yup, more on quilts! (but not mine this time)

i had a kind of quilting revelation yesterday while reading this book:

city quilts


i was totally taken by how modern her designs looked. a picture caught my eye, & the author mentioned that it was inspired by an antique "gee's bend" quilt. i assumed it was a riff on a traditional pattern, i googled gee's bend, & pretty much had my mind blown. the "antiques" were graphic & modern & beautiful, & i spent the rest of the afternoon hunting up images of these totally amazing quilts.
they were made in the mid-20th century in this tiny southern town by descendents of former slaves. they used whatever fabric they had on hand (funky leisure suits, old blue jeans, etc.) & made some of the most amazing folk art i've ever seen. check out some pictures here:

gee's bend quilts

in my former life, i was what you might call "arty". i painted all the time, & spent alot of time thinking about things like color & shading & tonal values. over the years, i got busy, i painted less & spent alot more time thinking about things like milk & diapers & dinner.
i've been quilting for a little while now & i've really enjoyed it as a kind of meditation through needlework, but it didn't occur to me until yesterday that it could be ART as well. it was like rediscovering a first love.