Redwork: The Quilt Project

**damn you blogger for not letting me post any images**

You may have read around the traps about The Quilt Project being coordinated by the lovely Kirsty at Kootoyoo.

I love the idea of participating in community quilt, and jumped at the chance to be a part of it.

I fondly remember knitting squares for blankets after Ash Wednesday at primary-school, sewing leaves to a tree in Brownies, and other community creations over the years. There's a great sense of purpose, of creation, of achieving something together.

Redwork refers to a form of embroidery which became popular in the late 1870s. It employed the use of Turkish Red thread, cheaper than the silk threads of the day, and was found to be colourfast - a rare quality of the times. Redwork does not have to be done in red these days, and is known as blue redwork, or purple redwork, etc.

Redwork designs were typically simple designs used to adorn common household items, done on small squares of white cotton known as 'penny squares' after the cost of them. Redwork seems to be enjoying somewhat of a revival at the moment, and has been the inspiration for much of the on-line, downloadable designs freely available these days.

Wee Wonderfuls for example by Hillary Lang, utilise beautiful, yet simple redwork designs with originality. Modern designs such as these generally follow an outline rather than filled in with various embroidery fills.

The challenge of The Quilt Project is to design an original square with a limited area. No commercial patterns are encouraged, rather each square is to illustrate its creator.

I have long been fascinated by monograms, celtic knots, and the differnce between fonts when representing the letter 'J'. This will be my inspiration, as I attempt to design my square for this quilt.

Thanks Kirsty for once again bringing the crafting community together in such a welcoming way.

xx