Seems that we all have a lot to express these days! From words of love and warmth to those of political resistance, action and claiming back power that some would want to take from us.
While I know I must have seen text on quilts before, since really this is not new I can remember rounding the corner at a quilt show a few years ago and seeing the word * FUCK YOU CANCER* in the center of a quilt and it was like a gut punch. On my part it was the powerful feeling of having been so devastated that the maker put her words into action but for others it was seeing the use of the word “Fuck” in such a bold public place. Want to learn more about the ~ Fuck quilts?… READ ON HERE
To say it stirred controversy in the quilt world would be an understatement. I posted a photo of the Fuck You Cancer Quilt to my Facebook BAQS page and I think it was the first time we had true fighting on the page leading to some people leaving and one person being banned for her hateful words to another that she refused to take back. In the end it established the tone for the page and I have not looked back from taking strong stands for our quilt world.
You Are My SunShine by Maddie Kertay
Some people who make text quilts are great at making them on the fly and some want a little more direction. When someone asks me where I started with my You are My Sunshine quilt I am quick to let them know that the paper pieced alphabet I used came from the book Quilt Talk by Sam Hunter. I still adore this quilt and it hung in my shop for years selling copy after copy of Quilt Talk to many happy customers.
FUN FACT – When sam asked me to make a quilt for the book I had NEVER paper-pieced ANYTHING so it is to her great credit that her diagrams and how-to’s are so good that on the first try I made this fun little quilt. (Sam, I am glad I did not let you down!)
I could not be more thrilled that Sam and by extension her business Hunter’s Design Studio are now part of the BAQS Preferred Partner network. SO keep your eyes peeled for more of her work around here starting with this fantastic coupon code that will get you FREE SHIPPING on her book Quilt Talk this week. The code is quilttalk4baqs and is good this week only ( May 8th-12th)
While over on her website make sure to check out her patterns. Sam is an independent pattern designer with her book and patterns in many of today’s best shops. But if your shop does not happen to carry her stuff you can find it right here!
just a little sample.. way more on her site!
You can also score some amazing paper piecing resources over on her site including the occasional free pattern.. so don’t miss signing up for that! HERE
And we can’t let a chance like this go by without a GIVEAWAY!.. I mean after all this is BadAss Quilters Society where we can not afraid to buy your affections with amazing prizes in addition to our liberal use of salty language!
To win your own copy of Quilt Talk by Sam Hunter you will need to leave a comment below telling us what YOU would put on a text-quilt!
Funny, meaningful or profane, or maybe a bit of all of them it all counts!
Leave your comment below and we will pick a winner on the Friday May 12th.
WE HAVE A WINNER – Look for the announcement over on our FB page.
My quilt will say, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.”
I actually spent a few hours last night cutting out letters(by hand!!) for my first text quilt.
Always be yourself
Unless you can be a unicorn
Then always be a unicorn
Today, the tediousness of applique lol.
I think I’d have to do two different ones. One that is inspirational and one that isn’t so much….
Sitting quiet, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself. A saying I learned while regularly going to a place to meditate with others.
The second one would either be all the swear words I use, normal ones, plus the creative ones I make up. Or F me sideways, what fresh hell is this, and what in the name of all that is holy….
One more possible- lost my dad in nov, and now everything is referred to as new normal, so something like new normal IS normal to remind me that change happens and life must go on.
I’m tempted to make one that says, “Fuck housework.” to hang in my studio.
Enjoy the Moment
I have a scifi con badge that says “Cat hair is the new black.”
I made a quilt for our guild challenge. It read: Imagination is more important than knowledge. Einstein.
I won a blue ribbon!
I would like to make a quilt that says “Welcome” for the wall in my entry. I would also like to make one that has all of my favorite swear words that I say almost every time I piece a quilt – Shit! & Damn it! are my most-used. Funny how quilting makes me swear but I love it so much! This one would NOT hang in my entry!! Ha Ha! I’ve been eyeing Sam’s book, but I haven’t had the best of luck with paper piecing. Maybe this is the book for me!!
I always told me niece “I love you to pieces” so when she graduated from high school that is what I appliqued on the back.
Fuck cancer
First thought was ITMFA…then it came to me “I am too old to act my age”
I’m thinking maybe some inspirational birth messages to hang in our midwife call room.
Birth happens. Just be. Respect birth…
Midwives make happy birthdays everyday. If I ever retire I can create from all my memories; I’ll have a bit more rest then 🐣
This is very relevant – I was just looking up alphabet blocks a few days ago!!
I put ” you are loved”! You can’t tell your loved ones that too often!!
Be Unexpected. This is from a series of mysteries by Dorothy Gilman centered on Mrs. Pollifax; she gives up being what others expect old ladies to be to have adventures as a spy. I want to remember to challenge the norms.
I’d love to do either “this one goes to eleven” or “don’t make me loose the flying monkeys”. The first would be for my husband, the second for me. I’m also fond of “grace, hope, love”
“Tina’s Happy Place”. This may not be funny but is very meaningful for me.
My current saying at work is “OFFS!!” When I’m frustrated. It stands for “Oh for f@$ks sake!!”
My words would be
NEVER give up on your DREAMS!!
