Quilt with Ginkgo Leaves

A little quilt with Ginkgo leaves forming flowers and circles...

it's very light and thin, consists of only two layers of fabric, 

the top is all linen, 

the back is cotton,

dimensions are about 60 x 60 cm,  23,6" x 23,6".

It is meant to decorate wall or table. For hanging there are several tiny loops attached to the back which can hold a rod, but which are not noticeable when the quilt lies flat on a table.

It's all hand sewn and hand quilted.

As in all quilts the time of day and light and shadow in a room influence the visibility of the quilting lines which give more or less profile and depth to a piece.

I designed this Ginkgo motif to find a combination of several cultural influences,

as there are the symmetries unfolding from the center, the "good spirit", and the use of forms found in nature in Hawaiian quilts and 

the patchwork- and block-technique of many European and American quilts.

Under Construction

Yesterday my site had been under construction. As you can read on the right hand side here ("New Philosophy of My Work"), I changed and added texts (also under "Give And Take" and "Lupine" at the top of this site). It took me all day to think about the right way to express things and to find all the right phrases in English and German, so - if you checked my site in between - you might have been irritated.

I'm still not sure whether there are mistakes here or there, but then again, this site is under construction constantly, so again: Please pardon any mistakes!

Gestern habe ich meine Seite hier neu überarbeitet. Ich habe Texte neu geschrieben ("New Philosophy of My Work", Meine neue Arbeitsphilosophie,  und einiges unter "Lupine" und "Give And Take" oben auf dieser Seite habe ich geändert), in Englisch und in Deutsch, und ich habe einige Zeit gebraucht, um alles fertig zu bekommen. Ich bitte um Verständnis, wenn ihr gestern hereingeschaut habt und einiges durcheinander war! 

World Book Day

It's Unesco World Book Day today!

The book shown above with the wonderful illustration 

and a cat-bookmark is 

"Die Unendliche Geschichte",

"The Neverending Story", by Michael Ende, 

a book I love very much. 

And here is a scene from the movie "The Neverending Story" which says so much about reading and the love for books!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsKaLIWGS4I

Happy Easter!

" 'Twas Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees

Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Spanish Student

http://www.quotegarden.com/easter.html

Happy Easter!

Poem by Bertolt Brecht

Karsamstagslegende

Den Verwaisten gewidmet

Seine Dornenkrone

Nahmen sie ab

Legten ihn ohne 

Die Würde ins Grab.

Als sie gehetzt und müde

Andern Abends wieder zum Grabe kamen

Siehe, da blühte

Aus dem Hügel jenes Dornes Samen.

Und in den Blüten, abendgrau verhüllt

Sang wunderleise

Eine Drossel süß und mild

Eine helle Weise.

Da fühlten sie kaum

Mehr den Tod am Ort

Sahen über Zeit und Raum

Lächelten im hellen Traum

Gingen träumend fort.

Bertolt Brecht

I didn't find an English translation, and I don't want to try it for fear of ruining this beautiful way of speech, but here is a summary:

The next evening his exhausted friends visited his grave to find that his crown of thorns had come into blossom. From among the flowers a bird was singing a beautiful tune.

So in that the friends found solace, they smiled and went away, dreaming a bright dream.

"These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, 

but minds alive on the shelves."

- Gilbert Highet

http://impertinentremarks.com/2012/10/12-quotes-about-reading/

... and is it not so that one opens up one's own mind whenever one opens a book? Oh, I so much love books, and that surely is the reason why I like bookmarks as well, they just sweeten the moment when I open a book.

These here are done with my beloved Ginkgo leaves, 

and when two leaves are put together like this they both form 

a new figure, which I like.

The book shown above is by Jennifer Chiaverini, 

it's "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker", 

a wonderful novel.

April

There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; 
There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by.

William C. Bryant

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/april.html

This is my block for April in my 2014-quilt, 

where I add a block each month and work with two colors only. 

Since I had been thinking so much about Ginkgo trees lately and I just had tried to make such a design with five leaves which form a flower

(see my post below), 

I decided that this is just the right motif here.

This time I arranged the circle of leaves in a way that one can choose between a more static view of the circle with a clear axis of symmetry in the middle as shown above, or a view with more movement and rotation in it; to achieve that impression one only has to turn the block like this:  

For my 2014-quilt, I chose the more symmetrical version. 

So, all blocks assembled, "my year" looks like this so far:

An Attempt

I pieced a circle with five Ginkgo leaves, and went from bright green to dark green to bright yellow to dark yellow to brown-gray to bright green again.

They all stem from a five-sided figure in the middle.

Over the last months I had been exploring the Hawaiian way of quilting, I still find it fascinating and the beautiful Hawaiian spirit and technique inspire me, but this here is something else. The main difference is that this is no appliqué, it's patchwork.

It took me hours to figure out how such a block might be designed, I didn't find it easy to do, and this is my first attempt. More will follow.

I just LOVE Ginkgos!!

... oh, and someone asked me, why I didn't choose a design where there could be drawn a vertical centerline as the exact axis of symmetry in the middle. Yes, that would have been possible, just arrange the circle of leaves a bit more to the left for example. But that would have given the impression of something firm and static, as if all leaves formed a flower. Such a flower is created, yes, however, I wanted to have some movement in the design, as if there were a rotation going on... But there are lots of variations possible!

Ginkgo Wallhanging

Just finished a wallhanging with Ginkgo leaves!

Here I tried to mix some Hawaiian elements of quiltmaking 

(solid colors, symmetries which unfold from the center, tone-on-tone- quilting, forms inspired by nature, a "lei" as a border running around) 

with American / European traditions (more than two colors, patchwork, blocks, a diamond in the center, "sunshine and shadow"-design).

Also, I had in mind a story, or better a poem, which you can find in the post below.

I love lines like:

"Fühlst du nicht an meinen Liedern, dass ich eins und doppelt bin?"

"Is ist not my songs' suggestion,

That I'm one and also two?"

Ginkgo Biloba

( A detail of a wallhanging with Ginkgo leaves I'm working on. 

Here I try to combine elements of  Hawaiian quilting with American/European characteristics of quilt making. And I so much like this Goethe-poem!)) 

Ginkgo Biloba

Dieses Baumes Blatt, der von Osten 

Meinem Garten anvertraut, 

Gibt geheimen Sinn zu kosten, 

Wie's den Wissenden erbaut.

Ist es ein lebendig Wesen, 

Das sich in sich selbst getrennt? 

Sind es zwei, die sich erlesen, 

Dass man sie als eines kennt?

Solche Fragen zu erwidern

Fand ich wohl den rechten Sinn. 

Fühlst du nicht an meinen Liedern, 

Dass ich eins und doppelt bin ?

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1815

(1749 - 1832)

http://www.medienwerkstatt-online.de/lws_wissen/vorlagen/showcard.php?id=3933

http://www.ginkgo-garden.de/poem.htm

This tree's leaf, which here the East
In my garden propagates,
On its secret sense we feast
Such as sages elevates.

Is it but one being single
Which as same itself divides?
Are there two which choose to mingle
So that one each other hides?

As the answer to such question 
I have found a sense that's true:
Is it not my songs' suggestion
That I'm one and also two?

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2007/Goethe-Ginkgo.html