Apparently the hot new crime in the world of fine art is… stealing quilts. Seriously. I better start learning how to work a barcode into my stitching!
Tag: quilting
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Storm at Sea Quilt
It’s done! Today is the wedding of my friends Kenya and Sal, and this is the quilt I made for them. It’s a traditional American pattern called “Storm at Sea”. I started it just over a year ago (but I took a bit of break in the middle of the summer). The top was machine-pieced but I quilted the whole darn thing by hand. I also used a bias binding for the edge, which was a first for me. All in all I’m really proud of how it turned out. And isn’t the basket cute? I saw it in a shop yesterday and realized it was the perfect way to package the quilt.
Here’s a shot of the quilt pattern itself. As you can see, it’s all made up of triangles and squares but somehow they kinda fool the eye into seeing curves and waves.
The Snook is actually standing on a chair and holding the quilt up here (and hiding behind it) so you can get an idea of how big it is. It’s probably about queen-sized, I’d say.
I suck at embroidery, but it’s sorta tradition that you personalize the quilt for the receiver. Here’s my, uh, “rustic” attempt at adding their initials.
Like I said, I’m proud of it. And hey, that’s one more thing I can cross off my crafty backlog!
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AIDS Quilt
As part of the ongoing Gay Games activities, the Sydney Convention Centre is displaying the International AIDS Memorial Quilt this week. I went to see it today. Where I come from, quilting commemorates happy events: births, marriages, birthdays. I was curious to see how it could be used to memorialize a death. I’ve never known anyone with AIDS (though one of my best friends in college went through a scare and had to get tested), so I didn’t expect it to have that much impact on me. Within five minutes I was choking back tears though. It’s impossible not to. It’s not that the quilts are sad; in fact, most of them are cheerful celebrations of people’s lives. It’s just the sheer number of them, and knowing that each panel (and there had to have been over 1000 that I saw) was put together by friends, families, and lovers trying to come to grips with a life cut short. As I walked along, I marveled at how many of the tributes were for white thirtysomething men. I’ve heard gay men lament that an entire generation has been lost, but I didn’t really understand what that meant. And yet they didn’t all fit the stereotype – there were women and old people and young people and even little kids. It was just heartbreaking stuff.I liked seeing the different ways people chose to commemorate their loved ones. Some just had a name and a date, while others actually attached items that were important to the person (teddy bears, jean jackets, even a CD). The volunteer assured me that I could take pictures, so I snapped a few of some of the panels that stopped me in my tracks. You just wouldn’t believe the creativity and work and love people have poured into this project. (The last one is for an eight-year-old boy named Troy. The pictures around the border were drawn by his second-grade classmates.)
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My first quilt is done!
I finished the quilting yesterday and spent all day today finishing the edges. (It took me about ten hours of sewing. Yeah, I now have arthritis.) But it’s done! I even embroidered my initials and the date down in the corner. Snookums is sitting under it on the couch right now. It’s so damn warm! We are gonna put this sucker to good use. It’s suddenly gotten real cold at night. 🙂
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Friday Five
1. What are your hobbies?
Besides all this Internet crap? I quilt. My first blanket is coming along very well, aside from the fact that my fingertips are all raw and bloody from stabbing myself too many times with a quilting needle. I’m also learning Korean in the hopes of amusing my grandparents the next time I go home.2. Do you collect anything? If so, what?
Though I collect books in general, I also have tons of Roald Dahl stuff. I’ve got an entire shelf of his books, including several rare volumes (that I paid an arm and a leg for on eBay). I’ve also got Dahl movies, Dahl CD’s, Dahl records, Dahl magazines, and even a doll (from Matilda). I tell myself that it’s all for the site, but really, it’s for me. 🙂3. Is there a hobby you’re interested in, but just don’t have the time/money to do?
I’d love to actually get “serious” about my Dahl collection and go after some of the really nice first editions. Since I’ve seen prices with four digits, though, that’ll have to wait til I make my first million. I’ve also had a crazy desire lately to learn to knit. I’m just working my way through the domestic arts, people.4. Have you ever turned a hobby into a moneymaking opportunity?
When I was first heading to London, I sold my rarest Dahl book because I needed the cash. I immediately regretted it though and was lucky enough to be able to buy the same volume back later. Quilting could possibly be a money maker, though. I used to scoff at how much the Amish back in Indiana charged for these things, but now that I know the work involved in making one by hand, I don’t think hundreds of dollars is out of the question. Of course, this first one is for my bed. It’s getting cold at night!5. Besides web-related stuff (burbs, rings, etc.), what clubs do you belong to?
Not really anything. I don’t know enough people here to join a club yet. -
Great weekend
It started off Friday with the arrival of several mix CDs in my mailbox, courtesy of Mr. Jones. Snookums and I have been shaking our “bootays” ever since. Then on Saturday we headed to my first ever professional rugby game: the New South Wales Waratahs vs. the Otago Highlanders. Basically, it was Australia against New Zealand, so emotions were running high. New South Wales ended up winning 31-13. It was awesome. I couldn’t help making crunching noises at every tackle. (Sidenote: When I eventually return to America, I plan on introducing the concept of the “meat pie” as the ultimate sporting venue snack. They’re sooo much better than hot dogs.) Afterwards we headed to the sports bar at Fox Studios Australia for some bowling, foosball, and beer. Today I was a good girl and went to the gym, and then I worked on my quilt. The entire top is finished and I’ve got it basted together with the backing and filling. The quilting itself isn’t so easy. I was really frustrated at first, til I realized that I don’t have to be as good as my Mom at it. Once I accepted that (like all my other domestic endeavors), things got a lot easier. Now we’re watching Star Wars on telly. Ahhh, perfect.
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Quilting
Since Snookums has been busy with his computer (recently unpacked from three months in transit), I’ve kinda been avoiding mine. It just doesn’t feel right that both of us should be hunched over computer screens for ten hours a day when we’re not being paid for it. So instead I quilt. I quilt and I watch Buffy. This is a picture of my quilt so far. That’s five rows out of about twenty-five that I have planned. (Yeah, it’s massive, I know. But I like big blankets.) All the colored squares are different shades of blue, some with patterns and stuff. It’s gonna be awesome.
Oh, and re: Buffy. When you Americans finally get your Season 3 DVD, be sure and listen to the commentary on “Bad Girls”. The guy speaking (the writer) talks quite candidly about the “lesbian subtext” of Buffy and Faith, and how Eliza Dushku was always pushing for more. Snookums and I found it both hilarious and fascinating. 🙂
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Impress women.
As soon as I say that, I find something interesting. What happens when a Perl coder and a quilter fall in love?
