Thursday, February 16, 2006

My opus magnum

I am desperately trying to finish projects, unfinished quilts in particular. Sitting next to me with a cat on top is a baby quilt I am making for a girlfriend's little one. It is made of the left over fabric from my masterpiece.

A little less than a year ago I was in the midst of design panic. One of my dearest friends had called to let me know that she had gotten engaged and had a question to ask me.

"Fire away," I said.

"You can say no, " she said. "Will you make the chuppah for my wedding?"

I was so relieved that she didn't ask me to be a bridesmaid that I said yes immediately and without reservation. Then I got shortness of breath and sweaty palms thinking about what I, a nice Presbyterian girl, had just agreed to do.

"You know, if you just throw a bunch of tulle in the trees that will be ok too..." Yeah right! This woman has been my friend since college, she knows how I am about inflexible deadlines.

So, a ton of sketches later, and discussions about whether or not her mom would have a fit if I used ski lift tickets as fringe, this is the design that landed on the chuppah...just kind of happened. Oy!


My methods were highly unorthadox, but then what do you expect from a shiksa making a chuppah? I was rapidly running out of time, so everything was heat fused to muslin. And then machine quilted to hold everything down. This thing ate thread, worried friends made multiple emergency runs to the fabric store for more, and I managed to sew my finger onto the chuppah. Yup, blood, sweat and tears. Gulp.

It was finished the day before...amazing, I know. The wedding was lovely and of course I boohooed a bunch. Here's the chuppah in action.

And the finished project! The heart on the tree says, "Lenny loves Amy." Ahhhh!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Hi, to anyone who might read this, my first venture into blogging! Yippeee! For so long I have been hanging out reading the blogs of some incredibly talented artists and crafters. A few of them are my friends and many I would love to invite into my circle of friends. All have inspired me to throw my proverbial hat into the ether.

So,about moi....I am a single forty-something in center city Philadelphia, living with my two black cats, Artemis and Tosca. I am a quilter and a compulsive knitter with no clue about gage. A direct result of my gage-impairment is that I knit a lot of scarves and felted handbags. Photography is another of my favorite things, particularly photographing buildings and urban geography.

Ciao mes amici!