In the fall of 2003, my husband and I were in a temporary apartment waiting for our move to Cairo. That was in our life before cats. I had hardly any of my quilt and craft supplies and I was going nuts. So what to do? Go buy more. I bought this fun Alexander Henry fabric and decided to use it as the basis of a crusty.
Buuuut... I just wanted to focus on three jack-o-lanterns and not have the background cluttered with more. Just wanted black with hints of purple. What to do... I embroidered over it in my typical thready fashion. And it turns out if you're going to do all that background, you better do the foreground too.So I threadied the whole thing. And then covered most of it with buttons so you can't even see all that work I did. This is 3 Jacks:
It was a lot of work. I might just be insane. Unsurprisingly, this is the wobbliest piece I've made. It's not very big. The center jack measured 6" across before I started work on him. [this piece is in a box somewhere and I have no idea how big the whole piece actually measures.]By the way, I was photographing the fabric and the picture of 3 Jacks was on the computer monitor and my husband realized that I'd used the fabric for the base of the work. His comment? "So it's basically paint-by-numbers." Yup, just that easy. sigh.
Editorial note: if you want to know more about crusties and threadies, use the labels in my sidebar to read previous posts.
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21 comments:
Hello Tonya:
You worked a lot in it, and the result it's very nice.
Thanks for share your work with all of us once more time.
Bring on all the Halloween stuff you want. I certainly will enjoy seeing them.
What a great way to use that fabric. I just love the how the threading adds such dimension.
What a great thready/crusty! And what is wrong with paint-by-numbers? In some circles they are highly collectable....
I bought my halloween candy on Friday...don't want to miss out on the good stuff. Now let's see if it is still around in two months!
Love Halloween and love your crusties!
Hurrray for Halloween! Bring it on!
I must have missed that particular jack o'lantern print... or I have it in another colorway and don't recognize it in orange! Love what you did with it!
Holy cats! You ARE insane....
Wow! this is a terrific one Ton!! Two halloweens have passed since I met you and you are only NOW showing this one??? I feel cheated! Luckily I love ALL the other ones!! And I have enough love for these guys too!
Great piece of work. Paint by number..>? Isn't that similar to diplomacy by Dewey Decimal ??? I mean if they solved the situation once why not just repeat what they figured out? *VBS* Can't wait to see more! Hugs, Finn
Very fun! As is everything you make... I feel the need of Halloween decor too, but I don't think a Halloweeny (I love that word) quilt is going to happen at my house this year. I'll just have to live vicariously through you.
LOVE 3 Jacks... just love it... every single bit of it!
Wow, I don't think I've ever seen that one! It is amazing what you started with and what you ended up with! I like it!
OK, I read COLD GRANITE and it's all your fault! Thanks for recommending the book.
I love the thready, it's just wonderful! It's something I'll probably never do, and it makes me appreciate yours all the more. Please show us ALL your Halloween stuff, we don't celebrate it here, so it's a novelty for me!
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)
How fun! Of course, since you showed us how easy it was starting with a novelty fabric, I bet we'll be seeing these on other blogs.
I have an urge to run right out and do one myself but I'm going to stick to my new obsession - making and hand quilting doll quilts. (Along with the large stack of tops waiting for quilting).
I was so tempted to take your class even with everything else I'm trying to get done but it filled up while I was still debating whether I could find time for it.
I can't wait to see the projects everyone works on and I'll be watching for the next class.
What an amazing transformation. It's definitely more than paint by numbers.
I totally love this! If it's just paint by numbers, anybody could make one that looks like this, and we know that's not true!
All of these Halloween pieces are wonderful but 3 Jacks is inspired! It is everything it needs to be and more - perfect!
Denise
Tonya, I'm not one for celebrating Halloween. But I am one to celebrate whimsical, original folk art! I loved the Alexander Henry fabric. What fun. But when I saw what you did with it, I flipped! Your Three Jacks are just the most terrifical Halloween things I've ever seen.
I missed that Halloween fabric too. The Alexander Henry prints are so great but the stores are afraid to take a chance on them for fear they won't sell. I love all of your stitching on it.
Wanda
Oh my! That fabric is one I would have loved to find, but what you did with it is amazing! So, so cool. I love Halloween too, but my collection of Halloween goodies pales in comparison. I can't wait to see what you have in store for the next two months!
Wow. Just wow. I've never seen a "crusty" before and I've never seen anything like this. Incredible!
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