We love projects that involve mail in some way, and when BorjaBoroda recently brought to our attention Laridian's world quilt, our jaws dropped… a gorgeous quilt, made with fabrics sent to them by postcrossers — what a thing of beauty! 😍
Laridian tells us that the whole thing started when the first fabric arrived back in September 2017, and was only recently finished — so a project 3 years and 7 months in the making, slowly accumulating pieces and stories from all over the world. The final work turned out unexpectedly big, measuring 1.27×2.2m (50×87in)… but they say this was actually a good thing, as many smaller countries wouldn’t show up otherwise.
Making the fabrics in the quilt match the sender’s origin would have been an impossible task (as Postcrossing doesn’t have many members in a lot of countries). In the end, there were 120 fabrics from 25 countries, and these were matched to the country based on the size of the piece, the patterns or colors. There are a couple of neat details, like the cow that fits India’s size perfectly! :)
We were curious to know more, so we asked Laridian a few questions about it:
- What inspired you to do this map quilt?
I’ve always loved maps and fabric art. I’d previously made a cross stitch map of the world, I enjoyed making a cross stitch map of the world, and I wanted to do something similar for my love of Postcrossing. I’m a fabric artist and making a map seemed like a good way to show my love for both.
- Did members share stories about these fabrics with you, when they sent it?
Yes they did! It was a great part of the project, hearing their stories. Such as how the fabric came from their wedding dress – I have more than one of those! – or clothes made by the postcrosser’s grandparent, or for the postcrosser’s grandchildren. Some of the fabrics have national symbols and designs, and others are mass market. More than one said they were glad to see the fabric go on to a new life in this project.
While most of these were received with postcards, a handful of fabrics were sent without postcards by Postcrossers who had heard about the project and wanted to contribute.
- Did you have a few favourite fabrics?
It’s so hard to choose! Some that stand out for me, however:
Angola has a little surfing dog. By the time I received the fabric, I was working on Africa, and searching for “surfing in Africa” brought back the result of Angola. And also the moose (elk) of Finland! That fabric did come from Finland.
It’s just a tiny piece, but the orange mushroom fabric used for French Guiana in South America.
- How do you feel about it, having completed this nice endeavour?
I’m so proud of it! :D And I loved getting fabrics and the stories behind them from postcrossers. It was a wonderful surprise to receive them in the mail along with the postcards.
I still have fabrics left, and I’ve received more, so I’ve started my next “Postcrossing Quilt”. It won’t be a map this time, though! I’m looking at a more traditional quilting pattern to use the new fabrics. I don’t have room to hang another huge map! :)
Congratulations Laridian, and good luck for your next crafty project. We can’t wait to see what you’ll come up with!
PS – For even more inspiration, check out Annett’s quilt and Marina’s scarf of friendship, featured previously on the blog.
85 comments so far
Wow....
That is beautiful! So many hours of work must have gone into it...
Absolutely fabulous! Can't wait to see what you make for your next project.
This is totally amazing! Love it!
Wonderfull idéa!
WOW!
Incredible & beautiful!
So thankful you shared this story.
d
Beautiful. Postcrossing is more than sending a card.
It's connecting in many ways.
Just great and beautiful
Was it difficult to do Vatican City, Singapore, and the tiny islands in the Carribean?
@abbyaguas, thank you for your question! City-states and very small islands and nations are not included due to the difficulty of applique and satin stitching such tiny pieces.
Good therapy.feeling connected 👍📞
Lovely one!
such a stunning and beautiful quilt! You are very talented. I wish that you were either related to me or that you were my best friend.
This is fabulous! I love the thought and the painstaking care you took with each of the fabrics. I love this story!
What a lovely idea! And the finished quilt is just beautiful.
Oh, it´s beautiful!
WOW!!!! just WOW!!!
Congratulations on being featured on the Postcrossing blog as well as on finishing this massive project, Laridian!
What an amazing handicraft✂️📍
A true work of the World! Awesome.....
I give you a standing ovation! I can't imagine how much patience is needed for such a job...
Wow ! 😍
And I believe my fabric was used for Switzerland, so cool.
This is the perfect patchwork quilt that I could only see.
Absolutely a work of art! Sending well-deserved congratulations, especially for your creativity, patience and attention to detail! Many thanks for sharing with us.
Wow! Congratulations, Laridian! Love your hard work, creativity and dedication. ♥
Yay Laridian. I'm so happy your quilt got featured. :}
Awesome!
