Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Words and Phrases

In September of 2015 I wrote this SQI about using text in quilts. At the time I was collecting fabric with words, which was becoming an easier goal anytime I walked into a quilt shop. Today at least one piece in a line of fabric has some kind of lettering or words. And I have enough text fabric to make several quilts. 

Nevertheless, words and how we use them still fascinate me. There are always words in my head. And I analyze sentences, usage, mechanics at the drop of a hat. Ask me if I've seen a sign (or a million) that needed correcting. These quilts don't need a red pen; they just want an audience.

Like the other 13,000+ quilts, these pins can be found in my "heart, quilts" board. In fact, they are in a new board called, "words and texts." Have you made a quilt with words? What about using fabric with text? 

Off to Vicksburg and a Quilt Show

Pam, the president of my quilt guild invited me to go to the Vicksburg Quilt Show. Vicksburg, Mississippi, is about three hours away, so we left very early in the morning and got home pretty late. But, oh my, was it worth it!

Pam is a quilt shopper, but I must admit that I pretty much kept up with her. We visited every shop booth and saw every quilt. I took 100 pictures (my phone died) and bought more than I planned. Who's surprised? Me! I'm generally pretty good at self-control, but apparently I lost myself. 

What did I get? Oh, a bit of fabric, a fancy stiletto/seam ripper, a flying geese ruler, and four old wooden thread spools. 

Check out this little pile. My favorite item is the stiletto/seam ripper. Ironically, it's the piece that I hope I don't use too much. I had such a difficult time deciding on the handle color. I finally chose the wooden handle. 



I still have to learn which end is which. The stiletto is gold; the seam ripper is silver. 

But the prettiest part is the wooden handle. I really like the two tone gray and beige.

The four wooden spools are for a fun project once I can get to it--a tuffet pincushion. 

Ha! There are three small pincushions sitting on my worktable waiting for filling and closing.  I'm still hopeful that I'll get to those and now this one. I really want to make a tuffet, so when I saw some mini tuffets in one of the booths, I seriously considered buying a kit. 

It didn't happen. There's no way I can afford to pay those prices, so Richard will have another project to cut the wood for the base. I think I've got all the other items, and I'm fairly sure that I can create a pattern. Now to find the time...

I'll leave you with a couple pictures of the wonderful textual fabrics that I bought. I can't believe that I bought this many fat quarters, even though some were on sale for $1.50 each! Yay! Unfortunately more of them were not on sale. Three yards total. That's not so much, right? 

Wait, a text fabric tuffet would be cute!

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: W O R D S

Oh, yes, words.  When someone is a writer and English teacher, others might expect words to have a greater impact on that someone's work and craft.  How I haven't thought to share this inspiration before, I cannot explain.  But....

Well, it does influence my work (oh, how!) and craft.  I do love those word fabrics!  And I love quilts with words on them.  And I love just about anything with letters, words, text.

It doesn't really matter what the words say.  In some cases the text is a language I can't read.  Still, I know that they are the thoughts of a person.  Perhaps a person just like me, who appreciates words. Likes words.  No, who loves words. Who knows that the words have meaning.  Who will read the words simply because the words are there.

Why no one has asked me to design fabric with text on it, I can't imagine.  It would not take me long to pull beautiful quotes from my favorite classics.

And where there's inspiration....there must be quilts!