Chipper as h*ll pillows, and weather to match

The sky is a chipper blue, and my mood matches it.

Incidentally, so do my new pillows.

I finally finished my "bubble wrap" pillow.  I got all of the bubbles done, and the intricate quilted panel I decided to do on the back.  And then I forgot about it, more or less, for about 7 months.  All that remained to do was some quick machine stitching and uncomplicated hand finishing for the seams  on the front (the front panel has a vintage hanky behind all the "bubbles").  Still, it took me all that time to get from "I should work on this" to "I'm going to work on this tonight."
The bubble wrap pillow makes me smile every time I see it.  It's just so absurd. And pretty.  And I didn't make it for anyone else but me, which is rare.

The second pillow I made out of a men's shirt, when the first pillow looked lonely.  So now they get to hang out together until I get the room assembled that they're going to go into, and refurbish the chair they will be on.

Here's a few more photos, so you can see the details, and the other sides of course:

The quilt I photographed them on is a vintage one that mom got somehow, but she doesn't remember it.  I'll show it to her and see if it jogs her memory.
I suspect she inherited it from her side of the family at some point, put it away in her closet (because kids destroy things if you leave them out. Who knew?) and then forgot about it.  With all the upheaval and room moving, it's surfaced again.

It's completely hand pieced and hand quilted.  I think the fabric is 1930s feedsack prints.  It's in excellent condition except for a tear in the middle from being folded so long.  I think I can mend it, but before I do that, I've got to finish another set of baby shower invitations, mend my brother's star wars pajama pants, and make oodles of baby bibs.
I love the fabric that went into making the fan blocks.  I'll alternate details of the quilt with pictures of other things that have been improving my mood lately.

Oh, this kid!  I found his cut mug on kirtsy, and envy the photographer who captured it.

Yes, V-Day is just around the corner, but I like Valentine graffiti better than the typical stuffed animals and cheesiness.

I'm working on designing a logo and business card for my photography.  This business card is just too delicious!

 A happy strawberry from Elsa Mora.

Fields of Color

Beautiful, isn't it?
It's possibly the most successful example of a Tumbling Block quilt I've ever seen.  The colors are so perfectly chosen, and the design so bold. A halfway decent quilt is a thing of beauty and a usable object.
A great quilt is, well, Art.
I came upon this quilt through the book "Treasury of American Quilts" It's my favorite book of quilts. It's full of quilts that transcend mere craftsmanship.
Don't get me wrong, I love craftsmanship.  I'm utterly intrigued by the relationship between folk art and so called "real" art.  I've also found it easier to sew, paint, and collage useful objects with people rather than cloistering myself away and making "high art."  It's easier to get paid too.

Anyway, back to quilts
Some of my favorite quilts are color field quilts, mostly Amish.  These women, forbidden from wearing bright colors, cover their beds with them instead.
The quilts, interestingly enough, pre-date color field paintings by as much as 100 years.  The similarities in concept and color-play are startling.
It makes me wonder where artists really learn about color theory: whether it's the collegiate level science of Josef Albers and Hans Hoffman, or something learned much more fundamental, learned as we explore our natural world from a very young age.

This last quilt reminds me of the entire room of red Mark Rothkos at the National Gallery.  I love those paintings.  You'd think a room full of red paitings would be downright threatening.  However, they're warm, and somehow soothing. 

I couldn't find an image of them, so you'll just have to use your imagination. 

I also love these Gee's Bend quilts.  They were created by a family of women and their social circle starting in the 1930s.  The put in mind Piet Mondrian, Joan Miro, and Hans Hoffman.

I could go on for a while about the historical context of these quilts, they've been written about fairly extensively, so I'll just include links to informative sites at the bottom of this post, rather than badly paraphrasing someone else's work.

gallery selling Gee's Bend Quilts

 official Gee's Bend website

Mennonite Heritage Center