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Saturday, March 31, 2012

"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.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I so love this Lynn, very inspiring

Samantha said...

hello,

My name is Samantha and I study at Otago Polytech in Dunedin, New Zealand, and I would like to know about your work. I have to do an essay and compare two pieces of a textiles artists work and I like your work very much.
i would like to from you personally some information that will help with my essay that may not be on your site.
i would like to compare generations with the another place.
I would like to know:
- what materials you used?
- your processes?
- what was the inspiration or the story behind the work?
- what do most/least like about the work?
- did it come out the way you hoped?

i think your work is awesome, hope you can help.
I hope you can help! Thank you.
Samantha zazara_kiwi@hotmail.co.uk

Kristin said...

Oh my goodness! This is amazing - such creativity and beauty here, thank you for sharing, Kristin xo

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

Your work is amazing! This will truly be an heirloom. Blessings!

Unknown said...

Wow, your work is lovely and unique. Love it.

Valerie-Jael said...

Your quilt is just fantastic, what a labour of love, and a great tribute to your family! My great-grandmother came from Kiew in the Ukraine, and her goal was London, where she settled after a long journey. A big mazeltov for your wonderful quilt!
Thanks for visiting my blog, I have a Bastet on my writing desk! Valerie

Jane Wetzel said...

Holy smokes..your work is amazing :)

AM Zafaran said...

Lynn all the quilts you make are fabulous! This one is an heirloom! Love your quilts so much!!!

Cynthia Schelzig said...

THis is amazing what you create here!
Beautiful work with your needle and threads and beads and such.
THanks for admiring my cactus and hope you have a good weekend!

Denise Mulligan said...

Hi Lynn,
What a great idea adding family history onto your beautiful quilt. I love the faces of your grandparents and the baby is adorable.

This is a wonderful record of events while keeping your family cozy for generations to come.

bohemiannie! art said...

OMGoodness I love your quilt...and I love the way you tweaked the challenge! Awesome job!

Unknown said...

Lynn - I came over after reading a reply to one of the comments on your art blog. What beautiful and special work you do with your sewing machine. And this is a very special quilt for your granddaughter. Happy PPF!

Laura said...

oh how beautiful!

wholly jeanne said...

I am gobsmacked with this quilt. I was a personal historian in another chapter of my life. Now I'm just the family historian, and this is wonderful!

lenoracle said...

I love your stitching, it really brings your quilt to life. The details and buttons on the doily look fantastic as well.

Shelley Whiting said...

I love the old fashioned look to this. Beautiful and creative artwork.