Leah Evans textiles

Artist Leah Evans grew up in the oil refinery town of Augusta, Kansas and was struck by the harsh effect that strip mining for zinc and lead had on the landscape of her home state; "It has left behind troughs that fill up with water and become hazardous wastelands. Despite the danger, some people fish there." What make her quilts interesting is the mix of beauty and the disturbing message underlying them. 

Her artist's statement: My quilted wall hangings consist of layers of the following techniques: appliqué, piecing, natural and synthetic dyeing, needle-felting, hand printing, and a variety of embroidery stitches. There is an overall balance between hand and machine work. Tools I most often employ include a household-use Kenmore sewing machine, chalk, needles, rulers, compass, staple gun, and scissors. I do not use a computer or any imaging software in my work and I try to use hand tools and processes as opposed to electric.

My current work combines aerial photography, maps, and satellite imagery. I also find myself drawn to the more minute systems of the microbial world. I enjoy the play in scale between magnified microbial life forms and remote sensing images of huge tracts of land. Both scales deal with the translation of scientific information into a visual form. At times, these separate bodies of work merge. The overlap is seen in vessel-like arteries of water, tundra pools that look cellular, and microbes that swim through topographic lines.It is the use of maps in organizing our ideas of land that interests me most of all. Often, people ask me for specifics about the places and symbols in my work. Most of my pieces are not based consciously on specific places. For me they are intimate explorations of map language and imagined landscapes. Through my research and experience, I have decided that maps create more questions than they answer.

See more of her work here:

http://www.leahevanstextiles.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leah-Evans-Textiles/185142354873269

Prison Quilts

Quilt made from shirts & jeans

"Sewing has given me a purpose and the ability to see the future in a positive manner.
It has given me the time to think and work through situations which beforehand I may not have come through."

Fine Cell Work, a UK charity, trains prison inmates in the art of needle point. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells, and the earnings give them hope, skills and independence. The work which takes 20 to 40 hours per week, is a powerful antidote to the lives of turmoil and roughness that many prisoners have continually faced.

"Here I am, an ex-boxer, karate teacher, car racer, body-builder and weight lifter, doing sewing! Who’d have thought. Since I first started with FCW I’ve experienced a tremendous amount of stress, heartache and other problems. Being able to stitch was a great way to take my mind off what was going on inside my head. In times of great stress I would pick up my tapestry and immerse myself into it, which helped every single time. At times I wouldn’t put it down until the early hours of the morning. I can confidently state that FCW has helped me get through many problematic times in my life and has stopped me from going over the edge."

"I am what is called a lifer. I was sent to prison in early 2008. I am in a wheelchair. And no I am not after sympathy. I did wrong so I deserved what I got. Anyway, I have suffered from bad depression all my adult life, and I have tried to end it all a few times, and for the first two years of prison life I tried and did self harm a lot. Then I was moved to a new prison and an inmate made himself known to me and to start with he just talked to me. One day he asked me if I could sew.was given a pin cushion and a needle, and with this inmate’s help I began to stitch it. Because I was not thinking bad thoughts, the time that I was banged up behind the door flew by, and I did not self harm at all. To date, I have only self harmed two times, and that’s when I had no work, and that is not bad at all. This is totally because FCW were happy with the work that I was handing in, and believed in me enough to give and keep giving me commissions that keep my hands and mind busy, which is why everything I get I do to the best of my ability. I will continue to do it as long as you feel my work is good enough."

www.finecellwork.co.uk

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/research-journal/issue-01/doing-time-patchwork-as-a-tool-of-social-rehabilitiation-in-british-prisons/

sari quilting

I answered a Call for Quilters from Sari Bari, a charity based in India and was sent these beautiful preworn saris to use for making a quilt. The quilt will be auctioned off at a Quilt Raffle to help raise funds for the charity.

From their website: Sari Bari is a safe place of employment where women who have been exploited in the sex trade or who are vulnerable to trafficking can experience a new life in the making.

