into a pattern.

Photo collage of some of the 5 1/2" squares

Eco Folksy Front Page

My 'Eco Folksy' Pinterest Board, featuring items made from recycled, re-purposed or environmentally friendly raw materials, is on the Folksy front page today! Just click on the top link above to go to the main board. From there you can click on the pictures to go to the original items. There are 19 pins on the board.

The Gees Bend Quilters

Some of the most influential and inspiring quilters for me, are the ladies from the Gees Bend community. The women are African-American and live in an isolated hamlet in Alabama, USA.

This is one of my favourites, and shows a central striped motif made from corduroy, surrounded by strips of denim jeans and work clothing.

Their work is free from following strict rules, and the colour placement is stunning. Despite often very hard working lives with little money to spare, they produced works of art which have now been acclaimed and shown in art galleries. Many of the quilts used old work clothes or offcuts of corduroy from a factory where some of the ladies worked.

If you would like to read more about these remarkable women, I recommend a book called "The Quilts of Gee's Bend: Masterpieces From A Lost Place" by William Arnett. It seems to be out of print now, but you can still find copies on bookfinder.com starting at £28.

My attempt at a small wall hanging inspired by the third quilt shown above:-

Black & White Stripes #2

Also available as a printed art card, priced at £2 each.

Holiday in Fife September 2013

Rob, Brock and I had a lovely week in Fife recently. We stayed at St Monans in the East Neuk.

Two half days were spent walking on the Fife Coastal Path between Cellardyke and St Monans; and St Monans and Elie.

We visited all of the small and picturesque fishing villages: Crail, Pittenweem, Elie, Anstruther; and also enjoyed visits to St Andrews, and Dundee.

Here are a few of the highlights of the visit. [Please click on any photo to see a larger version.]

 St Monans harbour

 St Andrews harbour

Ruin on the coast between St Monans and Elie

 McManus Art Gallery, Dundee

Brock at Camperdown Park, Dundee

 Pittenweem Harbour

Beautiful stonework, Pittenweem Harbour

 Lunch at the Pillars of Hercules Farmshop/Cafe

 

 Autumn Colour at Cambo Gardens

 The Bass Rock

 Brock on the beach at Leven