You've seen little peeks of this, but now I'm excited to share with you
this project that is very near and dear to my crafting heart. It's a
project that stemmed from my love of vintage patterns. I'm drawn to
these for many reasons - the way in which it doesn't involve buying
something new; the classic styles of the past that I love; and in general, I think - the
connection to the past. I think a lot about the past of these little
crispy-papered patterns - who might have made them before and when, who
might have worn the results, and even who designed them. Which leads to
all sorts of thought about clothing and gender and well, I told you I
thought about them a lot. I'll spare you from going on (and on).
So from all that thinking came this series of little quilts - each
inspired by a different vintage pattern, and each made entirely of
vintage materials (right down to the thread). The foundation of each
piece is an old quilt that was in disrepair beyond any other kind of
use (seen in the photo above, on the 'back' of the quilt). Each piece -
though quite different from one another- has an embroidered dress as
the central theme. I've been using the full spectrum of treasured
vintage bits and bobs I have, including pieces of (unwearable) old
dresses. I've worked on them slowly but steadily in the past few months
- it's been one of those projects that sometimes has me bolting upright
in the middle of the night with an idea. Love that.
This is the first of the quilts that I've framed. I'm not entirely
convinced this is the framing solution I love, so I'm still thinking
about other options (I'd love to use old and found large frames, but
for all my thrifting luck, frames just don't seem to appear). These
little quilts will be in a gallery show I'll be having in April of
2008, at Edith & Edna - to coincide with the release of the book. It's going to be a busy - and fun - spring!