Patchwork Underground

Can you find my quilt?

I had so much fun at this year’s expo!  Unfortunately, I only have time to post these pictures right now.  Stay tuned for my write-up of the expo later this week…

<3 erin

Too many scraps of patchwork experiments + random vintage scraps = crazy quilt top?

I think I like it!  (Excuse the wrinkles.  I’ve had it folded up the last couple days.)

This old school car cross-stitch finding has never looked better…

All together now:

It’s a good lap sized quilt right now but I’m thinking that I might want to keep adding onto it as future scraps present themselves. Who knows what it’ll look like in the end? I think I like not knowing. My favorite part of this quilt is the awesome double-breasted button placket towards the bottom. I cut it out of a stained free box vintage dress I adopted a while ago. I had visions of embroidering over the whole dress with black and white floss in a random pattern but then decided that was insane and that I was never going to get around to it.

By the way, don’t forget that today is the last day to put your comment in for my vintage knitting magazine giveaway! I’ll be closing comments tonight and announcing the winner tomorrow! Many thanks to folks who have already entered. I’m excited to find a new home for these little gems. GOOD LUCK!!!

I’m going to be at the Northwest Quilting Expo tomorrow - probably all day. I’m so stoked to get to see this year’s quilts. There’s going to be a few patchwork celebrities I want to see in person and more than few vendors hawking all sorts of quilting-related stuff. I might even invest in a class or two and support fellow sewing instructors! Admission is $9/day or $25 for all three days. Seems like most classes are around $10. Keep an eye out for my pictures and report back….

I’m back in Portland!  Phew!

CA was crazy (as always) but bridesmaid-ing for my best friend was amazing and Allegra and Alyn’s wedding was totally wonderful.  These two lovebirds were married in the redwoods on the California coast in a little town north of Santa Rosa called Gualala.  We lucked out with perfect weather and the whole thing went off without a hitch!

I just have to share with you a picture of Allegra’s amazing handmade, hand-dyed, 100% raw silk dress.  She designed it herself!!!

Isn’t it stunning?  Congrats, Alyn and Allegra!  I luv you guys!

In other good news, I just heard from the folks at the NW Quilting Expo that my Witch Farmer quilt got juried into the Art Quilt category of this year’s show!  Here’s a pic of it with a close-up detail to the right:

Yay!  I’m a little nervous about having my work shown, especially seeing it hung next to other amazing work but we’ll just have to see what happens.

It looks like this year’s Expo will be bigger and better than ever - there’s gonna be free classes and quilts, quilts and more quilts.  I’ll be there with bells on.

Here’s the vitals for the show:

9 am–5:30 pm, Thursday, September 24 and Friday, September 25, 2009
9 am–5 pm Saturday, September 26, 2009

(or you can go to their website to read more..)

Here’s just a taste of what you’ll see…..

(This is the 2008 Best in Show made by Ronda K. Beyer, Darwin’s Diamonds & Flowers!)

As you can see, the competition is *fierce*!  Can’t wait to meet all the other quilters at the expo. Ok, I’m off to sew a 4″ sleeve on the back of my quilt and get ready to drop it off!

It’s 100 degrees in Portland right now.  I swear.  I’m melting.  And not in a good way.  So what do I do?  Oh, you know, lock myself in my sewing room, turn on the iron full blast and bake away.  But tomorrow?

CAMPING in this thing! ———->

I’m going to the Bald Knob Fire Lookout for 4th of July weekend with my friends Lara and Spencer and their twins, River and Rosemary!  Last time I attempted to camp at Bald Knob, there was a propane leak and we had to stay down in the less awesome tent camping zones.  That’s so not as cool as camping up in an old rickety tower.  You can read about last year’s adventures here.

But before I go, I wanted to give you a sneak peek at my upcoming giveaway goodies:

The lucky winner’s gonna get a big old spool of vintage lace, a handprinted mini-journal, a felt flower headscarf and the latest issue of Stitch magazine.  Ooooo-ooooo.

I decided to wait until I get back to open up the giveaway so keep an eye out come Monday or Tuesday.  Or, better yet, join my mailing list so you’ll never miss another giveaway again.

Other upcoming delights include tutorials for basic recycled leatherworking skills + instructions for making this recycled leather halter top:

AND a tutorial for this adorable retro checkerboard pillow:

So much cuteness, so little time.  Wish me luck on my camping trip!  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.

Craft on!

Erin

I’m supposed to be doing my taxes (uhg) but inappropriate quilting drama is SO MUCH more interesting!

So rumor on the street is Joann’s Fabric is kinda evil. I’ve been hearing vague rumblings about it for years (”they use bad chemicals,” “their stores have a creepy vibe,” “their fabrics are ugly,” “they give money to anti-choice groups, satanists, new world order people” etc.) but, finally, we hippie-liberal-conspiracy-theorists have concrete proof: Joann’s censored Mark Lipinkski’s Quilting Arts magazine for publishing “inappropriate” quilts!

This includes this gorgeous jesus-as-annie-oakley quilt (that I LOVE!!) by Shawn Quinland.…Its officially called “Jesus Get Your Gun”…

Is it just me or does Jesus look hot??

Other inappropriate quilts in the banned magazine issue include a (seriously) subtle penis quilt and a series of really gorgeous/well-done quilts that deal with the legacy of slavery and racism in the south.

So censorship sucks. Nuff said. But as a longtime Joann’s patron, I’ve gotta say that the “Joann’s set” is a purdy darn conservative bunch. There are exceptions and whatnot and, yes, “conservative” can really mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. (”Some of my best friends are conservatives,” right?) But as a queer crafter and all-around outlaw seamstress, I definitely keep it on the DL when I’m making a run to Joanns.

Like…as you’re getting your fabric cut, the lady will probably ask you what you’re making. Usually, I’ll tell her all about my plans for magic mushroom hippie pants. At Joann’s, I’ll just say “pants.” And if I’m making a ~* L-E-S-B-I-A-N * P-O-W-E-R *~ cross-stitch, she just gets to hear about the flowers in the border. But hey, on the upside of things, Joanns is definitely the #1 place in town to spot those funny bonnetted people with millions of kids. That’s always a sort of exciting cross-cultural experience.

I guess my point is, yeah, Joanns is being fascist. But they’re also just being good capitalists who know their customer base. I mean if those bonnetted people saw the western Jesus quilt, they might get uppity and organize a boycott, right? We already lost House of Fabrics. What if Walmart really was the only place to score affordable fabric in 99% of the towns in this country? Just sayin’.

(Thanks to Allegra for sharing this controversy with me!!)

In other inappropriate quilting news, I wanted to share quilter Boo Davis’ site, Quiltsryche, with ya’ll. This lady is ^&*%ing cool. She makes the cutest death metal quilts I’ve ever seen. Ok, the only death metal quilts I’ve ever seen. And they’re really really cute in an evil sort of way. Take, for instance, this non-subtle penis quilt:

Boo only lives a hop skip and a jump from Portland up in Seattle so here’s hopin’ I get to see her stuff in person some day! =) Definitely check her site out for more evil cuteness - she even does baby quilts and really nifty t-shirt quilts. (Thanks for letting me share your work here, Boo!)

Anyway, I could really get used to this jesus/penis/lesbian-themed quilting roundup thing. Methinks there’s definitely more to say here….

Enjoy folks.

xoxxo erin