Fire Horse Textiles

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

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.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

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.

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

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

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Harvest Colours - Folksy Gift Guide

Here are a selection of gift ideas with an Autumnal theme, all from the makers at Folksy.com:-

Patchwork Tote Bag from Erkinwald Crafts, £11.00.

Brick Pattern Patchwork Quilt from AliceandFlorence, £75.00.

Honey Bee Candle from Cobweb Candles, £15.00.

Set of Six Felted Wool Acorns from ZMFelt, £9.00.

Rustic Mini Pumpkin Wreath from Cranberry Charms, £9.95.

These items and others are collected on my Pinterest Board: Harvest Colours.

Sunday, September 08, 2013

Harvest Stars - Patchwork Quilt Wall Hanging

I finished my latest wall hanging this week, called 'Harvest Stars'.

I aimed to use an assortment of Autumnal colours to achieve a 'scrappy' look in the piece. Over 150 individual pieces of fabric were cut to size and pieced by hand or sewing machine to make the artwork. The central motifs are called 'LaMoyne Stars'. The outer border is improvised to give a more 'modern folk art' feel to the wall hanging.

Detail showing hand quilting

Detail showing reverse of piece

My model in these photos is William. My Mum rescued him from on top of a dustbin where my Gran had left him after he was left behind when my Auntie, Uncle and Cousins moved to Australia. After a much-needed wash and removal of what remained of his old stuffing (flour, would you believe!) and re-stuffing he became one of my favourite toys. He is sporting a Cypriot national dress waistcoat that I used to wear as a six-year-old.