Welcome to another installment of From the Vault.
In this series, I pull out an old quilt from one of my plastic tubs
in the basement. Some of these quilts are no longer my style or color
palette. Some I still like quite a bit, but they've been edged out on
the main floor by others I like better.
This is one I still like, but don't have room to hang.
I finished this quilt in November 2010. It's 20 inches wide and 24 inches tall.
Three things inspired this quilt:
- The fat quarter batik (used in the center panel) that I didn't want to cut up.
- I had seen quilts made in sections like this, with beads holding the sections together, and I wanted to try it.
- Yo-yo fever. I bought a yo-yo maker and went crazy. I have oodles more that I haven't used yet.
I free-motioned around the hibiscus motif, then had it ingrained enough that I did the same pattern on the side panels.
The hard part with the beads was finding enough variety that were the same diameter, or in the case of small beads, that added up to the right diameter.
When I quilted the two side panels, I made the leaves one-directional, just like they were growing. The yellow panel has nice parallel edges, but the burgundy panel doesn't - one side has quite an unintended swoop. When it came time to attach them I found out I had a problem. I needed to put the burgundy on the right and the yellow on the left in order to balance the colors of the center panel - go look at the first photo and you'll see what I mean.
That meant I had to turn the burgundy panel upside down because I needed the one parallel side to be the beaded side, in order to make the opening come out even. So now the leaves are growing down. Those upside-down leaves annoyed me for quite awhile, until I figured nobody would notice. Except now you know - but you won't tell anyone else, right?!?!
I hot-glued beads in the center of some of the yo-yos, and some are left blank, like these in the header. Although it's easy and fun to make them with the Clover yo-yo maker, getting them to be a nice symmetrical circle with a tight center is harder than it looks. You can see the one on the right is crooked. I'm kind of over yo-yos now; my new love is hexagons. Maybe if I made yo-yos with some of my beautiful modern fabric I'll like them again.
Box from Three Orange Doors.
PIGIPEDIA
Let's close out 2012 with a final story about Martini, Mario Andretti's potbelly pig.
Martini liked the apples up at the beach house. The problem was, so did the deer. It didn’t take him long to figure out how to outsmart those deer. He would rush out of the house (yes, he lived in the house with Mario) first thing each morning and take one bite out of each apple on the ground. The deer wouldn’t touch any of those apples. Then Martini would go back any time he felt like it, and eat them at his leisure.
In honor of tomorrow's winter solstice, let's finish up the series of books I made on the solar system. We've already walked through the
planets based on their proximity to the sun, going from closest to
farthest:
What's left? The Sun, and the Solar System itself!
This is Sun. The book is on the left, the case for it is on the right. All the materials are, of course, warm colors. The swirls on the book and case evoke solar flares.
"Sun" buttons in the upper left and lower right.
Although the outside cover is square, all the pages are round. The blurriness on the right is caused by an overlay of fine mesh paper - interfering with communication just like solar flares and CMEs (read both pages for details).
This is the carrier for Solar System. The dark fabric is velvet, the stripes are satin.
Here is Solar System peeking out of the carrier.
The inside pages...
There's an open pocket on the right where I tucked some special, secret treasures.
This is the bibliography showing all the books I referenced in writing my little series of books.
I've noticed the pigs have been interested in cars lately. I think they're jealous of Martini, Mario Andretti's pig. I have a hard time saying no to them, so I bought them this new car. It's all metal, nice and sturdy. She just loves it.
She already learned how to take the top down and turn the steering wheel.
Now they've all been at it and opened everything they possibly could.
Uh oh. They found the engine and now they tell me they want to be grease piggies. They think they're going to practice on this 1955 Thunderbird, then I'll let them work on our cars. I think not.
To make it up to them, I bought this embroidery pattern so I can make them more cars. Do you think they'll fall for it? Me neither.
As mentioned yesterday, here are some teapots that are going to be introduced to Fowl Weather Friends.
The first is an enamel Kamenstein teapot from 1986. This company also produced similar cow and pig teapots, as well as a Sylvester and Tweety version. You can pull back on the comb and water will come out of its neck. Or you can leave the head attached and pour water out of its beak.
This is a Haldon Group teapot from 1981 and I must have bought it with my eyes shut. The previous owner dropped it and it broke completely in two. Luckily it was a clean break and on the one side you can hardly see the crack. The other side looks like it had a glue explosion.
