Finished: My 1st Gee's Bend Quilt!

Over the years, I've written about how much I've come to admire the Amazing Quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama who began teaching at Fiber College of Maine in 2014. If you don't know their story, you may want to click here before you continue reading this post.

Three years later, at Fiber College in  2017, I was lucky enough to take a quilting class with "Miss China" and "Miss Stella". What a thrill it was to meet them and learn from them, in some cases hand over hand.

We began by choosing fabrics and colors we liked from a big pile that had been donated. In addition, I brought some of my favorite old camping t-shirts to consider adding to my quilt. You see, Gee's Bend quilting is free-form and relies on the concept of creating beauty with what you have.

This is a craft passed down from mother to daughter since slave times at Gee's Bend, People needed these quilts to simply survive the winter; now they are created as works of fiber art and exhibited in most of the major Art museums in America.

When quilting Gee's Bend Style, fabric is torn rather than cut (slaves did not have scissors and fancy quilting rulers) and designs are created by laying out the fabric on the grass and moving the pieces around until they please the eye.

You begin in the center and keep adding pieces until you have finished the quilt top.

Here is Miss Stella holding up my first completed quilt section. She really helped me to "let go" and let the fabric speak to me as I went along.

Two weeks ago, almost two years after I started quilting with Miss Stella, I felt compelled to finish my quilt. I do well with deadlines and decided I want to use it to keep us warm on our first camping trip of 2019, which begins March 9th. (It's still COLD here in March!) I think  the new Gee's Bend quilt will be a colorful addition to our little Casita, even though it will mean sewing new camper curtains to go with it!

Since Fiber College takes places at Searsport Shores Oceanfront Campground in Searsport,Maine . . .  

I added a square from one of my Searsport t-shirts.

And here's a square (Note: none of these are literally "square") from another campground we enjoy, South Arm, in a remote part of Maine's Rangeley Lakes region.

And a square (Dia de los Muertos) from Arizona as well as a very special one signed by Miss China.

 I have a signed block from Miss Stella too!

Most of the fabrics for this quilt came from clothing I got at Salvation Army and cut up (Gee's Bend style; no expensive quilt shop involved here), especially jeans. I decided to keep some of the pockets . . .

they'll be handy for cell phones and tissues at night!

These squares came from t-shirts I made for the very first camping trip we ever took to Searsport Shores.  I had a t@b camper back then and it was the first time I'd taken it out without DH; my sister Nancy and I went by ourselves (with plenty of steak for her and wine for me!) on a "Girls' Weekend".

These old t-shirts mean the world to me now as Nancy passed away from ovarian cancer in 2010.

Here's a link to her story . . .

I lined the current quilt in fleece for warmth - camper motif, of course!

And then embroidered and tied the layers of the "quilt sandwich" together.

I enjoy this part!

The turquoise "camper" fabric in this square will be the fabric for the new Casita curtains.

We leave on our trip on Saturday and the quilt is DONE, just in time. We'll be headed to Virginia, Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee, hoping to catch up with friends and chase the Spring weather.
The laptop and Jetpack are already packed so that I can blog our adventures from the road.

 Can't wait!

A Happy Camper (and Quilter!),

This post is linked to:
Link Party #129 at Chas' Crazy Creations
Vintage Charm #172 at My Thrift Store Addiction
Talk of the Town #164 at Knick of Time
Wednesday Aim Link Party 32 at Grammy's Grid
Homestyle Gathering #8 at My Wee Abode
Thursday Favorite Things at The Yellow Brick Home
Flaunt It Friday #438 at Chic on a Shoestring
Farmhouse Friday Link Party #96 at The Painted Hinge

Repurposed Ironing Board

My friend, and felter extraordinaire, Kathleen Gerdes, recently had a "Yard Fair" at her home - half Yard Sale and half Craft Fair.  My big purchase? A vintage wooden ironing board! I had no place for it, and no use for it (I'm downsizing, remember?,) but couldn't seem to leave without putting it in my car. I'm so glad I did!

It was leaning against the side of Kathleen's garage when I first spotted it.

Kathleen had planned to paint sunflowers on it but, like most of us, had just too many projects going and never quite got to it.

I loved that the original label was still on the underside of the board. And it was made right here in Portland, Maine. 

 I couldn't find a date on the label but, judging from the clothes and hairstyle of the lady ironing her husband's shirt (Wow, this really is an OLD ironing board!), it's  probably from the early 1900's.

Did they really iron back then?

Did they really iron in heels back then?

After moving my "new" ironing board all around the house, I decided to check the Internet for inspiration. Other bloggers always have great ideas! These two are from Floriane at Floriane Lamarie Blog. Designer Floriane writes in French but the blog has a "translate" button which works well. (Any way, I think "vieille table a repasser" sounds a lot better than "old ironing board", don't you?)

This one is from Anita at Cedar Hill Farmhouse.