I’m having far to many issues with strangers, family, so called friends and their attitudes towards my recent disability so I’ve found 2 very simple but very suitable quotes. Firstly there is “Not my monkey, not my circus” and then ” A lion doesn’t concern themselves with opinions of sheep”. Both very suitable for any occasion but very powerful words.
What a great book Sam has written, if I don’t have any luck winning I will defend namely be purchasing the book as you have given me the strength to create both my quote quilts with my head held high 💞🦁
Oh these ideas are so rich! 🤣 The possibilities just boggle the mind!
I have put words on quilts a few times- usually names or a quote. But- lately I have been thinking of a statement or message… For example: creator bless my sleep, as it is above- so it is below.
I am making a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews when they graduate from high school and this would be perfect for a pieced backing to add each persons name to their quilt. Not a mantra or as profound as the words suggested by others but I like the idea of personalizing them in that way.
Instantly my mind went to two quotes from two of my favorite movies. “Is this your homework Larry?” from the Big Lebowski or “This one goes to eleven” from This is Spinal Tap. Both would be loved by my husband. 🙂 Such fun ideas
I think I’d put “RESIST” for obvious reasons.
I would like to put “I’m not lost, i’m in paradise!” or “not all who wander are lost” – these seems to be a reoccurring theme for me these days! Although I do like “clutter” or busyness in my quilts, I’d want this one to be uncomplicated.
I am a white woman with an adult biracial daughter. Strangers are surprised I’m her mother and I made a quilted wall hanging with the words “I’M THE MOTHER!” to get the point across!!
My friends and I saw this the other day. I’m thinking of putting it on a pallet and hanging it in my living room,
“I’m just a mom,
standing in my house,
Trying not to lose my shit.
I have two catch phrases I use.
Just another day in paradise! And
We’re having fun now!
I can see the background as a landscape of paradise and people playing and dancing!
Don’t confuse my personality with my attitude. My personality is who I am; my attitude depends on who you are! To
“Created by a Badass Quilter!”
Dang, so much negative creeping into my life these days, I want to make a quilt that says “My Happy Place.” Whether it hangs on the wall in my sewing room or covers me up watching a movie, I sometimes need reminding that my home is my refuge and I don’t have to let the buggers in.
I’m going through a divorce and to say it’s been a rough ride is an understatement. A friend sent me an article about toxic relationships and it featured the phrase, “No more.” I think that says it all. I think it would make a cool quilt done in a spiked font as seen in tribal tattoos.
There is a neighbor kid who spends much of his free time at my house wrapped up in my couch quilts and playing online games with my son. Recently he joked that I need to make him a t-shirt that says “I’m just here for the wifi!” I told him no, that’s going on a quilt. I plan to have the quilting be all kinds of gaming names and terms.
I would do either Progress over perfection or Listen with your eyes.
I HAVE to do the little you are my sunshine wall hanging for the new granddaughter we have coming, when I thought there weren’t going to be anymore! After that I may get more daring 😉
Round is also a shape and here I am rocking it!
Fight for your rights!
Just because I don’t have a dick doesn’t mean I’m a nobody!
Dump the Trumps!
“Respond = positive React = negative”
“Think, don’t assume”
“Opinions are not facts”
And on a lighter note, “Coffee Forever!”
I have designed a quilt in my head only, for my graduating grandson, that is phrases andbwords he uses, as well as words that describe his passions in life, including political opinion….he wants to be a journalist 🙂 But I have been stuck not knowing how to make my idea come to life!
My current mantra is… There is no wine in Prison…
It has kept several people alive recently.
I have two:
“My monkeys fly!”
and
“Life’s too short to drink cheap whiskey.”
I currently have a text quilt hanging in an exhibit called Pushing Boundao titled The Safety Pin. My text is embroidered and is an explanation of the safety pins many of us started wearing after the election. I am currently in the planning stages of making another that will be titled Make America Kind Again.
Gosh I have so many ideas. Maybe Hope, Grace and love. My daughters names Abigail Hope and Jorja May. I love the you are my sunshine. I love you to the moon and back.
Just have to say again that I’m so blessed to have found this group. Also cancer is horrible and I do respect a quilter or anyone saying their heart. Thanks again!
I do like the idea of Sweet Dreams. That would nice for anyone to sleep under!
Thanks for the chance.
“Not my circus, not my monkeys.” It really helped me get through my last year of work before I retired. I was a very conscientious worker, but it took me a long time to learn that I couldn’t control everything and that sometimes you just have to let things go.
“Breathe” is my first thought, but I really Like Nevertheless, she persisted. Hmmm, I feel inspiration brewing!
“I AM GOD!”
With pretty course of men and women of all colors, shapes, sizes, etc
“There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in”
i just finished two text quilts in the past few weeks, one with an embroidered border that says “not all pussies are pink, not all women have pussies” and a paperpieced mini that says “feminist”.
i also have one in progress that says “fuck this shit, it’s naptime” that i started so long ago that it’s all freehand lettering, while lately I’ve been doing paperpieced lettering. i guess I’ll have to decide if i want to go back to freehand, or if i should just start over!
I’ve been kicking around ideas for one that says, “WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS?” but haven’t sketched anything out yet.