Graffiti Quilt (one type of artist inspiring another type of artist)

I heard about "graffiti quilts" last August.  The term intrigued and excited me.   When I went on-line to look this up, I was very disappointed that some long-arm quilters were making "thread paintings," but calling them graffiti quilts.  The "graffiti quilts" I was seeing were fancy immaculate quilts, which to my mind, have nothing to do with graffiti.  I think, actual graffiti makes a statement in a bold and raw fashion.  I had a discussion, about this situation with a fellow quilter, who's little group of quilters decided to each make a graffiti quilt, but not with thread painting.  They wanted to do small wall-hangings that had a message in a bold fashion.  I thought they were quite good and not fancy and elegant.  I started my own "graffiti quilt" in November.  

I decided to use some words from a song as a statement in my graffiti quilt.  I mulled it over for a while, then went with Once in a Lifetime, by the Talking Heads.  

My wall-hanging is 15.5" X 22".  I sewed a casing on the back and cut a branch from the bush in our front yard to hang it on, using a ribbon that had previously tied up a stack of fat quarters.  I used what I had on hand to make it.  The words are painted on white muslin with woodless watercolor pencils.  The entire thing is quilt-as-you-go.  The backing, batting, and the two pieces of fabric behind the Roman pillar started out as a piece to practice my stippling on.  I just added everything else to it.  This is my graffiti. 

All Kinds of Quilts

I have been making all kinds of quilts these last couple of months.  The big 'Drunkard's Pink" quilt, I finished in November, but have not managed to take a photo of it.  We headed out to Scentsy on Saturday morning, early, and it was too windy.  It was also biting cold!  We jumped back in the Blazer and came home.  The wind has not died down yet.  What is with the wind this year?

I got my BoM quilt back from the long-arm quilters on Thursday.  I just need to sqaure it up and get a binding on it, and it will be finished.  It is the main one for my quilt group's 2021 quilt challenge.  I am so excited it is almost finished!

In October, I did piece an adorable wall-hanging for a friend.  I finished quilting it late last week.  The measurements are 14" X 15.5".

The bird block I got from Lynne Tyler's blog: patcherymenagerie.blogspot.com     I made four of these blocks, just to see if I could do it (and I was procrastinating getting my other quilt projects done).  I put one of the birds in this wall-hanging.  One is in the vertical row quilt that is currently on my design wall.  The other two have Santa hats and will go in my Christmas quilt that I hope to make in 2022.

In November, I did a presentation on ways to bind or finish your quilts.  It was at my quilt group in Kuna.  I started by demonstrating a 'turned quilt'.  You actually sandwich the front, batting, and back first, then you turn it, then you do all the quilting.  

You can see there is no binding on this quilt.  It is all stitch-in-the-ditch, so you don't really see the quilting either.  If it were not so bright, I would call it invisible.  I made this quilt specifically for my presentation, so I simply used some orphan blocks and did not take any time to worry about aesthetics.  It was a demo.  I did get a few good comments on it, but I am wondering why.  It is quirky, but not that good looking.  The blocks are 12" X 12".  I suppose it would be a fun quilt for a three-year-old to have a picnic with her tea set and dolls.

I did complete a large baby quilt, that I was commissioned to do.  It is a Dr. Suess baby quilt.  I need to get a photo of it, as well.  I am excited to get it 'delivered' this week, so it is out of my hands.  I will get those photos posted as soon as I manage to get some taken.