Linda Bear

detail Best of Friends

The foundations for where I stand today go back further than High school sewing classes and a tertiary education aimed squarely at the Textiles industry. The skill to stitch, coupled with a love for the versatility of fabrics has been handed from mother to daughter for 4 generations.

I suppose that I’ve come into the quilting industry later than most, having gone along to my first patchworking class when our son started Kindergarten just over 12 years ago. I reveled in an environment where women stitched together, shared their triumphs, joys and woes. Patchwork
opened up a whole new world of freedom where colours and prints didn’t have to go together to “go together”. The concept that “old and ugly” could add something special to a quilt and that the adage of “less is more” was a rule to be acknowledged and bent a little was liberating.
I learnt that a handmade quilt has the power to tell a story about the maker or events; it can hold precious memories and stir emotions. Each one made is unique and has a personality of its very own.

These days my Patchworking is centred around commission work specializing in memory quilts and teaching. My classes have a strong emphasis on traditional methods and the history behind them. My aim is to infuse a love for “Tactile Textiles” and educate others so that these valuable skills will be passed on for generations to come.

BEST OF FRIENDS

Cotton, poly/wool.  Blocks: reverse applique by hand, machine pieced.
Beautifully machine quilted by Karen Terrens

200 cm square

2012

         This is one of a very few quilts where I have purchased fabric with a specific purpose in mind. I had been caught up in researching Signature and Album Quilts of the Mennonite communities in America and my German ancestry. The idea of paper cut patterns and Fraktur appealed to my creative side and I had collated a stack of doodlings on the backs of bills, envelopes and the like. Never one to back away from a challenge, I put to and devised a method for putting my sketches together.

Each block was to have a space for an individual’s signature in the centre as in the 1800s; members of a community would come together and each would contribute a single block for a quilt. 
The top would be pieced and quilted by all participants and then gifted. It may have been to celebrate coming of age, a marriage or relocating to another county. 
The design for the large, central block has elements from each of the smaller blocks. Two stems entwine to represent how a community is bound together although being separate parts of the whole.

detail Best of Friends

Thistle Dew Daisy

Top: wool and wool blend fabric; wool and alpaca yarn. Wool top is machine pieced from repurposed family garments dating from 1940’s to 1985

The tufted daisies and embroidered stems used to be jumpers from my childhood, stitched over templates that are then removed.
Quilting : Tied with wool yarn through all three layers

Size : w 112cm x h 130 cm

Year : 2009

Price/NFS : NFS

Some of my earliest memories are of a toddler playing in her mother’s scraps box in the linen press. Small bundles of off cuts from garments made, repaired and altered were always saved ready for the next job. When the scraps were too small to make and repair clothing the pieces were stitched together to make blankets or cut into confetti to become stuffing for cushions and toys.
All that remains of a pale blue pinafore from the 1940s, black and white flecked trousers from the 50s and the mid blue striped skirt form the 70s are included in this quilt top. The yarn from Jumpers that we grew out of were always unraveled and re knitted so nothing went to waste. The short, endy bits of yarn were used for poms poms and decorative stitching. 

detail Thistle Dew Daisy

Significant Ties

Materials :
Top: Ties - silk and some synthetic. Silk Dupion
Backing : 100% cotton, Manufacturer’s labels from Ties used for the top
Batting :60% poly/ 40% wool

Techniques :
This quilt is machine pieced and consists of elongated blocks made from silk ties, giving it a beautiful weight and luxurious feel. It is tied with silk ribbon in the centre of each block

Size : W 185 cm x H 195 cm

Year : 2010

From time to time I'm presented with fabric in one form or another which is just too precious to throw away. Usually there is a sentimental attachment that gives us joy; memories of happy times. It might be scraps from the sewing box, garments and ties no longer worn or fabric that speaks to your inner sense for the need to create. 

A while after my Dad died Mum presented me with all of his ties with the hope that perhaps the boys might be able to wear some of them. Open neck shirts are now the order of the day for a Sales Rep and the only tie the Lad will wear is a school tie so this wish wasn't going to be fulfilled any time soon. What was I to do with a life time of ties? I couldn't part with them, silks or polyester. A tie from Dad's first day as Paymaster of Campbell Soups Australia, the tie he wore on his wedding day and the tie he wore to ours; so many precious memories hidden away in the cupboard. I decided to re-purpose them (and a few others added in) and make them into a quilt for the lad; one that he could take through all stages of his life. He's always been a tactile sort of chap and would enjoy the touch of silk. So, after sorting the good from the bad, adding to the collection from other significant males in our circle and choosing a style, I set to work. 

detail Significant Ties

There is a great deal of fabric in a tie when you deconstruct it. They're generally cut on the bias and are at least twice as wide as what can be seen. After stripping close to 100 ties templates were cut and pieces interfaced with Weaveline to give the silk body but not stiffness and to reduce fraying. Corners were added in contrasting colours of silk dupion to complete the blocks and then the sewing began in earnest.

To get the correct size for the backing I needed to add a strip through the middle so I used up the left over tie blocks(I always cut extras for "just in case" moments) and stitched labels from the ties across the back.
Once the top, batting and backing were sandwiched, I tied the quilt through the block centres with silk ribbon. So there are approximately 90 ties chopped up here from Pa, Dad, 4 Uncles, Mr Santamaria (awesome school teacher), Mr Agnew (awesome school Principal) Rodney Shire Council, and the Royal Australian Flying Doctor Service. The finished product is queen size, and consists of 1300 pieces. The binding is made up of left over pieces from other quilts that I've made and fitted the bill 

detail from back of Significant Ties