Charley Harper ladybugs

I made this felt picture based on Charley Harper’s ladybugs a while ago as a break from quilt-size appliqué projects, but I never got around to posting it. Then I caught wind of the Charley Harper Quilt Along and thought it’d be a good time to share.

Judging by the enthusiastic interpretations people have posted to the Quilt Along pool, Harper’s illustrations are ripe for reinterpretation in fabric. My fabric for these ladybugs, wool felt, is relatively boring, but it was a fun, manageable project to stitch up on a whim, and the felt gives it a little dimension.

The Quilt Along’s got me itching to work up some more small Harper-inspired pieces—I’m almost done with a goldfinch in needlepoint that I’ll have to get a photo of. We’re moving house in a few weeks, and I’m envisioning a beautifully composed wall of Charley Harper needlework in the new place: the fused fabric pictures the Mother made for me, a quilt from this pattern I found, maybe some cross-stitch, and whatever other fibrous experiments get my needle aflutter.

Appliqué retreat at Lake Tahoe

I spent last week at Sandra Mollon’s Appliqué Academy up at Lake Tahoe, and while we didn’t get up to quite the same chair-trolley antics as last year, the Mother was along this time so my quilting friends got a firsthand view of the tree from which the apple fell.

The Valentine, Halloween, and fruit blocks are the work of fellow retreat-goers, while the wild colors on the left, of course, are what I was working on—some peacocks for my next quilt pattern.

It was great having a chance to sew with the Mother rather than trying to describe our respective projects down the phone—and speaking of which, do you want to see what she was working on at the retreat?

I showed my stuff first ’cause hers kind of puts it to shame, no? The way she shades the petals with fussy-cut fabric is incredible, and these blocks (along with the seven others that will make up the quilt) are of her own design, based on Chinese embroideries. While waiting for a flight delay, we hurriedly got her set up on Flickr and a blog of her own—stop by The Happy Appliquer and let her know you want to see more! She’s as prolific as she is talented with appliqué, so I’m sure it’ll be a good read as long as I haven’t totally confused her with the rushed explanation of the computery stuff.

Thanks for coming out, Mom, and thanks Sandra for another great retreat!