Oh well.
Here they are, yakking about who knows what. They look pretty happy, though, so I don't think I need to intervene.
In Fowl Embroidery - The Beginning, I gave you a peek at my second embroidery project. I finished it this weekend.
Once again, I didn't use an embroidery hoop. The stitching got a little too tight in some places, but I'd rather put up with that than the unwieldiness and inflexibility of a hoop.
I knew that I wanted to make a mini-quilt out of this, so I picked the colors to coordinate with my border fabric.
Here is Fowl Weather Friends. It's approximately 14 inches square.
I'm going to hang it in the cubbyhole area near the Bear Dens. I'll show you its companions tomorrow.
I love, love, love periwinkle blue, the color of Chicory. I checked the dictionary to see what a periwinkle is, since I didn't know. It's another name for Vinca minor (the ground cover also called myrtle) and Vinca major. It's also a mollusk. Hmm. Did not know that! From now on when I see Vinca, I'll say periwinkle instead. The name sounds like a fairy winking or stars twinkling. The best part of the dictionary information: "Rhymes with Rip van Winkle".
You know how people set goals for themselves, like watching a baseball game in every major league stadium across the country? Last year I decided I would watch every version of A Christmas Carol that was in my library system. I didn't think it was that big a deal. But that's what I always think when I get an idea and don't know anything about it. After about five versions, I got full and decided I'd have to leave the others to another year(s).
There are serious renditions (Alastair Sim, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart). There are animated versions (Mr. Magoo, Flintstones, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Sesame Street, etc.)
The oddest (creepiest) one I've seen was the 1938 version with Reginald Owen. The most colorful one was the 2008 version with Barbie (yes, the doll.)
The rarest version will be shown on Turner Classic Movie Channel on December 16 and 22, 2012. Its name is Carol for Another Christmas, a made-for-tv movie that was shown only once (in 1964). It was sponsored by Xerox Corporation as a means of promoting the United Nations. The hook to this version is international affairs.
However, if you like Broadway musicals, this is the version for you. It's a 2004 Hallmark production, score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. You might not know the name Alan Menken, but you probably would recognize his music. He's won Oscars for Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.
There are lots of familiar faces in this movie and it's interesting to see the range of talent they have beyond the television shows we are accustomed to seeing them in:
- Kelsey Grammer (Cheers, Wings, Frasier) is Scrooge. You've heard him sing Frasier's theme song, "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs." He won a Tony award (the Oscar equivalent for Broadway) in 2010.
- Jane Krakowski (Ally McBeal, 30 Rock) is the Ghost of Christmas Past. She sings occasionally on 30 Rock, but I didn't know she also was a Tony winner.
- Jason Alexander (Seinfeld), who plays Marley, is another Tony winner.
- Jesse L. Martin (Ally McBeal, Law & Order) is the Ghost of Christmas Present. He's best known for his work in the Broadway musical Rent. Martin will be joining the cast of Smash, season 2, for six episodes starting in January 2013. (If you like Broadway musicals, you must watch Smash!!!)
This is my copy of A Christmas Carol. It's a 1937 edition that I bought over thirty years ago and have never read!! I decided to read it this week.
I figure as I work my way through the litany of Christmas Carol movies, I ought to pay respect to Charles Dickens' version.
What is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol?
Here are two purses I finished in January 2009.
This is Poinsettia Pochette. A pochette is an envelope-shaped handbag. The body is 4 x 10 inches. I basically made a small quilt, 8 x 10 inches, then folded it in half and sewed the sides by hand. The handle is striped fabric, folded over and over again, then hand-stitched closed.
I free motioned a large Poinsettia bract and added red seed beads on the points and miracle beads at the center. Miracle beads are made of acrylic, are typically in vibrant colors, and have a lacquer overlay that gives them a glow. I used gold thread to meander around the flower so the Poinsettia would pouf out. Eyelash yarn and three short strings of assorted beads add an embellishment to the front.
Two differences on the back:
- There are two little red buttons at the top which I added to cover the threads that were showing after I sewed the gold buttons on the front.
- A different embellishment on the center panel.
The green leaves are sequins. The "berry" is a button.
This is Poinsettia Purse. It's around 9 inches square, including the handle. The handle is black webbing, folded in half, to which I added stacked beads. The front flap was fun to make with all the swooshiness.
Two rows of light bulb beads make a nice rattling sound when opening the purse.
