"Generations" an art quilt by Lynn Cohen

“Generations”

By

 Lynn Cohen

Art quilt

2012

Made for Challenge on Art Quilts Around The World

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Something Old: My Great Grandparents, husbands old shirt, old lace handkerchiefs trim, upholstery sample, canvas fabric, buttons, and doilies

Something New: My last born granddaughter, sewing machine stitches, drawing on fabric, beads

Something borrowed:  ideas for drawing on fabric; idea for sewing/writing on quilt, idea for hand stitching from other quilter’s works I have seen and been inspired by

Something Blue: flowers on old doily’s, upholstery fabric sample and husband’s old shirt, hand stitches. Backing fabric is old blue and white ticking fabric.

My mother’s father’s parents, my great grandparents, Moshe and Esther Corren from Poltava, Russia  are the focal point in this art quilt, “Generations”, as is the drawing of my newest and most likely last granddaughter, Allie Bel Cohen, my son’s (Dan Cohen) third child born in the USA.

I drew both from photographs directly onto the fabric using a fabric pen, then I free style machine sewed around and on them. I hand embroidered the swaddling blankets around the baby. And heavily hand stitched using embroidery floss around all three drawings to quilt the piece. I used Allie’s grandfather’s (Fred M.) old shirt from “our generation”, and found old handkerchiefs and doilies from an earlier time as well. Buttons were gleaned at garage sales/thrift stores; and beads were bought brand new at the local bead shop. Some of them sparkle when the light hits them just right.

It was fun making this little art quilt knowing I will gift it to Allie Bel on her first birthday, August 2012.