It’s getting colder, which means I’m getting ready to go into my winter foray of sewing (poorly). I’m trying not to actually pull out my sewing machine for a while, because at the moment the sunroom table where I sew is literally covered in patterns and Aunt Martha’s transfers, and hubby will have a fit if I put more on there. It is, for the record, in his direct line of vision whilst he is on the couch (which is all day and night), so I do try to keep the pandemonium down to a minimum.
Our little town recently got a fabric store. This is a huge bone of contention between me and my husband because its been my dream to open a really good fabric store. Indiana is a fabric desert, with the sole exception (that I know of) being The French Seam, in northern Indianapolis. It’s small, but it has beautiful fabrics, and isn’t just a dearth of fleece and quilting cottons, a la Joann’s. I’ve been saying for years that I want a fabric store, and would love for it to be something like Vogue Fabrics in Chicago. We are, after all, just off the interstate. Hubby has been quite firm in saying it would never fly in our little town. He’s lived here much longer than me, so he might be right, but don’t kill my dream, man.
Then I saw that someone beat me to it. DAMN.
I haven’t been in there yet, but have been watching their Facebook page to see what they’re about. Kind of wondering if I could drop off some cards to point people my way, but haven’t decided. Then I saw that they are having sewing classes and thought, eh, maybe. Then I saw that they are doing beginning quilting classes and thought what the heck, I’ll do it. My only foray into quilting was making T shirt quilts for my husband’s boys out of their mom’s Race for the Cure shirts. They weren’t particularly well made, but at least one son appreciated it (the other threw his over the fence at me in a fit of anger. He won’t be getting it back. He’s a 50 year old brat.). I thought oh well, I can go take a class on a couple of Sunday afternoons and see what I can do.
I tried to figure out what the heck I was gonna do. The last thing we need in this house is more blankets. We have SO many. I had a memory quilt made for me last year out of my mom’s clothing, and love it. My daughter doesn’t need any more either, so making one for the grandkids was kind of out, at least for now. So I decided to make one for one of my boys. I have a bunch of my youngest’s T shirts from back in the day, and plan to make him a quilt from them, so that just left my oldest. But what kind of theme do you use for a 33 year old bachelor who is a complete free spirit who loves movies?
Why, a horror quilt, of course.
Horror is his favorite genre, so I picked out a ton ton of horror themed fabric (think: The Shining twins, Chucky, old school Dracula and Frankenstein, Freddy Krueger) for the front. The background? Blood spatter. The borders are creepy trees and more blood. I am SO creeped out by it all. I don’t like scary, even less do I like horror. The people in this class are going to think that this crazy old lady is insane, but I think it’s hilarious. Our town is super, super conservative in all of its thinking. Me? Not so much. I may need to video the reaction people have when they see what I’m doing. My friend, an expert quilter, thinks the whole concept is absolutely wonderful. This, coming from someone who goes to yarn conventions for excitement. Maybe I’m on to something?
Then I had a conversation with the Heir to the Throne, who doesn’t know I’m doing this at all. He was talking about The Sandman. Raving, in fact, about how it’s one of his favorite pieces of literature, and how Death is his favorite character. Well, now I had the back of the quilt figured out. It’s going to be quotes from The Sandman. I bought it on Spoonflower, here. See some of my other crazy choices here, here, here, here, here and here.
I’ll post pictures when I’m done. Class isn’t until the last two weekends of November.
The Vintage Fashion Librarian 