My mom likes to make a quilt for each grandchild. As we were sweating over what design to go with and our--ok, my--ingracious inability to get enthused about the traditional quilty patterns was probably getting on her nerves, I had an idea.
I took out some prints I'd gotten in Paris almost ten years ago. They're by the artist Gabriel Orozco, for a project he did with the agnes b. gallery. They're just newsprint, originally free editions, but I suspect their fragility and initial cheapness has made them kind of rare now.
Anyway, Orozco filled each side of a little folio with twice the number of rectangles as the previous side, a simple mathematical progression that created wonderful graphic results.
My mom took the concept and ran with it, incorporating a few striped pieces [probably because she was skeptical of the all solid idea], and putting a Paul Smith-lookin' border on it.
The grid turned out really well, both to make, and as a finished quilt. And after seeing those Orozco prints out again, we decided to have them conserved and framed for the nursery. Cost a freakin' fortune, but then again, they WERE free.
As for my mom, it's probably more than worth it for her to be able to tell me she told me so after putting up with many years of my snobby disdain for all the rather awesome craft traditions she has been into for so long. Thanks, Mom.
a couple more detail shots in my Mom's grid quilt photoset on flickr [flickr]
Wow. As a fellow design snob, I share your disdain in general, but that is freaking awsome. Especially love the Paul Smith border, and I side with your mom that those stripey squares also add to it. Nice job!
Awe, just like my great grandmother used to make. Only she made them from worn out clothing. Love the bright colors.
Kudos to your Mom! It's cool in an Elmer the Elephant kind of way...
so when is your mom opening her etsy shop?
that quilt is beautiful. I love everything about it.
gorgeous -- and i agree, the stripes are not at all de trop. what an awesome grandma. between this and the hand-knit iphone, you're in fairy godmother territory!
fantastic! i've been daydreaming about somehow using jason miller's shipping container tiles as the inspiration for a quilt... you know, to instill working-class longshoremen ethics (and corruption) into the boy.
[those are great. One of my favorite landscapes on the DC-NYC drive. I've shipped cars back and forth, and somehow, every time I go to the docks, the shipping clerk is helping his kid raise money for his team by selling M&M's. For $20/box. good to see dad's so involved. -ed.]
that quilt is awesome in so many ways... so, let's see a pic of Kid1.0's quilt!
Kudos to your mom for being an awesome, artistic grandma. And a very patient mother ;-)
[you can see a peek of it behind the photo of the Orozco print. I'll add another pic later. -ed.]
You obviously haven't seen Gee's Bend quilts. Check them out. Blows your whole notion away of quilts being fusty. http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com/
[I know and love Gee's Bend quilts, but good guess. They're an incredible aberration, and their popularity seems to have no recognizable effect on the quilting industry. -ed.]
It's really lovely. I wish I was on your mom's craft-o-rama list.