(Above: Work in progress....Title yet to be determined. Vintage clothe and leather gloves, vintage cutwork tablecloth, antique paisley material, recycled felt (batting). Gloves are hand embroidered with female family first names. Click on image to enlarge.)
I'm into gloves. This new object of obsession is probably the result of stitching down so many socks on my public art quilt, Looking for a Mate. Hands and feet....the body's extremities....fascinating! Also, I got a really good buy at a recent Bill Mishoe Estate auction. All these gloves (and a large pile more) were in a single "lot". I knew exactly what I was going to do with them even before bidding....and I only had to raise my hand once....for $5! What a great buy!
My mother is my "studio assistant" on this project. She's the keeper of family genealogy and provided dozens upon dozens of interesting female first names going back nine generations. I couldn't create this piece without her help! These names have been stitched onto the white gloves. I'm still pondering on the words for the gorgeous, opera length red gloves in the center. Perhaps:
Handed Down
Generation
to
Generation
Mother
Aunt
Grandmother
Great
Great-Great
Sister
Cousin
Tradition
Yet, would I stitch this on both gloves, split the list, add other words for the second glove? I'm not quite sure but will have plenty of time to thing about it. This is one of those handwork projects I stitch in the evening....and it will likely be entirely stitched by hand. This could take well over a month. (Any suggestions about the center wording are welcome!)
I've got so many other gloves that small projects are also possible. One is even complete!
(Above: Handed Down, miniature art quilt. 19 1/2" x 8 3/4". Vintage materials, hand stitching. Click on image to enlarge.)
I have my friend Connie in Texas to thank for the antique quilt scraps. I used some of these precious pieces of hand pieced material last year when making Only Child, a grave rubbing art quilt. The reverse is vintage household linens.
(Above: Handed Down, reverse. Click on image to enlarge.)
4 comments:
I love the work with the gloves. Really interesting.
I hope you are not kneeling on that hard tile floor very long to sew the gloves on! If you do another glove piece see what it looks like with the gloves reaching out to the edges instead of inward to see all the splayed fingers!! Just curious. Maybe with some overlapping the outside (stuffed a bit to stand up?)
Please excuse my creative mind sprewing out ideas. You are busy enough and this is lovely!!!! Great deal on the price too!!!! Way to go!
Looks interesting. I am working what to do with loads of "lost and found" gloves at the moment!lynda
What a great idea Susan, trust you to get a job lot of gloves in an auction coup, LOL! Plays on the words "Hand made", "in safe hands" "nurturing hands" might work for a title since you've already used "handed down" in the smaller piece. I'm sure you'll come up with something really clever like you always do. Thanks for sharing your work, always inspiring.
Hooroo from humid Sydney Australia
Post a Comment