This ironing board image is from Pinterest. It caught my eye because I have the same sign (thought I was the only one!). It reads simply, "Work Hard and Be Nice". I haven't really gotten into the "Live, Laugh, Love" sign trend but this one really speaks to me so it now lives in my kitchen to remind me of what's important. I love how this vintage ironing board is styled.

 And here's mine. There were so many places I could have used it but it has finally settled into my dining area, right off the kitchen. It will be great for displaying seasonal vignettes as well as for serving when I entertain.

DH just cut back the hydrangeas for winter. They dried right in my vase. Aren't they beautiful?

And if you happen to find a newer ironing board at a yard sale, how about this idea for your laundry room, again from Floriane Lemarie?

Even though I refuse to think about Christmas yet, I had to share this ironing board from Becky at Beyond the Picket Fence.  How about the "tree lights" coming through the steam vents?

Who thinks up this stuff?

 For now, I think I'll just stick with my old wooden model.

Yours in repurposing . . . 

A lot more fun than ironing!

This post is linked to:

Amaze Me Monday #284 at Dwellings

Talk of the Town #144 at Knick of Time

Inspiration Monday at Refresh Restyle

Share A Cup #310 at Mrs. Olson blog

Share Your Style #178 at The Red Painted Cottage

Farmhouse Friday Link Party #78 at The Painted Hinge

Flour Sack Towels

I've been looking for affordable 100% cotton Flour Sack towels to use with my craft group. We'd like to "play" with them using dye, fabric paint and/or stencils. Since we're experimenting with this craft for the first time, we don't want to invest a huge amount of money.

  (Maybe when we get really good!)

I've checked out flour sack towels at a local quilt shop, on Amazon, and with friends who own a screen-print shop. Until now, I've only found the 30" towels at $3.00 to $6.00 each.

Imagine my surprise to find these at Target on Saturday!

Four for $4.00!

They are good quality, 30" square and 100% cotton. I thought they must have been mismarked but they did ring up at $4.00 for 4, all neatly wrapped in a grosgrain ribbon. I bought two packages . . .  and went back the next day for two more!

 They were located in the new Target section of products called "Made By Design".

Now I'm looking forward to having my crafty friends over to see what we can create with them.

I have a few ideas from last year's Fiber College of Maine. These ladies used a combination of fabric paints . . .

 and stencils.

Another technique I'd like to try is shibori.

This shibori towel was a gift from a friend.

There is a good tutorial on the Japanese tie-dye technique here. Thanks to Tammy at her blog, Honestly WTF, for her great fiber art ideas!

The finished towels could be used as curtains for a small window, a table cloth for a small table, fabric for a sewing project, or as, well . . . dish towels!

Yours in flour sacks,

This post is linked to:

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life
Talk of the Town #131 at Knick of Time

What Would You Make With This?

I received an unexpected gift that's really special to me . . .

Ten yards of vintage dishtowel fabric that has been stored away for years.

DH and I first met these two creative ladies over coffee at our neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts. After many mornings of conversation , we've become friends. Margaret and Jo are sisters who grew up in our little town and have lived in the same house for over sixty years. We love hearing their stories of how life in small-town coastal Maine "used to be".

Since we've become friends, I've invited "the Ladies" over to my house to work on crafts with me. They taught me to knit again (the RIGHT way this time!) and, in exchange, I taught them how to make jewelry. That has evolved into a monthly Applegate Lane "craft group" with five ladies in it.

One afternoon, as out little group discussed future projects, my friend, Mary Elizabeth, described a class she took at Fiber College of Maine last Fall on stenciling dishtowels.

She took the class with another friend of mine, Kendra, who gave me this towel.

That was when Margaret mentioned that "somewhere" (maybe "stashed in the shed" behind their little cottage) she still had dish towel fabric that had been her mother's. I didn't think much about it that day but the next time we saw Margaret at Dunkin' Donuts, she pulled out this huge roll of vintage toweling.  And said it was for me!

I measured the fabric. It's 16" wide and TEN YARDS LONG!

Hunting for the old fabric, and then gifting it to me, were such thoughtful gestures on Margaret's part that I'd like to do something special with all that yardage. 

Maybe use at least part of it to make something for her and her sister?

I guess making dishtowels out of this fabric is the obvious answer. I've also thought about making aprons, valances, place mats or table runners with it.  I'm just not sure that those are the most creative uses for so many yards of  the "real stuff".

So I'd love to hear your suggestions.  I have pretty good sewing skills but can't seem to come up with the perfect project.  Can you think of unique uses for this fabric that would lend themselves to either my own coastal/farmhouse decor or, even better, to gifts for friends?

I'd love to hear your ideas!

This post is linked to:

Flaunt It Friday #398 at Chic On a Shoestring
Farmhouse Friday #52 at The Painted Hinge
Salvaged Junk Projects #423 at Funky Junk Interiors
Craftastic Monday Party at Sew Can Do