Helen's entry into Milliandes Connections Art Journal

by Helen
(Ireland)

Helen's entry into Milliandes Connections Art Journal

I have over the years collected a lot of books covering the craft of patchwork and quilting. These vary from traditional to contemporary quilts. I decided to use the idea of crazy patchwork as my theme in the connections journal. (I love the different ways that you can embellish and embroider the crazy patchwork to make it even more attractive and special).

The connections theme is not just because of the literal connection of piecing fabric together, but for the connection/link to the family and friends and our past. Our heritage if you like. The way it brought women in the community together in the form of quilting bees, and also sharing scraps of fabric to make beautiful and practical quilts out of whatever fabrics were available, were it a wedding dress, a christening gown or an old coat or shawl, nothing was left out. They truly were beautiful heirlooms some of which still survive today.

I used a collection of fabrics some old and some new and embellished them with lace and ribbon, as well as buttons and crystals. The quilt top was pieced together using an embroidery sewing machine. A separate flap was made which was then covered with an embroidery of a grandmother sewing a quilt for a member of her family as a future heirloom, I also added some embroidered words that I placed in a pocket beneath the seated grandmother these contained the words Family, heritage, connections, ancestry & history. These were created to pull out and hold and stimulate the thought process.

I have had a great deal of fun working in this journal and hope that others get as much pleasure from looking through it as I did contributing to it.

Helen