Combining Two Cultures

This quilt started for me when I found a topper at a thrift shop. It was handpicked with what most definitely had to be old clothes and other fabrics repurposed in the time tested tradition of making do with what you have, which is good for mother nature, good for our souls, good for our need to create, and good for passing the time although some would disagree in this day and age, preferring to stare at a screen. And yes, I realize that is exactly what I am doing while drafting this blog.

Above is the top which is the topper I found in a thrift store that is hand pieced. I added a border and a backing which are from white sheets in good condition that I found at thrift stores or that someone gave me or perhaps what I already had and no longer intended to use for the original purpose.  Below is the back of the quilt done with long, slow stitching in straight lines reminiscent of Kantha quilt, which I love.  I used embroidery floss for the stitching. I'd found it also at thrift stores over the years. I used varied shades of pink with this one, partly for fun and partly because I didn't have a lot of one single color. 

This is the quilt folded along the foot of the bed, accenting a bit of color to an unusually (for me) heavily white room. 

Close up, below, of my slow stitching on the hand pieced topper.

And below you can see the finish.  I did not put batting in this quilt, another similarity to the Kantha quilts.

And there you have it. I love that this quilt combines to cultures, western and eastern but women using their hands to make useful items and repurposing what they have due to need. I love that everything I used to make this quilt ended up this way and not in a landfill piecemeal, so to speak, over the years.  

I gave it to a friend. In fact, the friend I gave it to was my original instructor for how to hand quilt. She began teaching me quilting so I could make memorial quilts using my sister's clothing after she died.  I made a quilt for each of her five kids.