The Hope Project
About the Artists
Andy Brunhammer & Jim Smith
Andy and Jim began quilting some years ago when Jim as a part of his 1996 Masters’ thesis project worked on the construction of a cottage industry to a corporate concern. Due to the demands of their respective banking careers, quilting, fabric, and thread were the furthest thing from their minds, hands, or time.
Now retired bankers, and as of 2010 and 2017, Andy and Jim decided to try to spend as much time as possible creating and experimenting with quilt designs, fabrics, their machines, and thread.
Jim’s degrees are in Bachelor of Education – Secondary English and Communication and Master’s in Organizational Management. Andy’s degree is in the field of Textile Engineering and both worked on their Master of Business Administration.
All their quilt projects are completed in Tampa. Andy and Jim try to create, design, borrow, and beg their ideas from the past, the present, from those artists much more experienced, and at times from that which takes their fancy. Jim is constantly saying that he now understands why he took so many trigonometry and analytical geometry classes in the past. Both are always eager and willing to learn with each new quilt project, and now spend as much time as possible honing their skills.
The Hope Project began when Jim asked Andy if he was willing, between quilt projects, to possibly create Crane paper-pieced blocks from left-over scraps. Their idea was to eventually create 1,000 Cranes and possibly create a couple of panels and series.
Andy agreed. Jim created a pattern.
Andy began creating paper-pieced Crane blocks. Each individual paper-pieced Crane block took approximately three hours to make. Realizing the time element, Jim created a fabric die cutter. This considerably reduced the time frame of composing each Crane block.
Jim and Andy’s Hope Project is a portfolio of Origami Cranes on quilts and wall-hangings. The Project includes about 50 Cranes Quilts designed and created by them both.