Aaaaaaand bringing up the rear (literally!)

Just like most of our other Tangled Textilers, I had a really tough time making this theme, "blue", work for me.  Well, truth be told, I did a lot of work on this challenge!

I will leave the gory details about this looooong, draaaawn out process of getting to my final piece to my own blog (but that post isn't written yet!).... suffice to say that there is a story!

After much deliberation, I was inspired by Neil Diamond's song...Forever in Blue Jeans.

And after much embellishment (a rather new technique for me), I was finished....

"Homage to a Clothing Staple or Yes, Neil, Forever in Blue Jeans"

There are some tags from jeans... both retired and still on bodies!

 

Stenciled, painted, embellished word and more tags...

   

The said rear pocket - which is actually at the center of the basic

 log cabin configuration of the quilt- 

that's not to say that the rear is always at the center!!!

   

Some buttons from the fly fronts and 

from the suddenly out-of-commission pair of my overalls (oh that was sad when it happened!)

 

And there is my attempt to honor Neil, himself...

And the straps from said sadly missed overalls.

Now I am totally exhausted. Off to rest up before the next challenge is posted!

Do you ever feel...

that you have some brain cells that have come....

 

???

 And with no time to spare,

you want to give your current project the...

   

???

 I do have a ...

   

 for the dramatic 

 but I am

 seriously FREAKING OUT 

(and there are no labels for that one!!!!)

Breathe.....

I took the plunge 

and finally (!) started working on the blue challenge!!!!!

but if you think

 

"F" stands for finished, 

you are mistaken!!!

Time is ticking and.... 

I am freaking out!!!!

all the ingredients are here

Blue jeans, Japanese (woven) fabrics, washed and worn pieces of old shirts and Sashiko threads

After the change of computers, life seems to be so much easier and faster, I can finally clear my head and hopefully get some work done on the BLUE quilt!

Nicolette

When...

Plan A

 

fails....

this does not say 'ice blue' to me!!! 


You go on to Plan B...

 

And working on a Plans C, D, and E

just in case!

how one thing leads to another

While searching the internet for more information about the Indigo dyed blue jeans, I found lots of pictures and information on Japanese Indigo dyed fabrics. I have collected these fabrics for some years and never made anything out of them really.

The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook by Susan Briscoe

My google search also lead me to the Sashiko technique. In Susan Briscoe’s book she explains that Sashiko stitching was not only a way to decorate fabric but was also used on Indigo dyed workmens’ clothes to make the fabric more sturdy at places that were likely to be worn sooner.

David Sorgato’s book about Boro

Susan also referred to Boro, Japanese (rag) textiles and then I discovered this website.
Boro was made in the 19th century by recycling remnants of indigo dyed cotton and joining them together. I had seen some beautiful pieces of new made Boro by Victoria of the SillyBooDilly. Victoria’s work is always an inspiration.

Blue jeans (the word jeans comes from Genoa, Italy - more about that later...!) was also used as workmens’ clothes. They discovered archeological ‘jeans’ pieces in the gold mines in California, likely to be about a 150 years old, which look really worn and weathered. These old jeans as well as the old Boro textiles have become collector’s items now.

I may have found the ingredients for my Blue quilt!

Nicolette

Blue jeans

jeans quilt at the National Quilt Guild exhibition in Leiden in 2011

In one of my comments on previous posts I talked about blue jeans. I did some research and I already discovered some fun facts. To my surprise I saw an item on TV about an exhibition that’s called Blue Jeans which was opened at one of our museums last week.

This is the link to the Centraal Museum in Utrecht and the exhibition. Needless to say that I hope to go there for some more inspiration.

However, I do have other ideas brewing as well.

Nicolette