Thank you Laridan for sharing this with us.
What a beauty! And I love that the scale of Africa is more accurate than what the Mercator projection shows.
Absolutely incrediable work! It shows so much creativilty and skill-thank you for sharing.
What a wonderful project - I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed seeing the result. Best wishes for the next one!
Congrats Laridian. Thanks for contact us again about the result. Im happy to get your address and can be a part of this amazing project.
So beautiful. So touching. Truly representative of Postcrossing reaching out and connecting people all over the planet.
Next stop: make a postcard of the quilt! ;-)
So pleasing to the eyes! What a masterpiece👏👏
Incredible! Love it!
Lovely quilt reminds me of common misconception that South America is right below North America when it's actually directly below Florida.
Lovely quilt, It is different, are you making anymore
O, that's wonderful!!!!
Wunderbar! Eine sehr schöne Idee und Umsetzung!
Congratulation to that wonderful project! ❤💚💛
Wow!!!😮😮 Fantastic work!
@fozziebear, I am still accepting fabric from postcrossers, and am working on the next pattern now :)
OOOOOOy! So fantastic! Respect! Bravo!
The world map is quite an impressive jigsaw puzzle of fabrics. Could one of the next patterns be like the version of Picasso's cubistic painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon for example? Or like Andy Warhol`s pop art paintings, but topics about postcrossing (envelopes with stamps and addresses made by sewing patches of different colours). Uh huh!
Congratulations on this wonderful and creative art piece!
What a great artistic work you made congratulations, i wonder what your next piece of art will be !!!!!!
Congratulations Laridian! Amazing work! The image of your work deserves to appear on a postcard under your signature.
Good luck in the work you do!
A thing of beauty is a joy forever, definitely. <3
This is simply amazing! I hope it brings you joy!!
Super! Great job! Congratulations!
What an awesome idea and a beautiful project!
nice work
It’s gorgeous! What an amazing idea! I hope I’ll have the chance to participate in a world project like that. Love it!
This is amazing! So happy to see NZ is on it! 😂
Stunning! This should go in a museum.
A VERY impressive artwork! 😃 So heartwarming that many Postcrossers have contributed to it. 💛 Great story, thanks for sharing it with us!
What a marvelous job . Amazing .. you are very talented 😍
Magnificent! Congratulations with this great result! Glad I could make a small contribution. And good luck with your next project!
It's so beautiful - well done!
A masterpiece and so beautiful ! Congratulations 😍
So lovely--thank you for sharing your creativity with all of us.
This is a very interesting idea! I like a piece of cloth with orange mushrooms💝🍄
This is amazing! Thank you for sharing!
Gorgeous! I especially love Australia! :)
This is fantastic! very interesting idea! I like surfing dog) hugs from Russia!
Wow! So beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
I wonder where Denmark is???
But the quilt is fantastic anyway - well done!
What a fantastic and interesting idea. I love postcrossing!
wow, absolutely amazing!!!! even all 3 projects, Laridian's quilt and Annett’s quilt and Marina’s scarf of friendship, I cannot imagine how patient you are, to finish each of this huge projects!!!!!!?!?!! congrats, deep from my heart!!!!!!!
and thx for sharing, dear ana!!!
hi, again, I just remembered, that I took part in a crotched project from forestchapel80 in NL in march 2014, when I made 2 granny squares and sent to her and later she sent me the pic of her blanket when finished!
I am speechless. What a wonderful piece of art !
absolutly awesome!
What a lovely tribute to Postcrossing and a visual of how we make a woven tapestry of art together. This was delightful to read about.
Beautiful! Love it!
Your quilt is lovely, visionary, artistic, incredible, extraordinary, imaginative, delightful, just magnificent. I run out of words to say how gorgeous your quilt is!
The quilt is absolutely amazing!
But I also wonder where Denmark is. It sure isn't so tiny that it's difficult to do.
Looks amazing! Seems like it would fit a king size bed
Wonderful!!
This is a wonderful project. It helps us see our world as connected, het with many colors and patterns and much diversity of individuals.
Lovely! Thanks so much for sharing your work!
A beautiful piece of art and craft.
kunstig kunstwerk
Very nice work 👌😊
it's also great that you used a greenish pattern/cloth for Suriname, the greenest country 🌳🌴🌳
Amazing artwork.WOW!
This project seems like something that should be in a museum or lent out to museums around the world. It is quite amazing.
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