2/3 Combo: Recycle It!

Gees Bend Inspired Paper Quilts
 

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"  was a phrase I was very familiar with growing up. My grandmother lived through the depression and instilled this idea in my mother who in turn passed it down to me.  To the early Americans the idea of living frugally was an everyday reality.  Today when and if we re-use things we call it recycling.  Quilting is an early American tradition that came from a desire to use up every scrap of fabric because cloth wasn't always as easy to come by as it is today.



Our first project was inspired by the women of Gee’s Bend Alabama who have developed a distinctive, bold, and sophisticated geometric quilting style.  They have  passed their skills and aesthetic down through multiple generations to the present.  Before starting this project we talked about quilting and how early quilters "recycled" used clothing and scraps to make their quilts.  For this project we didn't use fabric, instead we recycled leftover paper scraps from previous projects.


Each student started with a colored rectangle.  Then they used pieces of scrap paper to add geometric patterns in the style of the Gees Bend quilts.

When their rectangle was finished they each got larger piece of paper to use as a background.  It was their choice to glue it onto the background whole and make patterns around it or cut the patterned rectangle into smaller pieces to use as elements in their a final design.

     Our Finished Paper Quilts

Gees Bend Group Quilt

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” - See more at: http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=2240#sthash.PtaEGcKZ.dpuf

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” - See more at: http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/?p=2240#sthash.PtaEGcKZ.dpuf

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without