Friday, March 5, 2021

Pandemic Porch Quilt Show, Days 50 - 53: Coffee, Coffee, Coffee, Japan

Everyone need at least one muse, but the more, the better. Plenty of humans inspire my work, but I also have a liquid muse: Coffee! And I have the quilts to prove it! On Day 51, I hung out my first series: 

These are tessellated mugs, with 3D "prairie point" folded handles that stick out. If you're scratching your head, you're not alone; so many people have told me these don't look like mugs at all; they see fish, aliens, and/or chicken heads. Fine! Whatever! I see mugs! The ovals are not alien eyeballs, they're the coffee! My first version used solids, for a clean modern look. 


With my second, I used batiks - the borders especially looks (to me) like poured coffee. (Some people might see fish in muddy waters, though). 

And finally, a version that combines prints and solids - I call this, "Clouds in my Coffee."


But wait, there's more! On Day 52, I showed off the next four:

First, a long, tall piece with what looks like eyeballs staring out of  cups. It's black-and-white and red all over, and only required about 5 fabrics (not counting the binding or back). 

Second, (52B), a piece headline "100 Cups of Coffee on the Wall.)

Along the right-hand side, it's strung with empty cream cups and a black plastic coffee cup at the bottom....

The lettering on top was cut from  a foil supermarket coffee bag (for "100 cups".) and a genuine burlap coffee bag (for "on the wall").

Third, (52c), my good luck/good coffee amulet quilt. You need a lot of knowledge, plus all the luck you can get, to make a perfect cup. I did quite a bit of research into coffee-making modes that are also graphically pleasing! 

The red lines are genuine coffee stirrers. Here's a closeup of the Moka pot corner: 

Fourth (52d) is my "Need Coffee" wallhanging, made from batiks. It has an imaginary coffee pipeline, starting with the sun (on light blue) in the upper left corner; then the beans are green moving to the right; they turn downward, get darker and darker brown, before finally spilling into a sea of coffee down the bottom. 

Patterns and/or directions for most of these quilts are in my "Quilts for Coffee Lovers' booklet, available from my etsy shop, CathyPStudio. Click on the link HERE.  

Finally - a couple of weeks ago you saw a bunch of large quilts inspired by my residence in Japan in the early 1980s (HERE.)

Here's one more - it was made for relaxation between the larger Japan projects. I'm not sure if it's a baby quilt or an art quilt - it measures 34" x 42". 

I used improvisational curved piecing, a technique that has taken the quilt world by storm , with an interesting history. Several years back, I blogged the history, and my own tutorial, HERE. Debbie Bowles' book, "Cutting Curves from Straight Pieces," was helpful, too. 

I got plenty of quilting practice, making feathers and vines, in the red area. 

The back has many more Japanese (and Japanesque) fragments. The grey in the borders are from a traditional jacket...

The tossed doll fabric  on navy was from a furoshiki, a wrapping cloth....


And the fabric with the white x's (third strip up from the bottom), is from a yukata, a long lightweight robe that I loved wearing for many years!
More porch quilts to come! 

6 comments:

  1. Your "Good Luck/Good Coffee" amulet quilt is my all time favorite. I am a coffee-holic and that is the truth. I acquired your etsy pattern when I first saw it, and have used parts for various projects. I still need to make the entire quilt.
    Your art quilt with curved piecing is another favorite. So full of good details.The quilting is awesome. Is it FMQ?
    I wonder if the secret to your boundless energy is living in the land of warm sunny days? Way up north we are still counting days till it thaws and the seasonal affective cranki-slothness is real. I need some of that sun!!
    I like seeing the pieced backs for your projects. I, too, like to piece backs from all of my fun fabrics. My sister (who is also a quilter) says the reason for quality backs is: that is the part that touches us. Dreamy. Nice blog post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you make one, Jane, it's so much fun and there are more than 4 coffee-making technology patterns. The art quilt is FMQ - It took me weeks to get confident with free motion feathers, but now I can do them in my sleep. (Awake is only a little more problematic.)
      I don'th ave boundless energy - it took me years to make all those quilts! I'm having daily covid "naps" or naplike zone-out sessions. Thank you so much for your kind insights!

      Delete
  2. I love that you are still doing your porch quilt show. I bet your neighbors really appreciate it. I too am admiring the Good luck quilt. I enjoyed the quilt show while appreciating my own cup of coffee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And I'm thanking you while I drink my first cup of the day!!! Thanks so much!!!

      Delete

Thank you for commenting!