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

Sewing Soothes My Soul

When I am stressed...as I have been since Mom has been ill...I like to sew. During tough times, while the physical exercise of working out with my personal trainer, Ben, helps strengthen my body, sewing seems to soothe my soul.
 

My mother taught me how to sew on her old Singer when I was a young girl so maybe sewing makes me feel closer to her right now, when she can no longer sew.

 

I found this fabric...it was a sample size donated by a decorating shop...at Goodwill for $1.99. With batting I had on hand, I turned it into a chair cushion to brighten up a dark corner of our living room.

The chair has an interesting story too. We brought it back from the overgrown rural two-room farm house in Virginia where DH's father lived as a boy. The old chair is handmade and utilitarian, with a rope seat...but it is full of family memories, real and imagined.

 

This pillow comes from another fabric sample from Goodwill. I just folded the sample in  half, stuffed it, sewed the edges, and voila!

 

This folding screen was once Mom's. I brought it home and sewed new panels for it. It's perfect next to my desk in our "library" area.

 

 

I love the fabric...it is reproduced text from vintage newspapers.

 

 

The "articles" in the fabric newspaper, seem to fit my current mood..."Memories", "Forgiveness"...

 

and "Curiosity".

 

 

  

 I found the fabric at JoAnn's. It is designed by Tim Holtz, whose repro vintage embellishments are so popular right now with scrapbookers, jewelry creators and altered-art aficionados.. They can be found at Michael's and A.C. Moore.
 

 

 

Or, you can visit the Tim Holtz website here.

Tim Holtz has a whole line of "Eclectic Elements" fabrics at JoAnn's. They are a bit expensive at $14.99/yard for 44/45' cotton fabric so I used one of my 40% off coupons.

 

 

 

I must be really be in stress mode because I even dug out an old sewing project and finished it. I had found this partially finished piece of embroidery at a flea market a few years ago and always intended to do something with it. It just seemed sad sitting all by itself, unfinished and forgotten by some long-ago girl scout.

 

So...if the Girl Scouts have a pillow-making badge, I think I finally earned it.

The way things have been going around here lately, "Be Prepared" seems like a pretty god motto to keep in mind.

 

Or how about this Girl Scout pillow from Etsy? The badges come with it!

 

 

Then I sewed throw pillows for the guest room...

 

 

Lots of them!

 

 

I didn't sew the white "ruffled" pillow...found that one on Clearance at Marshall's for $10.00 and love the texture it adds to the grouping.

I liked it so much, I went back for an aqua one for the master bedroom.

 

I have to keep reminding myself that texture is as important as color in pulling a room together. Sometimes I get so "into" finding the perfect color that I forget to consider varying shapes and textures.
 

I made this simple pillow for our little "TV couch" in the Master Bedroom....the fabric was in the remnant bin at our local Curtainshop.

 

And, on an especially stressful day, I came home from visiting Mom and reupholstered the ottoman in front of my reading chair.

 

 

There's still a good-sized basket full of fabric left so I'm "Prepared" to sew my way through any stressful days ahead...

 

 

 

And where will I put all the pillows I make and can't even use?

Why in this gigantic new basket from Home Goods,  of course!

 

 

 

Did I mention that home shopping also does a pretty good job of relieving stress?

 

How do you cope with stress?

 

This post is linked to:

Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party at Sew Many Ways

Summer Camp for Adults???

 

"A Fall Weekend with friends on the ocean…add fiber, color, food, gardens & beaches…What’s not to love?"    ~from the Fiber College website

Did you go to summer camp when you were a kid? Remember weaving lanyards with colored gimp?  Collecting acorns and feathers? Making baskets? Well, here's your chance to do it again...thirty, forty, or fifty (who's counting?) years later.

 

 

Welcome to Fiber College...where creative women of a certain age come to play!

Fiber College is the "utopian dream" of a wonderfully warm and creative woman named Astrig, and her husband, Steve, who own Searsport Shores Ocean Campground on Penobscot Bay in Searsport, Maine.

 

 

Aside from operating the most beautiful campground in New England, Astrig and Steve garden, raise bees and goats, weave, spin, knit, build, dig clams, teach, create, and cook up a storm.

 

                

And, best of all, they invite other creative souls to share their dream once a year at Fiber College.
 

Fiber College happens every September in Searsport, Maine the weekend after after Labor Day.

 

For 2014, the dates will be Thursday through Sunday September 4-7. You can attend for all four days or just one or two.

 

 

 There's an annual a beach-side fashion show of creations made by Fiber College participants...

                    

As well as classes on everything from bookbinding to basket making... 

 

from paper folding, button collecting, quilting, and photography, to blogging.

 

Our blogging class was co-taught by professional photographer and fiber artist, Gale Zucker (check out her blog at she shoots sheep shots) and professional writer, Beverly Army Williams, whose blog is called PoMo Golightly.

                   

 

There were classes in everything from weaving, dying, knitting and felting...

 

 

to fly-tying and wood-carving.

 Classes were offered in sewing, making penny rugs, embroidery and crochet...

  As well as demonstrations, exhibitors, music, shopping, sharing, wine, food and friends.
 

 
 

You can't help but leave inspired by the amazing women you meet at Fiber College...

 

 

Like Anita and Louise. In addition to their art, they both have great blogs of their own.

Anita's blog is called Tumbleweeds (click on link) and Louise's blog is Adventure of the Geritol Gypsy.

 

 

On their blogs, you can follow either of these amazing women on their travels around the country in their RV's and learn about their latest hobbies and creations. They also have lots more photos of Fiber College 2013 on their blogs.

                        


And did I mention the goats?

Sound like fun?  

For more information you can go to the Fiber College blog, or...

You can get on the mailing list for Fiber College 2014 by emailing relax@campocean.com .

 

 

 or follow them on Facebook here.

                      

 You can come to Fiber College for a day or stay over at the campground, a local motel (reduced prices after Labor Day!) ...

  or in one of the adorable Searsport Shores "bunkhouses", campers, or cottages.

 

 

 At Searsport Shores, even the outhouse is unique!

(Yes, there's a modern bathroom too!)

 

                  

And with a view like this...

 

 

 What's Not to Love?

 

p.s. I couldn't seem to remove this photo from the page, so, Astrig and Steve, you're on here twice and this one appears to be permanently Supersized! (Where's Gale Zucker when I need her???)