Ancient Patterns: Threads of Time

Hey everyone! This week, we are taking part in a wonderful program at the Fort Worth Community Art Center called Ancient Patterns: Threads of Time and I just had to jump on here and share a little about it!

 

Currently, artist Fay Jean Hooker's Quilts Beyond Borders exhibit is on display, showcasing the most incredible and inventive "quilts" you've ever seen! Using wood pieces, aluminum cans, vintage rulers and oil paint, this Texas-native has created awe-inspiring quilts that not only are as pleasing to the eye as traditional fabric creations, but there's another deep sense of imagination captured in each one of these fabulous wall hangings that comes with her utilization of found objects! This exhibit was so incredible for these Fort Worth area 4th graders to see, it really inspired a sense of creativity and awe in all of them!

The artist typically starts with a favorite quilt pattern, then uses her math (just like normal fabric quilters) to figure out what size wood pieces she'll need. Then comes the cutting, painting and gluing...hours upon hours of work and thousands of wood pieces are used to create these masterpieces!

The kids really loved seeing what they could find in each piece! The vintage ruler "borders" on this quilt really had everyone tickled! 

This amazing piece could keep you staring for hours! All of the patterned triangles are actually a collage of aluminum cans from different sodas! The kids were all trying to find their favorite brand!

After checking out the amazing exhibit, the kids got a little quilt pattern history lesson from the Cabbage Rose Gals! We explained to them how we can create incredibly intricate patterns from a few basic shapes!

We showed them the Big Star Quilt that the kids make every year at Kid's Camp! I think it really excited them knowing that kids can create awesome quilts!!

 

Then it was time for all that their little eyes and ears took in to make its way into the real world with a creativity project! We brought tons of great fabric in all shapes and sizes for them to play with, layer, and create their very own quilt block! We had showed them some basic patterns that they could try to recreate but we REALLY loved seeing them experiment!

We told them all about how to use their negative space to create shapes and they really ran with that idea! 

I just loved seeing all the color flying around! These kiddos were really excited to be playing with so many cool patterned fabrics, seeing how they worked together, mixing and matching! You could tell their creative wheels were turning! 

The boys were all interested to know about all the fabric designers we LOVE who are men! A lot of them were already interested in drawing and we explained how easy it is to turn your drawings into fabric designs! That lit their eyes up for sure! And I'll be honest, my favorite blocks were done by the boys! Don't ever say boys aren't creative...they just need a little encouragement, but then watch out! :)

Put all those fun blocks together and what do you get? An awesomely creative "quilt" that only a kid could think of! We had such a great time today, imparting just a little bit of what we know to these awesome young people. Imagination is so important for kids to develop to become truly fulfilled adults and by teaching them just a little about quilting and fabric, we hope to open up the door to a whole life full of creativity and inspiration! We'll be getting whole new groups of 4th graders tomorrow and Thursday and we just can't wait!

You too can be totally inspired by this fabulous exhibit so grab your friends, family or just go by yourself and fully soak in the inspiration!

Fort Worth Community Art Center
February 3 - 28, 2012
1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth TX 76107
www.fwcac.com

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