It may be weird to name a quilt after an old British historian, but this quilt will always make me think of Simon Schama.
One of my quilt goals for this year is to do 2 quilts entirely from my scraps. I loved this IKEA fabric (black border), so I pulled colors that went with it, thinking I'd just make enormous 25-patches of each color, thanks to an inspiring scrap quilt of my friend, Erica's. And then I started watching the 15-part History of Britain, written and narrated by Simon Schama. My mother is a big Anglophile, so the kings and queens of Britain always interested me. And then in college I went on a British Literary tour and fell in love with English countryside myself. (I would insert a picture of me at Wordsworth's house or in front of Hadrian's Wall at this point, but digital photography hadn't found me yet then.)
As I watched the show, Schama kept visiting cathedrals and castles and the floors were all black & white marble checkerboard. My scrap quilt kept evolving, even before I started sewing, until the checkerboard of the churches of England crept into my quilting. They definitely didn't have this kind of color in their tiles for most of English history, but the black contrast does the job.
I'd also like to digress at this point, that although I quilt and watch British History series, I am still only (almost) 31 and like to do plenty of things more "my age", whatever those activities may be.
6 comments:
I LOVE this one! I am amazed that you have so much black in your scrap stash...wait, this is you, I'm sure your stash is exponentially larger than mine. You amaze me with your ability to put things together!
When I saw this quilt at the block exchange I wanted to jump up and down and yell: "This is awesome", but I did restrain myself and just said softly: Ooooh, this is awesome. I have been thinking about this quilt ever since, hoping you would blog about it. I want to steal your idea and copy you. Where can I get the pattern?
this is gorgeous! i love love love it. i wish i could see it in person. i love to hear about how a quilt came to be. scrap quilts are always the best. this one is a feast for the eyes.
That is a work of art Kristin. I really like it.
I really do love this quilt! It is so amazing! I'm wondering why we don't have a picture of it in our slideshow since you displayed it at our exchange? It deserves lots of recognition! I just might have to redo that slideshow and copy the photo from your blog...
So impressed you've got something so stunning to show for it. Can't wait to see what "The Power of Art" inspires! Just think of all that bright color as an homage to the very colorful churches before the Protestant Reformation slapped whitewash over it all.
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