Ransom Note small quilt (Whiplash entry)

In the process of working on my Column Inches quilt, it became clear that I was going to have rather a lot of text-print fabric left over. It just so happened that I was learning to appliqué at about the same time, so I hatched the plan of chopping up text and stitching some quilts that looked like fabric ransom notes. What better time than the May Whiplash challenge, miniature quilts? And what better message than a sentiment we've all felt, but few uttered?

I was hoping to hand-quilt it, but since the deadline is today (and since I spent the weekend binding the Other's flamingo quilt), I was a bit under the wire. And I curse the day I bought a sewing machine without a walking foot. The letters (all cut from commercially printed quilting cotton) were appliquéd by hand using freeform needle-turn appliqué—that is, I didn't cut out templates first; I just cut out organic shapes around the letters.

There are many more letters sitting in my stash, so I'm anticipating plenty more Ransom Note quilts to follow....

For every quilt a pillow

Really, this post is to brag that my Column Inches quilt top is finished, but I like this picture better since it's one of my favourite corners of my apartment, perfect for curling up to read (you'd be surprised how comfy the fiberglass Eames chair is). But let me draw your attention to the pillow plopped on the chair, stitched together out of Column Inches scraps. Log cabin pillows have been floating around the Net for quite some time, and this is my first go at it. Am I the only one who wants to make pillowcases, cushions, and generally a complete set of bedding for every quilt he finishes? Here's a closer view:

The pillow was a good way to try out a quilting-thread color (white or off-white? Oh, the decisions!) before committing to the whole quilt top—which, by the way, is here:

I love the way it matches the chairs. It was a pleasant surprise, and Minty was quick to notice it on Flickr. The Mother took the top back with her when she and the Father came to visit last week, and I'm trying to get her to do some sort of cursive writing in the quilting. This is on the bottom of her quilting stack, though, since she put the Other's flamingo quilt to the head of the queue. (I was binding it all weekend and am just waiting for some better light to get a halfway decent photo of it.)

Column Inches was my second use of typography in a quilt (Card Catalog was the first), and I have a few other ideas knocking about for other forms of what I'd call, if I were a cheesy postmodern academic, "(text)ile art". I might call it that anyway—I never said I wasn't cheesy.

Latest flea market finds

Wire shelves and magazine rack that will go nicely with the shelf just peeking out of the bottom of the picture here.

Lots of vintage fabric (more details on Flickr; click the pictures). The top one should make a nice tablecloth. The middle one will probably find its way into a quilt, as might the bottom, though I'm not sure how easy it will be to sew its odd waffly texture.

My two boyfriends

Why have I been compelled to make this little Japanese feltling my boyfriend? Because he puts children in his sack (according to his pattern in The Cute Book). My workmate Chonk made him for me, and he'll be nefariously disposing of any under-12s that noisily interrupt my vacation. Thanks Chonk!

The other boyfriend, also known as the Other, is also in town, so I've got the week off work. When the Mother and Father come to meet him this weekend, hopefully they'll bring his quilted flamingo quilt!