Wednesday, September 9, 2009

"Archeology quilt challenge"

Enough of procrastinating... this will be my first post on my new blog. Welcome to all of you who will take sometime to read my scribblings.

A while ago, my art quilt group, "Quilts on the Wall", organised a challenge on an "Archeology" theme quilt. A lot of options came to my mind, but as I was digging into my small amount of fabric ... I re-discovered my husband's old vest he was wearing in the 80's... (no comment !) I had cut out the front of it as I liked the shiny blue fabric with Egyptian designs, guessing that one day, I will just need it.







Well, that day has come and it was the beginning of my journey into the past ...


I decided this vest needed a "head", so here I went and spent 2 hours at my local library to find books about Egypt, trying to find the right guy who would end up replacing my husband's face and chest... This was not an easy task, he is so handsome ... at least for me ... but I must say I discovered on the back of a page, the beautiful face of SETI I, son of RAMSES I and I knew he would be the one ! You will notice he has half of his brain left, but we are not asking him to talk...



Anyway, I then decided I would use a deconstructed screen printed fabric I had painted last year in a workshop with Kerr Grabowski, that looked appropriate to the theme, and following the advice of my "hubby" (always... well, almost always...) I sewed some ceramic Egyptian scarab beads on the vest, in place of the original buttons. I ordered them on line and they all look a bit different.





I used T-shirt transfer paper to applique the face on the background and used the same technique to applique the big scarab at the bottom of the quilt. I then used gold beads to sew around the scarab.


Did you know that the ancient Egyptians gave a lot of power to the sacred scarab, symbol of life, hope and regeneration ?

On each side of the vest, I appliqued some "gauze" fabric, that reminded me of the strips around the mummy ...



I finished this piece by quilting with metallic gold thread on the vest and off white and invisible thread on the sides.

This quilt will tour for 2 years in different places with my art quilt group and it was really an "out of the box" project for me, but I really enjoyed the process !

13 comments:

  1. Looks good to me. I see already many pictures.
    Keep the good work.
    Philippe (your first follower)

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  2. Yahoooo! What a a great piece! However, I think the original wearer was maybe more handsome - brainier and probably smelled better (or he needs a nose job).
    Seriously though - I LOVE the way it all works together. Particularly like your choice of theme and resources.
    You continue to amaze, me my beautiful friend!

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  3. Hi Catherine. Encore un chef-d'oeuvre qui me laisse pantoise. Quelle imagination, quel sens du beau et du bien fait, et quelle "fourmi" tu fais de garder les vieux gilets de Philippe pour t'en servir quelques 20 ans plus tard !! Bravo encore une fois, tu es étonnante. J'espère que tout va bien. Amitiés.

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  4. That was a stretch for you? But you are such a natural to this whole artsy stuff!!! I love that you explained your process/thinking. More! I want more!

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  5. Lovely work Catherine. Can't wait to see it tomorrow in person! Whoot!

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  6. Bisous Catherine,
    I love the scarab et ton new blog too!
    It's nice de voir tes oeuvres et j'adore particulièrement cette manie que tu as de garder les tissus. J'ai the same dans mon grenier but I got no time to use tout ce fatras! May be one day...
    Good luck and inspiration. Grand bonjour et bravo de la part des Adler's!

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  7. Catherine- You never stop impressing me. Your new quilt is so unique and I'm sure even more beautiful in person. Is there a chance NJ people will get to see it? I'll keep your blog in my "favorites" and keep watching for new things. can't wait for your visit. Gloria

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  8. Catherine - thank you so much for sending me the link to your blog! I don't get to the quilting group anymore, so my education will be your blog! I love the Egyption quilt - and the details are wonderful. Hello to the family! Becky

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  9. Thanks to all of you who left a comment, I am so excited about this blog !! Good way to share my passion... or obssession !

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  10. You were certainly given a gift. Thank you for allowing us to share in the joy of it. It's almost like you are still here with us! I am impressed also with your computer skills. What can't you do?

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  11. merci de m'envoyer tes oeuvres de couture, si raffinées et originales, je t'envie d'avoir ce don de création, car tu peux t'exprimer par les formes , les couleurs et ensuite exposer tes travaux, donc quelle satisfaction.
    Je crois que ta fille travaille dans la haute couture.... ainsi vous parlez la même langue.
    Espère que toute la famille va bien, continues ainsi et fais nous profiter de tes inventions, à quand le défilé avec les modèles de Catherine Ravera ?
    Bon courage pour continuer .....
    A bientôt par mail.
    Danielle d'Epinay sur Orge

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  12. At last! Kudos Cathy for your Art and for the brand new Blog... Great articles and lovely photos.
    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    Ti Ar Raden (back from Brittany -again- today) Breizh Bretagne
    ti-ar-raden.over-blog.com (int'l MailArt)

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