New project

[urocyon]

Tip: don't try to do Spiderman lunges (I have to go a lot lower than that!) with a boisterous dog in the room. Just don't. It apparently looks like you're trying to play. Ouch.

This is the post I meant to write yesterday, but didn't get around to it after getting distracted by the muscle stuff. :) Supper and other domestic drudgery beckoned.

I decided to jump straight into the deep end with the latest art project I'm planning: some memorial quilting.



While I've seen a lot of quilting done--and my Nana let me help as a kid by cutting things out and doing a little not-so-tricky sewing--I never really learned to do it myself. Still, I've been meaning to try, since I really enjoy messing with textiles, and not many people in my generation are carrying on with it.

I brought some of my mom's clothes back with me, with the idea of some kind of textile project in mind, very possibly quilting. I couldn't wear them even if it felt right to do that, since totally different colors looked good on us. This is a fairly classic project, using the person's clothes and other personal fabric items in designs which seem appropriate to them. (She wasn't working on any sewing projects, sick as she was for years, or I would also use fabric from that.) It's taken a while, but now I think I can handle it emotionally.

Items which particularly caught my eye: a couple of nearly new heavy raw silk blouses (mossy olive green and a subdued slightly orangish yellow, both with a subtle floral pattern in there) and a crinkly cotton skirt and jacket with a floral print which goes well with the other fabric (if doubling it isn't sufficient, I can use a backing fabric). Besides the gorgeous fabric, the blouses particularly appealed to me because not only did she love them, but I was very pleased that she went ahead and bought herself something nice instead of scrimping!

There's not enough suitable material to make a full-sized quilt--which also seems a little overly ambitious given my skill level--so I'm thinking of making at least one pillow, possibly two with reversed color schemes. I'm going back and forth on whether to add a little beadwork, as well; I'll just have to wait and see if that embellishment would be too much. It's probably also good in a way that I have a limited range of fabrics to use, since I'd do better starting off with less intricate patterns than I would eventually like to use. I'm aiming for something a little more complex than Elsie Taylor Goins' star pillow here, but not by much.

Another reason to go with something like pillows rather than a full quilt: I'm not sure how well the fabric would hold up to the kind of use and cleaning you'd get with a quilt. In general, I don't like to make textile items which are best suited to hanging up somewhere; practical items are more to my taste. Particularly with traditional projects like this one, which were always intended to be used and enjoyed. And, yes, I do call it art, not that I'm big on the whole arts vs. crafts thing anyway. IMO, that's part of the shame about fewer people having the time and inclination to make this kind of thing--people need beautiful everyday items, and making them used to be more of a priority. Using attractive things just makes people feel good. I really have to question what kind of society we're aiming for, when other than plain, utilitarian everyday items are considered a luxury, and the average person just doesn't have the time and energy to make things (nor the resources to purchase something as nice as they could make). This is part of what I was talking about before, with somehow splitting art off from the rest of life. (Again with the more hózhó-like approach to things.)

But, back to the more practical side of things. It's a good thing I've got a bunch of scrap fabric to play around with, since a lot of practice will be necessary before I start cutting into that silk! It's a little intimidating, since I'll need to learn a number of stitches and figure out how to plan and lay out patterns in a way that works for me. Most of the long-time quilters I have known can do this all mentally (impressive, really!--leading to Rebecca Ore's "geometric minds" observation), but I figure I'd better start out with a combination of sketches and written measurements/calculations. Graph paper and some of the other recommended methods and supplies these days? Not so useful or necessary, AFAICT.

As for pattern resources, I was interested to find this listing. (I had no idea that Tennessee--mostly Clinch and Holston Valleys--had an Appalachian Quilt Trail. Gosh.) That's not a bad quick reference for some traditional designs and motifs I've seen a lot.

And, yeah, some of them are very traditional indeed, which I didn't know until I started learning more about other Southeastern Native art; hell, it's what I grew up seeing, so I didn't think about it much. (Now it's really easy for me to spot which designs have more European influence, actually not many on that page.) Besides all the star and sun wheel designs, there are a lot of animal-related designs such as bear paws and turkey tracks, along with classics such as trees of life and floral motifs similar to what you find in a lot of beadwork. (Necessarily not so curvilineal, though!) Nobody much uses swastika motifs anymore, for obvious reasons. Bit of a shame when jerks ruin perfectly good symbols, worldwide.

A lot of designs shifted over into plain-sight hiding in quilts and embroidery when some other "savage" art forms (including tattooing) became less socially acceptable. You still find similar motifs used in basketry, pottery, beadwork, etc. I was interested to see examples of how Inuit people also shifted tattoo designs onto clothing, once they got missionaries*. And, as the Cherokees of South Carolina page with some of Elsie Taylor Goins' work touches on, we've had textiles to work with where I'm from for a lot longer than generally presented.


So, this particular project is giving me a push to finally work with a traditional art form I'd been wanting to try anyway. More on its longer-term appeal--and symbolism--later.

_____________

* In Lois Sherr Dubin's North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment, which also repeatedly touches upon adornment as "an important level of...communication, conveying many levels of information" (p.11 in the 2003 concise edition I've got). There's a lot of gorgeous work in there. The author does a pretty good job of respectfully describing some cultural contexts, with lots of quotes from artists.

Comments

[freyakitten]

I come from a quilting family, and while I haven't done any quilting in years, I do remember the basics of 'use fabrics that respond the same way in terms of stretch and weight and wash-ability'. Quilting is a fun thing to do when you are sitting down for decent periods (Mum used to do the bits she had to do by hand while playing cards; these days she knits, because it's good exercise for her arthritic fingers).

As for pattern-sourcing, any pattern that works in stained glass will work (with a little modification) in quilting. Mum made a whole bunch of patterns using stylised Australian native flowers and/or capital letter(s) which were absolutely awesome on cushions (and are starting to wear out after fifteen or twenty years or so). A lot of those cushion patterns made their way into quilts by being sewn together; the quilt that was made for my sister when she was little had letters interspersed with stylised bugs.

[urocyon]

Good point about the similar fabric qualities. With the odd one out I was thinking of using in this particular project, it probably would be a good idea (if a bit fiddly) to use a backing fabric.

The native flowers approach sounds really interesting! I'd imagine that any sufficiently geometric design could be adapted. My grandmother made some great animal designs, and I may play with similar later. The possibilities are a little overwhelming, just getting started. :)

[freyakitten]

The similar fabric qualities was an issue that got me fairly early on :-)

For the odd fabric out, see if you can find a glue that washes out that you can tolerate. Stick your 'fashion fabric' layer to your 'strength layer' so they don't move when you tack them together (whether you're sewing them together so that the thread pulls out easily later or as part of the finished design). It is a lot easier to cut and sew like that. If you have LOTS of fabric, glue around the outside, sew and cut inside the glued bits, and then throw the glued bits away instead of washing them.

My first quilt was of the style called 'Amish'. Squares of colour spaced geometrically. The pattern made sense to me... :-)

[urocyon]

Thanks for the tip! I wouldn't have thought of using glue, but that makes a lot of sense.

[freyakitten]

It's one of those things that the books never tell you, but which is awesomely useful. I do suggest patch-testing it first (if you're going to wash it out rather than discard) with a bit of fabric that you're never going to use like a ragged cuff that you've cut off to see if the glue actually does come out completely or if it will stain on one side (the side you apply it to) or if it will stain on both sides, because that will change how you use it. I came across the technique when researching couching.