Friday, September 7, 2012

Who was Tippecanoe?

It's campaign season, which can also be silly season, depending on how much of a sense of humor you can  maintain on issues like health insurance and climate change that are really, when you think about them, matters of life and death. 

My co-conspirators and I are making tote bags to raise money for our preferred candidate. In a fit of primitivism, and with apologies to Mr. Eastwood, I couldn't resist having a little fun with the invisible-partner debate.
I used a thick cotton duck canvas for the bag's body and the chair and letters.  

I  like interesting selvages as embellishment. The letters in "Vote" were cut at the top of the selvage, which gave each letter a lovely, stable, brush haircut. 

Everything was cut free hand (I know, it's hard to believe this wasn 't meticulously plotted), and glue-sticked in place. I zig-zagged all of the edges down. 

The only print/regular weight fabric is the pocket, a VIP Cranston fabric that I bought around the time of the 2008 election. (Surfing the web, I've found more of this fabric for sale, but no sign of Romney fabric. Omen?)



At a campaign event, a lovely person bought the bag as her present for her 17-year old daughter. The proceeds will be donated to the campaign. I like to think that the purse will be looked at and wondered over in years to come, just like, as a child, I wondered over "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." What the heck does a chair have to do with the 44th President of the United States? Maybe the teenager's grandchildren will be doing web research to figure it out. Maybe they'll come upon this page! Doctoral theses will ensue.

Are you making campaign art? I'd love to see it, regardless of which candidates you support!

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