Tuesday, September 18, 2007

A post all their own



Because these quilts were so incredible, they get a post all to themselves. It's a series of 3 African Women quilts, by Belva Cauthen from Canton, and they took my breath away. I was drawn back over and over to examine them. I've probably looked at every stitch on them 20 times or more. Each time I would see a new piece of fabric, or a different quilting motif I didn't see before. I appreciated the fact that she didn't use only African motif fabrics (there was even some Chinese print stuff in there) but that everything worked together to give the overall effect she was going for. Belva (I was fortunate enough to catch her at the show and discuss the pieces in detail) designed her own icons and some of the little pieced parts. I adore the diamond in a square thing (the row below the houses in #2) and she came up with that herself. I love the way she carries the motifs from one quilt to the next, and the intuitive use of the icons. Sailboats! Who woulda thunk it? But it absolutely works in the context of the quilt. She also uses a VERY wide binding that adds almost an additional border. Very effective. I can't say enough about how much I love these quilts, and maybe she will take my suggestion and try to get them in a gallery somewhere to get her work "out there" for everyone to see.

1 comment:

laura west kong said...

I LOVE them, thanks so much for sharing. The colors are wonderful, and so is the mix of different patterns and shapes.