Eccles, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt

(Above: Eccles, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt Series. 24" x 30 1/2". Crayon on fabric collaged with 19th c. black lace on severely light damaged but recycled curtain from an office building. Recycled black felt "batting" from a kayak/canoe store. Hand and free-motion embroidery. Click on image to enlarge.)

Earlier this summer Steve and I visited our elder son Mathias and his girlfriend who dance for Birmingham Royal Ballet. The company was on tour to Manchester, England. A short MetroLink ride brought us to the little town of Eccles and to St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church where I found mid 16th and 17th century gravestones. I made several rubbings. Since then I've designed two art quilts using this unique fabric. This is the first of the two completed.

(Above: Detail of the 17th century gravestone used in Eccles, above....lower center.)

This is the first in the series to be called by the location from which the rubbing came. Since I actually have two from this place, I'll have to come up with another name for the second one.

Mentioning "names", I want to thank everyone for the great ideas for the recently "untitled" grave rubbing art quilt. I decided to go with Greatfully Dead....a suggestion made by my friend Margaret Neville who owns the local paint-it-yourself ceramic studio, The Mad Platter, and who is in my Artist's Way group. Thanks Margaret.

(Above and below: Details of Eccles. Click on images to enlarge.)


Mentioning, Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.....this is a wonderful book. It really isn't a book to "read"; it is a book to "live". About five years ago I participated in another Artist's Way group. It changed my life! After the experience, I could admit that I really "was an artist". My creative journey really started then....and ever since has been aided every step of the way.

This time around, I'm facilitating the group....which honestly doesn't mean much. Now into our ninth week, I don't do anything except say, "Well, what did you think of this chapter?" The group pretty much keeps the conversation going while covering each section. One of the other people in the group is Carol Endres. Carol is ALL OVER THE INTERNET. After years of working as a successful, commercial artist designing wallpaper, calendars, folk art gifts, rug designs, items for the home and gift market, etc., Carol has moved to Columbia in pursuit of personal art interests. She gave me a collection of vintage quilt scraps last week. Most of the pieces still had frayed seams from a former quilt. Without much planning, pinning, or eye on design, I patch-worked almost all the pieces into the back for Eccles. I really love recycling old, beloved material. It feels like adding a piece of history to the mix of ages. This art quilt includes rubbings from the 17th and 18th centuries, lace and some quilt scraps from the 19th century, more quilt scraps and a recycled curtain from the 20th century, and handwork from the 21st century!

(Above: Reverse of Eccles. Assorted quilt scraps from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Click on image to enlarge.)