Just returned from our annual summer quilt retreat, this time held in Pawleys Island, SC. We had a great week of weather and got lots of sunning, quilting, catching up with old friends and of course, lots of good eating! I was in charge of the retreat theme this year and chose "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" as the theme. I gave everyone a recyclable Home Goods bag filled with more bags. I filled those zippered bags that sheet sets come in with older Home Dec fabric and other misc. fabrics. I threw in zippers and thread and a WalMart bag. Then told everyone to make their own grocery bag, using the WalMart bag as a pattern. I encouraged them to make other bags using up the zippers. Some decided to tear out the good zipper in the plastic sheet bag to create other bags. When I spied someone being 'green', they got a prize out of my prize bag. Some were, ahem, recycled. hee hee and others were 'green' products, like a bamboo cutting board.
Bad news, I did not take ONE picture! I know, bad blogger. But we did have a serendipitous moment.....that went perfectly with our theme.
The Quilts of Gee's Bend was on exhibit at the Art Gallery in Myrtle Beach! What a perfect field trip showing how these women really knew how to use up everything they could get their hands on. I had some ambivalent feelings about the exhibit, thinking why would I want to go see...hmm..how to say this nicely.....quilts that were not the most perfectly made. But their stories....their perseverance....their creativity and their ARTISTRY floored me! There might have been a few 'clunkers', so to speak, but there were so many others that really had a modern, liberated look that so many quilters are emulating today. Is their knowledge of art learned? innate? However they came up with their designs, it was truly a fun exhibit to see and I'm so glad that
I arranged for this to be here this exhibit was here during our retreat. Okay, I lie...but how lucky for us to see these quilts, no matter what our theme! If you get a chance to see this exhibit, it will be worth your while.
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3 comments:
I love the Gee's Bend quilts - I think they totally represent the reason quilts were created in the first place - to provide warmth, to make use of every resource available in a time when resources weren't nearly as plentiful as they are today, and to allow their creators a creative outlet! Sometimes I think we miss out on so much by buying all new fabric to create a quilt.....
I saw the Gee's Bend exhibit when it was in Cleveland about 6 yrs. ago. Those ladies sure knew how to do with what they had and it usually wasn't much! Glad you were able to see it with your friends.
Nicce post
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