CINCINNATI — An artist in Greater Cincinnati who first made a name for himself at the Blink Festival with his cutting edge use of yarn is once again stringing up a colorful creation in Washington Park. This time, his work will brighten Mittenfest, a craft beer festival running this weekend.
What You Need To Know
- Artist Daniel Shields calls the installation "Community Quilt"
- The installation features more than 1,600 crocheted granny squares
- A crochet and knitting group called the Bombshells of Cincinnati helped to coordinate the effort and collected squares from crafts people across Greater Cincinnati
Daniel Shields is collaborating with crochet enthusiasts from across the region on a work that features more than 1,600 granny squares. He created frames and sectioned out rooms by stretching yarn across trees and using hooks he placed in the ground. Shields then placed the granny squares across the frames so they look like they’re floating in air.
“I’m calling this installation 'Community Quilt,' mainly because we have a large section of it that was made by members of the community,” Shields said.
More than 600 squares were made by a group called the Bombshells of Cincinnati, who typically meet at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center or at venues like cafes or museums to make the squares. They joined forces with crafts stores including Indigo Hippo, Silk Road Textiles and the Weavers Guild of Greater Cincinnati to collect the squares donated by dozens of crafts people.
“It’s really amazing how everyone was able to come out and make these granny squares,” Shields said.
Each square can take anywhere from about 10 or 15 minutes to much longer, depending on the experience of the person doing the crocheting, said Karen Anderson, a member of the Bombshells. That means crafting the 1,600 squares took more than 500 hours of work.
“It was a labor of love and we were thrilled to be a part of it,” said Anderson.
“The way Daniel thinks about space and how he changes the space and his level of thoughtfulness with that is really cool and exciting and unique,” Anderson said.
Her group often puts sweaters on trees as a way of warming up city settings.
“We soften the edges of the harsh urban environment,” Anderson said. “We want to activate a space. We want people to walk through a place where they’ve been a milion times and when there’s granny squares stretched through the air, like magic, you do a double take.”
“This was a really fun project to collaborate with the Bombshells,” Shields said. “We’ve got different approaches to doing similar things and and to be able to work together with a group that has similar interest in yarn is a lot of fun.”
Once Shields takes down the installation after Mittenfest, the Bombshells will sew the granny squares into scarves to be donated to charities that will give them to people who need them, Anderson said.