Analogue Chic

Posts Tagged ‘Creative Quilting magazine’

I’m working on some bigger, long-term projects (which you will hear about, all in good time…), but wanted to give a quick look at some of the smaller projects I’ve accomplished lately.

 Clockwise:

• boxers for my man – Simplicity 9958; I shortened the legs just a tad, they were old-school long. Fabulous, easy-peezy pattern.  This feller looks remarkably like the wearer:
• owl potholder – knitting pattern from Workbasket Magazine, July 1995, which noted the pattern had also been printed on Aunt Lydia’s Rug Yarn (is that still even produced?) years before.  This was inspired by this beautiful sweater– I can’t afford that much yarn, so a potholder from leftover yarn will have to do me.
• Fascinator - jerry-rigged from purchased feathers, ribbon and doodads from my stash, held together with dental floss (yes, really) on a plastic haircomb.
• Chicken of the Sea Purse – first mentioned here.  Made from a pattern from Creative Quilting Magazine, with some adaptations. 
• Madame X embroidery – I’ve been itching to do some embroidery ever since I found a very colorful, straightforward book at my grocery store, of all places (see sidebar, What I’m Reading). This was my own pattern, adapted from a stencil my sister helped me make years ago; just brown embroidery floss on a scrap of hot pink crap satin, outlined with stem stitch, filled in with satin stitch.  Sargent is one of my favorite painters, and this painting is just so badass. Sargent’s work is very much tied up with Edith Wharton in my mind, and I’ve been thinking about all these folks a lot, as far as ambience and fashion and textiles.  See:

Edith Wharton – Age of Innocence – by AllieAnalogue on Polyvore.com
Edith Wharton at Home – by AllieAnalogue on Polyvore.com

Mmmm, indexing

Oooh, lucky me!!!  I’ve inherited/rescued from incineration my Grandma’s collection of back issues of Creative Quilting and Workbasket magazines from the 80′s into the 90′s and 00′s.  From what I have found in my research, both of these magazines are now out of print.  CQ‘s theme is obvious, but it’s not just bedspreads and wallhangings, there are some cute and/or interesting projects with the potential for updating and re-interpreting.

Such as:

Chicken of the Sea purse

I plan to update this kind of tacky bag into something a little classier, but still cheeky enough for the rockabilly/roller derby/neo-pinup girls.

And if and when I plan to really get down with my stitching roots, I might make a quilt in this gorgeous Hawaiian pattern, using naturally died organic cotton or hemp fabric:

Workbasket is a more general needlework and craft project digest, with a little of everything.

The plan is to index all the issues, and hopefully scan and PDF the photos and instructions and make them available on the web.  As a crafter, and a feminist, I feel a sense of obligation to archive and preserve these projects, articles and other tidbits, because clearly a lot of work went into designing them and producing these magazines for 20-odd years, and it’s a lengthy record of Women’s Work in a continuous line from the past…. in spite of their propensity to use cheezy pre-printed quilt patterns and come up with RIDICULOUS outfits like these:

Is that woman wearing a quilt?!

Because in the end, I’m just indulging my obsession with organizing, indexing and archiving.  Crazy quilt-vomit craft projects are just icing on the cake.

I’ve already started indexing CQ, so if you’re crafty and on the hunt for new, wacky projects, or just classic quilt patterns, stay tuned here for updates.