Inspiration That's Not A Quilt

In thinking about simple shapes and quilts I've been saving pictures.

Of things like crocheted afghans from Israel sold on eBay.

Silk Scarves by Hermes and Pucci

And hooked rugs:

This one by an unknown maker

And this little one by Pam Mayfield

Lebowski Fest

Lebowski Fest

Designed by Barbara Brackman, Appliqued by Jean Stanclift,

Quilted by Pam Mayfield, 2006

Lawrence, Kansas 46"x 46"

Courtesy of the VanHougrau Collection

My neighbor asked if we could make her a quilt for her husband. The result:

Lebowski Fest.

We had a lot of fun designing and appliqueing bowling shoes, pins and balls.

For those of you who do not know what we are talking about here:

The Big Lebowski is a movie by the Coen Brothers about

 mistaken identity, slackers, White Russians, a rug and a bowling alley.

Above, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi and John Goodman trying to figure it all out.

At Lebowski Fests people watch the movie,

drink cocktails made of vodka and non-dairy creamer and occasionally bowl.

The quilt makes an excellent backdrop for the party. One could say it "Pulls the Room Together."

The Dude does not officially endorse this quilt.

The pattern for Lebowski Fest is in my new book, Sew Into Sports: Quilts for the Fans in Your Life.

Click here to read more about it:

https://www.pickledishstore.com/productDetail.php?PID=1196  

While I was Photoshopping the Dude above I redesigned the quilt digitally. There are many possible ways to arrange bowling shoes, balls and pins.

A Group Project

Baskets by Pam Mayfield

And the Women Who Run with Scissors

2009

Last year Pam asked the members of her sewing group to make her small basket blocks and log cabins

Inspired by this 19th century quilt in the collection of Williams College,

she asked Terry Thompson to create a few pictorial blocks.

Terry loves appliqueing these little pictures.

We think it all turned out nicely.

Jeckyll's Sunflowers

Thomas Jeckyll (1827–1881) was an English architect best known today for the metal work he designed. This pair of brass andirons is an Arts and Crafts classic that has influenced artists over the last century. Jeckyll also did at least one fence of these sunflowers. (There are two spellings of Jekyll's name. Pick your favorite.)

A detail from an andiron and 2 appliqued sunflowers

I designed and stitched the sunflower on the left with my first William Morris fabric collection and Pam Mayfield pieced and appliqued the one on the right with the second, The Morris Workshop. Buy the Arts & Crafts Sunflower pattern for $7.95 from Star books by clicking here:

https://www.pickledishstore.com/productDetail.php?PID=1120

Georgann Eglinski did two versions, one with a pieced sunflower

Above are two paper interpretations.

Left: a contemporary poster, the right one a reproduction wallpaper poster from Bradbury & Bradbury.

The Spencer Museum of Art owns a Jeckyll drawing.

See more of it by clicking here:

http://collection.spencerart.ku.edu/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalSearch&module=collection&fulltext=jeckyll

See a rail from Jeckyll's fence in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O7753/railing/

See more Bradbury & Bradbury wallpaper at their site:

http://www.bradbury.com/posters.html

See a black & white picture of the andirons (firedogs) that are now in the Freer Gallery by clicking here:

http://osbornandmercer.com/sold.htm

And read about the Freer's Peacock Room, for which they were designed, by clicking here:

http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/peacock/default.htm

Susan Weber Soros and Catherine Arbuthnot have written a book about Jeckyll.

Arts & Crafts Sunflower by Pam Mayfield, 42" x 16"