I'm making steady progress on the Cleveland Foreclosure quilt since my daughter has been in art camp this week. I was able to piece the front and make the quilt sandwich yesterday. Having this part of the quilting process done makes it easy to pick up the work for a few moments to sew wherever as I'm going to be snatching time when I can starting now through July. Wherever I go, I use this map to keep me on the right track.
I create one of these for every piece so I know exactly what to sew and what to cut away. Trace paper is one of the greatest inventions. My dad always called it bumwad (he is an architect so he's entitled to some wierd habits). I wonder if the next generation of architects will even know what trace paper is? Here is the first small area I've started to quilt and cut.
I wanted the backing to play a more prominant role in this piece. I like the idea of dark navy and black holes to expose just how dire the situation is in Cleveland.
I randomly pieced the back panel on purpose because what is exposed is such a mess. There is no order or pattern to how these neighborhoods are falling apart.
The blocks are sewn with gold thread in reference to how much money the banks, flippers and thieves are making off these foreclosures. Did you know that before the homes were razed, the copper plumbing is often ripped out and sent to China and India?
What isn't shown yet is how the city is patching over some of these empty lots with community gardens, scattered all over the city. This quilt will show four gardens within a twenty-two block area.
