Intermission - Gina's Quilt

Front of quilt - above

Back of quilt - below

 We are having a little intermission today - between the 2 weeks of my wedding mailings.

This spectacular quilt was done by Gina. It is a response to the pandemic. I asked her if I could post it and gave her the option of writing the commentary - she sent this:

I enjoy both calligraphy and sewing, so during April 2020's lockdown I designed and stitched a quilt with phrases I use to calm myself down during times of stress. I titled my font-filled piece "Whatever You Do..."  (...Don't Panic....PRAY...Bee Brave...Fear not) putting the title in the border using Morse Code. The phrase on the backside ('kwitchurbeliakin') is one my daddy said whenever we kids complained too much. My piece is one of 27 quilts currently in the exhibit "Quarantine Quilts: Creativity in the Midst of Chaos" at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. In the fall the exhibit goes to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts. Those 27 plus many others will be featured in the book Quarantine Quilts: Creativity in the Midst of Chaos by Sandra Sider and is available at Amazon with a release date of September 2021. 

---Gina Gililland McCasland

I'm also sharing something she said in the first email to me about the improv nature of the quilt - I have a stack of fabrics that need to be turned into something. Scraps from things my mom made back in the 50s and 60s - plus things I made over the years. This quilt has me reeeeally interested in adding some words to my projects.

Gina wrote:
You used a Gee's Bend quilt postage stamp on one of the envelopes I received from you --maybe a year ago? -- and I especially love the Improv look of perfect imperfection. For this quilt I drew out the hands/fonts as I went along and didn't measure. But all the various word or phrase blocks came together at the end in a way that pleased me. So I guess it IS an Improv quilt.

The book:
https://www.amazon.com/Quarantine-Quilts-Creativity-Midst-Chaos/dp/0764362011

Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Gina. I know there are quite a few quilters who read this blog.

Back to the wedding tomorrow.