Art, Craft and Needlework, April, 2023

[Harriet]

Do you ever get inspiration from the past for your creativity?

Does someone from your own past or heritage inspire you with the creativity that you remember? Do you ever admire old artistic expression in shows and galleries? Or maybe "explore the archives", either online or in books and magazines? Make something with an eye to an old-fashioned look? Sometimes it's downright interesting to see and remember the work of creative artists in the past.

Here's a very telling (and fun) list I found of "the general rules" historians can now see were guiding women making quilts and other household goods a century ago in the 1920s and 30s. It was a time when folks were hoping for happier days and when all the needle arts were resurging. There was new technology that allowed inexpensive cottons to be available in a whole spectrum of color. Even though none of this list (compiled by Barbara Brackman) was ever written during that era, these seem to be the unwritten rules of the inspiration sewers felt then.

1. Any color goes with any color.
2. The more color the better.
3. The neutral is white (light appearance to finished work).
4. The more prints the better.
5. Contrast balances the prints versus plains.
6. Clear colors, not toned down.

I love the 2nd! And the 4th!

[Nancy]

Yes, My gran used to make overall quilts, i have made jean quilts, I cut the fabric off of jeans from the yard sale ones that were too small.
I knew I could use the fabric if they did not fit me. So the denim is ready for future projects. $4.00 is less than fabric would have cost me.

[Nancy]

I realised I did not have enough yarn to finish my current knitting project a blue scarf.
I got more yarn and have resumed knitting on it, I am past the halfway point on it now.
Used up the before mentioned yarn ready to start with the newest one.

Got more white paint to be sure to have enough to finish the painting project drop leaf table I have underway.
Table had been painted and has dried 24 hrs. I have a tablecloth on it for now till weather is good enough for me to work on it outside.

[Nancy]

Got out my red white and green shawls one knit and one crochet I will do a short of them on you tube that qualifies as inspiration from previous projects.

The scarves I am knitting on I learned to do back in the day. From one of the small needlework magazines I forget the name of it now.
But if I typed it I am sure you work recognize it. Workbasket was the name.

On my current project the blue scarf I have started on the 2nd placket.

[Harriet]

Nancy, I remember those small sized magazines, with their color photos on the front at least, and maybe some color pictures inside, too. Full of patterns. I especially remember one that was called, "Craft and Home". Others would just have the particular needlework as a big title, like "Crochet" or "Quilting". They were probably not much more than 6 inches high so would fit in a basket or a tote to carry along with a project.

"Past" chat:

The basic reason I have always loved patchwork is that both my grandmothers did. They sewed and stitched in other ways, too, but I knew from an early age that they both loved the pieced quilts the most. I started in earnest after their deaths because I missed them so much, and after I found out how much fun it was to play with touchable cottons and specially to plan the geometry of patchwork, that was it.

Interesting that neither grandmother had daughters who made quilts. My mother liked sewing but mostly garments, some curtains. She had to have dresses and skirts for work. But she taught me the most with just getting confidence in sewing, believing you could do it. Her twin did crewel work that was quite lovely, and also painted watercolors. My ddad's sisters crocheted with all sizes of yarns - lots of doilies.

There's a state quilt history book that has a photo of one of my ancestor's (named Rebecca) quilts from early 1800s in it - a full page photo. It had only survived because it was saved and never used, since it was the only quilt she actually bought new fabric for, and the fabric was expensive. It was applique of fancy parts of a tree and birds image, cut-out pieces just going along with the printed pictures. Her family patchwork quilts would have been so much more interesting, but they were used over and over and are long gone, no photographs of those. Sadly, they had kind of saved the boring one instead of Rebecca's own creative ideas.

When my mom and her twin were in college, early 1930s, women had to take sewing as a course - had no way to opt out even though it had nothing to do with any major that the college offered. At the end of the year, they had to create their portion of a curving, tiny-pieces, pull-your-hair-out quilt pattern, which had to fit with the others to make a full quilt top for some teacher who was getting married. No one knew the modern method of paper piecing that could have helped with that type of pattern yet. Many students got sick about it, cried over it, stayed up nights without sleep, and hated making quilts after that.

I always thought that was an awful story. Just think of all the "bad vibes" that quilt top carried with it. Eeew.
Thankfully, no one told me that story until I was already making quilts!

Now I love the old difficult patchwork patterns. Some lend themselves to new methods that make them at least a little easier. New paper piecing techniques or interfacing that helps. Some still just have to have tedious hand-sewing, and frankly I like that fine, too. That's why I like samplers. A few that are fun, a few that are difficult, most somewhere in the middle, making it interesting.

One find in my organization has been a spiral notebook of 1/4-inch grid paper. That will be help in lots of ways. Dd43 gave me a bunch of colored pens that will have their place to help, too.

More mending has become a priority for sewing. Grandboys have given me some of that to do.