Twenty Four Chapters

This is the first of twenty four posts in this anniversary year of writing Good Earth Quilting.

This special year of 2017 is Canada's 150th Birthday!

That makes this a wonderful year to celebrate why I started writing a blog in the first place. Its been ten years since I started sharing online by writing my thoughts, my processes and methods even, to an open door of further creativity. 

We, who do share blog posts are "passing along our culture" our way of doing things. If we were back in the Cave Dweller Days, we'd be hulking around the edges of a fire, seeing new angles and uses of the new discovery with wary eyes.

 Much like Boo Boo in this photo below. Geese are strongly committed to their flock and its not just for other fowl, for Boo Boo this includes people he loves too.




This process started me thinking about it in a searching kind of way. I wanted to promote reuse and recycling of textiles into quilts in an effort to educate about the toxins used in the growing, making and distribution of manufactured textiles. Cotton is one of the worse for using toxins to grow the cotton, print the cotton and then distribute it across many oceans.

Its now a fact, that many of you are really reusing and I don't mean new fabric scraps we all accumulate from new cotton.

This fact makes me feel like "Yes!, I've made a difference."
  • To empower others to try out my tried and true techniques in harvesting and re-manufacturing reused textiles into new textile items.

The many Crazy Quilts I make are a testament to my reuse and I just cannot leave the loveliness of reused fabric from regular clothing we all have in our closet. I even went back to college in 2009 to learn how to become a really good adult instructor and I did it! The classes or workshops I teach are well organized, I have lots of visuals to use in my teaching that allow students to move through some of the processes I teach with the freedom to create your own special crazy quilt.



From my closet came old preggo shirts I made when bursting with life. The black dangle beaded bits are from a dress that had a pile of dangle bits that went off into oblivion during many dance parties.


Crazy quilting totally lends itself to reuse of clothing, upholstery fabric samples, bedding etc. So this is my invitation to all of you who are also crazy quilters already, to start a crazy quilt that will express your feelings about your Canadian life as our country celebrates 150th Birthday.

I like to use crazy piecing for all sorts of different projects.

 And I have decided that my project to celebrate Canada's birthday is to increase my educational projects on reuse. Having said this, I invite guilds to contact me about my classes I'm available to teach.


Crazy quilting is always the one style of quilting that continues to echo in my mind. The crazy quilts I've made have almost always been made with reusing cloth chunks from clothing. 

Beach House Crazy Quilt is made with numerous reused pieces from actual clothing. I'd love for you to create something using actual clothing, whatever it is, just make it and share it.

Nadia of Multicolored Snippets blog is one such re-user of actual clothing in her work.


If you need more encouragement to start reusing in a crazy quilt, please pop over to this post. Where I show you the many crazy quilts that are made using almost a 100% of clothing into my quilt.

As I was wondering around searching online for others reusing into quilts, the very poignant quilts of all time are the Gee's Bend Quilts.

I also see tons of Upcycle projects out there and most seem to be remaking into new clothing and that's wonderful, but few are upcycling into quilts.

I do love the way that quilters are upcycling with denim and plaids. Do check out this blogger's version of denim/plaids quilt.

I am soul searching about why I blog and finding these examples make me rethink my approaches and my way of doing things. Isn't this the reason that I started writing a blog?

 I love to write stories and blogging does give me that outlet.


I'm forging ahead with creating more posts about my process. Its been a wild ride to see how much interest in crazy quilting is growing.

Click on my link below.


All the best to you and your sweetie on Valentines Day 2017!



Comments

  1. I think I must be the product of the genes handed down by both my grandmothers who were quilters (sane, not crazy) and never used new fabrics. My crazy quilts pieces always use recycled fabrics. When I started out I simply couldn't afford the cost of new 'fancy' fabrics like I wanted to use and so thrift store and yard sale fabrics were the only way to go. Being able to pick up a beautiful silk blouse (chances are that it had fancy buttons as well) for a couple of bucks sure beat paying huge prices for yardage at the fabric shops. Had I been forced to purchase new fabric I would never have been able to build the extensive stash I now have. Interesting post today Caroline - I look forward to more.

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