Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Creature Comforts Reprised.

There are a lot fewer obnoxious phone calls here in France than there are in the States. Every couple of weeks we get a phone call at 6:30pm. Bonjour madame, french french french fenetre. Ah, that word I know. They're trying to sell us double-glazing for the windows. At least that's what we assume.

I did more border auditions today with Creature Comforts. I'm out of the lizard print and I can see that the quilt does need a fabric with a lot of black in it for the bottom border. Who was the crazy person who suggested I do a lot of piecing? Are you out of your mind? Lazy, remember, lazy.

This is a dinosaur-like monster fabric that I do have enough of:

But I think I like this better. Don't have enough of either the dots or the squares to go all the way across but I like this:

And who is that little creature wanting comfort? Pokey once again showing her belly, squirming back and forth begging for rubs. You'd think she was neglected or something.

A gorgeous sign in a tiny park. I'm trying to figure out the best way of translating it. That's not "Dogs must wear leashes." It is prohibited to be careless with dogs in the park?

A different park, with a statue and a typical apartment building in the background.

The first signs of fall.

The Halloween link today is for the Whimsical Whittler. Vaughn and Stephanie Rawson do incredible hand carved folk art. This is the Halloween gallery, but they also have fantastic Christmas pieces. I love this Wizard of Oz Santa. The Americana section is a hoot, with Uncle Sam puppeteering a donkey and elephant.

I finished the book Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews today. It's a dark urban fantasy, set in future Atlanta. I love the world where waves of magic hit, rendering technology incapable of working. The heroine, Kate Daniels, is a smart mouth mage hunting whoever (whatever?) killed her guardian. We've got vampires and werewolves and yes, there are many parallels with Laurell K Hamilton (except that half the book isn't comprised of descriptions of clothes, sex, states of arousal...). I just hope this series doesn't get lame like Hamilton's did. But I'm definitely looking forward to the next one which is due next spring. You can read an excerpt at the author's website.

19 comments:

McIrish Annie said...

I like creature comforts with the skinny wavy border on the bottom. and of course kitty belly on it.

Anonymous said...

My vote is for pieced polka dots. Seeing that you have more monsters makes me think that a little monster or two need to be pieced into one of the side borders to break it up a bit and have a conversation with the center.

Laura said...

Of course I like the monster fabric!
I love the 3 Jacks, how awesome. And keep the Halloween sites coming. You know how my family loves all stuff Halloween!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I vote for a pieced border of the 2 dotted (squares?) in the proportion of each that you have showing. I think the monsters are too green and the dots are more neutral.

Donna said...

have you tried making one of the vertical boards the "odd one"? I often find I like the "feel" of that -- even with a short piece of the black towards the top of that side and then finishing the bottom part of the side with the same fabric as the other borders....

Gillian said...

"Do not allow to walk the dogs in the garden."

I am not sure whether it bans dogs altogether, or just requires dogs to be leashed. You could probably construe that by seeing whether there are dogs on leashes in the park.

Enjoying your blog, from here in Australia!

jovaliquilts said...

No one has ever accused me of lacking strong opinions, but I have to say I like all the borders, which is no help at all. I LOVE the houses! Do you have Halloween quilts for every wall this year?!?

Diane said...

Well, since you asked, I agree with my buddy Wanda. Use the two polka dot prints. The monsters are too busy. They fight with the fabulous center of the quilt.

Helen said...

I like the polka dots too! Love the quilt!!!

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

The houses and the polka dots...just too cute. Love your gorgeous work as always-you are turning me into a letters on quilts person..."there are worse things i could do."(-and don't tell me you can't pick the movie/song!)Tracey

Kristin Shields said...

I was going to mention in the previous post that the little dots or squares (or combination there of) look good to me. I think all the animals are a bit too busy. I just love those houses though. I'm getting some ideas over here!

Kathy in Seattle said...

I like the narrow strip of stripes at the bottom., no dots or monsters.You had that in your previous post, I think.
I saw a lot of fabrics from my stash in your quilt. This is making me want to finish my Clowning Around quilt now. If I didn't have to get up for work in the morning, I prob would.

Love the whittler site. I e-mailed him about prices, but I'm afraid it might be 'if you have to ask you can't afford it.' I'll let you know if I find out (unless you already know...)

Lily Mulholland said...

The semi-literal translation is: 'It is forbidden to let dogs go in the gardens.'

In other words: 'dogs must wear leashes in these gardens' - you were spot on!

And if you have to wear a mask it might as well be pink!

Katie said...

I vote for the dinosaurs! Really love those houses.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I realize as an anonymous poster I have zero credibility - not to mention this is the first time I've ever commented on your (or anyone else's blog) - but have you ever thought about not putting any borders at all on your quilts? I think this one would look smashing left in a t-shape, with the title hanging over the edges and maybe just the tiniest (really tiny, like binding width tiny) black border. Your piecing has so much life and energy, and to me the big busy borders feel kind of confining. Anyhoo, sorry for the intrusion, I'll go back to lurking now....
Anonymous Ann in Maryland

Anonymous said...

The fenĂȘtre phone call! We used to get those about once a week, and then they really picked up to once a day. Sheesh!

Gypsy Quilter said...

I really like the black polka-dot. It balances it out beautifully. And also blends well with kitty.

Finn said...

Hey ton, I rather like the dots...and of course the very elegant feline...*VBS* Fun carving too..I can see why you'd like them. Hugs, Finn

Magpie Sue said...

I confess, I'm the one who suggested more piecing for the borders [hanging head in shame]. I do like the black with dots along the bottom though. Especially with that little bit of stripe peeking out at the top...