Fun with felt

Wool felt appliqué with wool embroidery. 

So. Much. Fun.

Grandma Coco: Poet Laureate of the Kingdom of Coco!

Today’s a big day here in the Kingdom of Coco. Our quilt, Supermarket Showdown, is being featured on The Wednesday Quilt Show over on Jenifer’s blog, Forty-two Quilts. (Such a good idea BTW to have a virtual quilt show….especially since the Kingdom of Coco is a little remote….not to mention snow-bound today.)

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2006

Supermarket Showdown was juried into the Grand National Quilt show at the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery in 2006. The quilt is hand appliquéd, hand embroidered and hand quilted. It measures 25” x 30” and hangs in our kitchen right now. The theme for the show was Wild Life. Get it? You can’t get much wilder than little kids.  :)

From the catalogue:

“I’m always amazed by those mothers I see grocery shopping with their youngsters. They remind me of lion tamers at the circus – only braver still since they wrangle those wild wee beasties with only bare hands and their wits.”

In her first official offering as the (self-proclaimed) Poet Laureate of the Kingdom of Coco, Grandma Coco says if you’re a young mother (or father!) who shops with little kids, this one’s for you!

Supermarket Showdown

When I go with Mom to the grocery store

There’s always so much that I want to explore.

Shiny jars and slippery cans,

Weird green zucchinis and yucky old yams.

Candies, cookies, frozen treats.

Oh, Mom! Can I? Can I? Can I, please?

When I go with Mom to the grocery store

We’re hardly inside when she starts to roar,

“Put that down! Don’t touch that! Quit hitting your sister!

You’re really in trouble. I’m warning you, mister.”

Who took my mommy? Where did she go?

This woman’s a meany. It’s all “No, no and NO!”

When I go with Mom to the grocery store

I’m in the cart. It’s not fun anymore.

Cooped up behind bars while my sister runs free.

“Aw, please, Mom,” I wheedle, “I’ll be good. You’ll see.

It’s cramped in this buggy. There isn’t much room.

There’s no one to play with and nothing to do.”

When I go with Mom to the grocery store

I sit in this cart. It’s a terrible bore.

I try to be good. I honestly do.

I check with the baby. He’s stuck in here, too!

Oh, look! Here’s a bag that’s all shiny and bright.

It’s crinkly and tinkly … oops! I’m in trouble alright!

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2006

Doodles and Darwin

Or.....the evolution of an idea.

Grandma Coco must apologize for the lack of fibery goodness lately. It's not like she isn't busy quilting and knitting. It's just that everything is Top Secret. All will be revealed in good time.

Until then, I thought I'd show you how her design process works. Almost everything begins with the sketchbook. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes, seemingly by accident. When things are slow, she just likes to sift through the events of her life as seen through her pencil. Sometimes little sketches and doodles that she did on a whim just catch her fancy, evolve and become something unexpectedly wonderful. At least to her. And if you're reading this blog, you have to know this is the Kingdom of Coco and Grandma Coco is pretty much the most important person in this kingdom.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

 Here's a drawing that came from who knows where. The kitty has wings. I have no idea why. She just showed up with wings. It may be the Kingdom of Coco but there are still some things beyond Grandma Coco's control.

Copyright © Cheryl Coville 2011

From this pencil drawing, came a simple line drawing.

And from the line drawing came the appliqué. The flowers were fun. They are just circles of printed fabrics with embroidered spirals. Don't they look like real roses? As usual the circles are simplified by drawing up the raw edge with a running stitch around a cardboard circle. Press with steam and then release the stitching to remove the cardboard. Simple. The circles are very easy to appliqué in place. Embroidering leaves here and there in a very organic and unplanned way is extremely relaxing.

 

Grandma Coco used this motif on a small bag. You're welcome to the appliqué motif. You can find it HERE. 

There was a time when Grandma Coco worried that there could only be so many ideas. What would happen when they dried up? And then, she realized that the supply is endless. Every night she dreams and although there may be repeating themes in her dreams, there are no repeated images. Every single night ....and she knows this because she is one of the fortunate who remembers her dreams....it's a new scenario. What about you? Do you remember your dreams? Are they vivid? In colour? Do you get new ideas in your dreams? Do you solve problems? Now THAT would be cool!

The Quilter's Secret Handshake

I think humans of every stripe have one thing in common. We seek contact with other humans.  And generally we feel most comfortable among people who share our interests and our cultural background. Quite simply, at school, the nerds sit with the nerds and the jocks with the cheerleaders. How we gravitate toward each other is a little more complicated.

Gay men are said to have gaydar…. a concept that I find fascinating since the penalty for misidentifying a possible contact could be pretty severe given the level of homophobia these days.

Women my age shepherding young grandchildren around the shopping mall give each other extra wide smiles in unspoken sisterhood.

Organized groups like the Freemasons….who included people like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Mark Twain…have a secret handshake.

So I guess it’s not surprising that when I see another woman knitting socks in the waiting room of my Toyota dealership, it feels totally natural to strike up a conversation with her. Oh, so what are you knitting? Oh, my, they’re beautiful. And who are they for? You know, that sort of easy introduction.

Several years ago, I was settled into the waiting room of the cardiology unit at a big hospital in Newmarket, Ontario. I’d been warned I’d be there for a while so I had brought along my knitting. Others came and went over the day. Most of them were silently worried. Some obviously bored, restless, not good waiters at all. But the knitting broke the ice for quite a few…both men and women. People wanted to reach out and make a connection. Women told me about their knitting projects and one man was intrigued that I seemed to be able to knit without looking at my work (which isn’t a very big trick at all….the totally blind knit, after all….but it’s fun to pretend we’re more accomplished than we really are).

The knitting is incidental to my story. It was the bag that held my knitting that tells the tale. I had made a quilted bag just the right size with just the right number of pockets for my knitting. I had appliquéd a design on the front of it and made the handles just long enough to sling over my shoulder. It was on the floor at my feet.

I can’t tell you how many women remarked on my bag over the 8 hours I sat there asking “Are you a quilter?”, each having recognized a kindred spirit. Once we made that connection, we could talk as if we were longtime friends just catching up.

A quilted tote bag. A quilted jacket or vest. These are the badges of our avocation. Like the silent nod or knowing smile, it’s the secret handshake that signals our membership in a very special club.

Copyright 2010 Cheryl Coville

 
In case you’d like to make a bag like mine, click here and you’ll be able to download a .PDF of the bird design.  I added 2 inch borders. The bird is appliquéd and the details are embroidered. The feather is embroidered and I embroidered Carpe Birdie-Yum! on the front…. a silly riff on Carpe Diem (Seize the Day). Now, go out and make a new friend!

Spring is Sprung

Click on the bird drawing and it will enlarge so you can print it full-size. There is a very faint outside line that should measure 8 inches square. A machine zig-zag stitch works well for the branch. It doesn't have to be exact....it's a branch! Work the branch first and then layer on the appliqué. In last week's post, you saw how we used this motif to make a group project with the Maple Leaf Quilt Guild. We added borders to each bird block and completed it in a quilt-as-you-go manner.

For perfect circles...especially small ones....cut a cardboard template (cereal boxes work well for this) of the finished size circle. Cut you fabric slightly larger all around and run a basting stitch close to the edge. Draw up the basting with the cardboard inside and iron it. When it's cool, you can loosen the basting and remove the cardboard template.

Edited Dec. 4/10 ..... If you have any difficulty with the template, just click here for the .PDF.