Thursday, February 5, 2015

Thoughts on Thursday

Okay so two weeks ago I posted that I might take time to ramble on Thursdays, and I'm thinking once or twice a month would be good timing. So today I want to reflect on what a crazy place the internet is. No not the porn, and photo shopping, and the conspiracy theories, but the quilting world. If you've read my blog for any period of time you know that I like BRIGHT LOUD CRAZY quilts. I rarely use brown and I don't own any Civil War reproduction fabrics. Sooooo, the last place you would think of finding a mention of my blog, is on Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog, right? ...you can go check it out here.

Take a minute and read the article from Wednesday, February 4th. She has fascinating information about Cheddar fabric, that golden orangey color that makes me want to rummage around in fridge for a hunk of sharp cheese, crackers and some wine. As you scroll down you see this picture....


this is from my blog!!!! I was totally blown away. How does Barbara Brackman know about my little blog??? And this is not from a current post. I had this picture on my blog back in 2011. I am kinda giddy! I'll bet millions of people read this article... oh I'm getting light headed - LOL!

Anyway I wonder what readers who Googled my blog thought when they arrived here. If they were looking for Civil War reproduction quilts they were sorely disappointed. However, I think this little episode underscores how all of quilting is tied together. While I'm not a big fan of CW reproduction quilts, I appreciate their historical significance and what they have contributed to the craft. I have seen some beautiful quilts made in  Civil War reproductions and I have admired the design of many of the quilts. In fact, now that I think of it I did make a CW quilt... this one!


Hot Flash  # 914! by carol fun 2005

I know you are shaking your head and wondering what in the world am I talking about. Well, the design of this quilt is taken from a Civil War era quilt. A friend, showed me a picture of the original quilt from the 1860's and the Log Cabin blocks she was making to reproduce this quilt. I was totally blown away by the graphic quality of this quilt...that  Princess Feather in the center and all those Log Cabin blocks - there are 128 10" foundation pieced blocks.  I had to make one for me but not in a CW palette.

I used million different tone on tone yellows for the background (okay there may be a slight exaggeration there but it was a lot of different fabrics.) And I decided that the center of each of the Log Cabin blocks should be different... very different...in fact, I fussy cut each one of them to feature a different image.

A happy dragon for my younger son who was fascinated with them as a child!


A horseshoe for good luck! This is in the upper right corner and the horseshoe is properly orientated so the luck doesn't run out!



There were lots of cats in the center squares and this one is sporting a polka dot bikini (bet no one in the 1860's thought that would be a fabric -LOL!)


Here's a little red headed girl with glasses, but in the interest of honesty I had the glasses, but I wasn't as red headed as a child as I am now.


Of course there were chickens of the polka dot variety... and this was years before I named my blog The Polka Dot Chicken.


A nod to the characters of my youth, Tony the Tiger... They're GREAT!


This block in the lower right hand corner has so many things I love incorporated into it... a cozy little yellow house (Mary Engelbreit...I heart her stuff!), flowers, kitties, friends.


And I can't forget the King, ELVIS!!! He may have left the building but he's here on my quilt!


So I have to give thanks to the quilt makers of the Civil War era. Their work has inspired millions of other quilters, although I'm not sure this quilt is what they had in mind. Oh well, it goes to show what a crazy place quilting on the internet is!

happy stitching-
carol fun

PS - When I started writing this post this is not where I thought I was going... it just happened... kinda crazy too!

PPS - Thanks Meredith for telling me about the mention on Barbara Brackman's blog.

PPPS - Thanks Kathy for showing me this quilt all those years ago.

PPPPS - If you Google images of  Log Cabin quilt from the 1860's or Princess Feather quilts from the 1860's pictures of my quilt appear -- ain't that crazy!



11 comments:

  1. Saw your comment on Barbara's post and came over to say "Hi"

    I sew for Barbara - repro fabrics, but I'm a big lover Elvis and Elvis fabrics, too!

    Happy Sewing!


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    1. Hi Becky -- oh I have a small stash of Elvis fabrics. I use bits and pieces here and there but someday there may be an all Elvis quilt! LOL Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. The internet is a fun place! everything ends up being connected! Your quilt is awesome, I bet there is a never ending supply of quirky things to find!! I like to look at www.saneandcrazy.blogspot.com as Cathy there also uses heaps of different fabrics!

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    1. Hi ES - I checked out Cathy's blog and she has some great stuff! Thanks for the info and thanks for the kind comment. Like a lot of my quilts, if you look closely there is a lot going on - LOL!

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  3. Breathe, Carol, breathe. How fun to find your block referenced on Barbara's blog. That's some kind of honor, I think. Of course, I believe all the quilts you make are noteworthy and bright and beautiful and fun. LOVE that Princess feather in your log cabin. Just gorgeous.

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  4. How fun is that! I found your blog through WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced, and stayed for the fun posts and bright colors!

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  5. We've always known you were a quilting rock star!

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  6. I love the bright colors in your quilts and my quilts want to be like yours when they grow up. But CW related? Who knew?

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  7. The quilting blog world is vast and varied, isn't that great? How cool your blog and block made it to Barbara's attention. Love your very unique princess feather log cabin. That is a huge commitment of time, fabric and thread!

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  8. Barbara shows a really great range of quilts from all eras so it doesn't surprise me that she showed your awesome quilt. I love your modern take on a traditional quilt, the rainbow princess feather center is really electric and all those fun fabrics would entertain anyone for hours. Ps I love the name of your blog too, so fun!

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  9. Very cool Carol....I ca now honestly say " I knew you when...."!

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If Google won't let you leave a comment feel free to email me at cfunliu@aol.com