Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

Don't sweat the small stuff. Sorry if that's an overused phrase that gets your hackles up, but they are words I try to live by in both life and quilting.

Jude recently made an improvised horse and was saying "oops" because she forgot the ear. It's a marvelous horse, you can tell exactly what it is, so what does an ear matter? The trick is to get enough details to get your point across, you don't have to have them all.

See if you can identify the next three Halloween images. The third one is tricky, but I think it's doable if you keep my entertainment choices in mind.



So first off is the witch. She's got the requisite pointy hat and black dress with Wizard of Oz witch striped stockings and admittedly clown-sized ruby slippers. Witch also has a black cat. Back when I made this quilt I was experimenting with different ways to piece improvisationally. The technique I used on cat (layering two fabrics together, slicing the outlines and then making two blocks with reverse-color images) didn't work very well and I've pretty much given up on it. Can you read what the words say around the witch?

Another Wizard of Oz reference: I'll get you my pretty. These words are difficult to read because I used such a busy print for the letters, something I avoid these days.

Dracula is pretty easy with his big fangs and dramatic cape. I like the widow's peak as well. You'll notice lots of things are missing: eyes, nose, lips, ears, hands and feet. Does it matter? He vants to drink your blood.

Here's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, here to save the day. (I know that's Underdog's motto, but I thought it applied.) I gave Buffy her blonde (okay, orange) hair, a tank top and a raised stake.

These are all blocks from my Happy Howloween quilt. I posted a very lousy pic of it years ago, but don't bother to go back and look for it. I'll post a good one once I'm allowed to hang the quilt up on the wall. I made it way back in 2001, one of my early letter/improvisation quilts. One thing I notice is the the way I made my Y's with a slant, rather than the way I do it now (upside down h with an additional bit).

Book recommendation: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. It's a fantasy, magical heist novel. It's about a great con, ala The Sting and Inside Man, as well as a story of loss, revenge, and death. I want to call it light-hearted fun, but it is quite serious as well. Check out the author's site to see other recommendations and read a sample. 5 out of 5.

DVD recommendation: Heroes Season One. Woohoo I finally got to watch it all. You know I love superheroes, stories with intricate plots, and time travel, so this show was right down my alley. I loved the ruminations on what it means to be a hero and how it's not about having super powers but how you behave and Is there such a thing as destiny and can the future be changed? Some of the characters are very ambigous - are they good or evil or just misguided.

My favorite character was far and away Hiro, who turns away from a traditional homogeneous Japanese life to do something remarkable. I loved his "sidekick" Ando as well. He definitely had the Xander job - the superhero's heart. And Hiro's father? Excellent casting.

My favorite episode was "Five Years Gone" when we get a grim peek into what the future will be like if the explosion in NYC can't be prevented. Reminded me of my favorite X-Men storyline where Phoenix Rachel went into the future to see how the mutants have been hunted down. (Was that called Days of Future Past or is that just a Moody Blues song?) Yes my inner geek is showing.

[added later: How geeky exactly am I? I just looked up Days of Future Past and X-men and found an entry for it on Wikipedia. It was Kitty that went into the future, not Rachel. How could I have made that error? Well, it was back in 1981 so guess it's been awhile.]

Anyway, Heroes gets 5 out of 5 in my book. I'm going to make my husband try it and I'm really looking forward to seeing it again, knowing what I know now. I'm still not sure all the little plot points hang together, but as I said earlier, don't sweat the small stuff. Just enjoy the show.

18 comments:

dutchcomfort said...

I’m not familiar with Halloween, so I like you telling about it. I love the way you courageously have made your first letterquilts!

Lily Mulholland said...

I knew it was Buffy! Very clever Tonya :)

comicbooklady said...

Tonya, you know more about x-men than me! You do know that Joss Whedon is writing The Astonishing X-men comic series now? I agree Heroes is one of my favourites too, so many surprises, twists and turns. I can't wait to see where it goes!

søren said...

I LOVE that little vampire!
and i knew it was Buffy right away!

Cher said...

yes, I too knew Buffy-your point is well made-the suggestion is enough=have you read Eragon by Christopher Paolini? I am on the second book now-with the third due out -not sure when. pretty entertaining in my opinion.

Donna said...

it is rather amazing how we look for things to tie ourselves up in knots about -- almost afraid to just enjoy sometimes I think :-)

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

I am very proud-picked Buffy straight away...I may have stuffed up with Grease but I knew the taste in Buffy!!!Tracey

Katie said...

Oh just enough to get the idea. I like the way you used to make the letter "y". I need to keep a log of some kind with all the ideas out there now. So much playing going on. Fun.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Very fun! I like the slanted y's!

Quilting Pirate said...

LOL...I love the Buffy block!!

Magpie Sue said...

I can't wait to see the picture of the whole quilt!

Loved the Cross-Eyed Spider. Is it possible to have too many spiders on Blooming Horrors? ;- )

jmb_craftypickle said...

needed to read your blog today! LOVE the halloweenies...Buffy, all of it. I too love Hiro, he is just too much. Also tonight we are revisiting the Buffy musical episode...some liked it and some didn't...I am hooked by cheese. Thanks for the great inspiration!

Anonymous said...

i left a comment here this morning but somehow it got lost...love the witches stockings, what's her shoe size?

jenclair said...

Love the witch!! Yes, I will have to schedule everything around the Heroes episode very soon. Monday nights last year were planned around Heroes, and I'm ready to carry on with the adventure.

Molly Mandeville Fryer said...

WOW! Got me in the Halloween sprit---BOO! I love you header. Wish I knew how to do one That includes my own quilts.

Helen in the UK said...

What fun quilt blocks - particularly love the witch with her green face and stripped stockings!! Wonderful :)

PaMdora said...

Hiad to laugh at the horse story. We have a ceramic cat with a broken ear that was made by my husband's roommate when then were at the KC art Institute. He said when he asked Sam what happened to the ear, Sam said, Oh, it's supposed to t be like that. We love the cat though, it's sort of primitive looking tiger stripped cat with looong legs, so the broken ear sort of does fit in.

You're good if you're working on Halloween stuff. I'm still working on stuff I should have done last month!

atet said...

Love the details from the Howloween quilt and actually, I got Buffy right away (how could I not?)

BTW -- speaking of spooky fare -- be proud of me, I went and saw a scary movie last night with dh. The newest Resident Evil is out and we went. Creepier than the second with lots of stuff jumping out -- I only had to leave to go to the bathroom twice (admittedly, one of those was a legitimate trip).