Sari Bari does not rescue women, but rather seeks restoration for those who have been trafficked or held in the sex trade by poverty and lack of empowerment. Approximately 65 percent of women in the red light areas no longer qualify for legal action in the form of rescue. While they were likely first trafficked in their teen years, many are now middle-aged and are trapped by circumstances that have bound them since childhood. We hope to offer high-risk girls an opportunity to life-giving education and work that will protect them from ever entering the sex trade. Additionally, up to 20 percent of Sari Bari jobs at our locations within the city are given to at-risk women who live in the red-light districts. These are usually daughters of women currently in the sex trade, who are uneducated and at a high-risk of being lured or forced into prostitution. 

 
The name "Sari Bari" comes from two symbols. A sari is the traditional clothing worn by women in India. In India, a sari represents the essence of womanhood. The word bari mean "house or home" in the Bengali language.

  http://www.saribari.com

quilt in progress

It's not easy taking photos of the quilt now that it's being sewn together...it's huge!

I've just started the quilting process so it won't be long now!! I have been delayed because my machine died and the holidays.

I'm definately learning a lot working on this piece!

Previous post about this project: http://apatchofshade.blogspot.com/2011/09/quilt-making.html

quilt making

uncut t-shirts

cutting into strips

sewing into larger squares

Did I mention I'm making a quilt?! For a teenage boy?!! It's being made from his outgrown t-shirts.

Most are band logos hence the dark colors. I'll update my progress as I navigate this new endeavor!

I may be asking some of you for advice!!

Jimmy McBride

Jimmy McBride, Brooklyn artist, is making these fantastical solar system-inspired quilts by hand. His quilts have such a unique personality and he has no experience in quilting or sewing. He draws inspiration from the quilts of Gee's Bend and uses salvaged fabric and old clothes to piece together the work. His blog describes his creative process - a huge amount of work involved in each piece. Amazing!!

http://intergalactictransport.blogspot.com

hexagons for quilt

For the new year I started  saving scraps from finished projects to make a hexagon quilt. It will be a reminder of all the fabrics I've used and I'm looking forward to see how they all work together! This will definately be a long range project! I am going to attempt to use the English paper piecing method.
I love the randomness of the fabrics in the last photo: Mother's Hexagon Quilt from:
http://welovequilting.com/mothers-hexagon-quilt/

Susana Allen Hunter

I just discovered this amazing quilt maker from the 1930's. She lived on a tenant farm in Alabama and made her quilts out of things that were available to her: work clothes worn in the fields, sacks from the cotton seed they planted, scraps from clothing sewn by hand for her family, and sugar sacks from the local general store. These photos are from an exhibit at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Michigan.

The first quilt called the "Britches Quilt", was most likely made from Julius Hunter’s worn clothing, and could be an icon of the Southern tenant farmer. The front of the quilt is made from worn denim overalls and flannel work shirts. The backing is made from mule feed sacks. The second photo is the back of a quilt made from used corn meal sacks.

http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2008/08_feb.asp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157624585114963

real men knit

It seems truckers have taken to knitting and quilting during their downtime at truckstops!

Kevin Abraham-Banks, a 37-year-old trucker with a shaved head and dragon tattoos learned to knit last year.

Creating something tangible beats sitting around the truck stop 'talking about who has a bigger radio,' He's finished a scarf and socks, and is working on a sweater for his wife.
'The fact that you can take strands of thread and basically make something out of it, that's awesome I think, It's pretty cool stuff, man.'

Thomas McConnaughy, a married grandfather from Hemet, Calif., hauls cereal, reads his Bible, plays Sudoku, and talks trout fishing at truck stops. He doesn't let on to other drivers that he keeps 15 coils of yarn in his cab and makes what he describes as "really cute slippers."

'In the truck stops, it's usually a bunch of guys watching football, if I sat down with my knitting, I think there would be some funny remarks.'
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704896104575139990857438962.html