Made Us Look: Gorgeous Paper Quilts Made from Recycled Envelopes
Confession: I have been obsessed with the patterns found inside of security envelopes for years. In fact, I’ve been collecting such envelopes since 2006, and have about five shoeboxes worth in my garage! (I promise, I’m not a hoarder.) So, the moment I came across these beautiful paper quilts I was instantly floored, excited, and just might have to bust out those shoeboxes for my own quilt-inspired creations!
Created by artist Stephen Sollins, these pieces turn all those pesky envelopes in your recycling bin into intricate geometric art. The series is all about bringing the traditional art of quilting back, but with a different twist. Each large-scale piece sets out to prove that geometric patterns aren’t quite as predictable as you might think.
The attention to detail is astounding. Each piece expertly cut and placed, just like the craft of quilt making.
On a more personal side of things, if you look closely at the quilts you’ll see that each scrap of mail used was received by Sollins. Go Where’s Waldo on the collection and look for fragments of handwriting, patterns from security envelopes, and even snippets of artwork from event invitations. Like traditional quilting, these pieces and patterns tell the story of their maker.
We are in awe of these pieces, and will keep following Sollins for more original uses of things we think we already know :)