January in Review

It seems shocking that the first month of 2014 is already over! January flew by!

January had it's ups and downs. The weather was mostly bleak, but with shining moments of bright sun and snow. I feel like I was sick almost every day this month so I stayed inside at home for most of it, some days not even being able to get out of bed. Despite that, I managed to have my first finish of 2014 done on the 6th. I was also able to complete 2 quilt tops, and 2 quilt bottoms, baste them, and start the quilting on one. 

We were able to get out and see some great art at both the New Museum and the MOMA. Seeing more art and culture (for lack of a better word) is a huge priority for 2014. It feels like we are off to a great start. We were very lucky that my dad was able to join us on one of our museum jaunts. But besides that, January saw a sad lack of seeing family and friends. Hopefully February will change that trend. 

I've been extremely grateful for the continued interest in my work via this blog and instagram. Please feel free to always comment and like, follow, or contact me!

1) This month started off bright and cold. 2) We did only a little shopping and exploring during the first month. I left this vintage beaded dress behind, but took some photos with me. 3) We saw so much great art, mostly modern! 4) Lots of snow made for great light, but bitter mornings. 

1) Working on a huge all gingham quilt took up much of Jan. Bippi helped! 2) A serious watcher on my way to work. This pic was even featured on South Slope News. 3) Doing laundry on a cold wet January day kinda sucks. But seeing this watcher helped. 4) The whole family spent a lot of time cuddled under blankets and quilts. 

1) Working in DUMBO has the advantage of letting me see some great views. January saw some extreme fog, wild rain and snow, and great clouds 2) Quilts are stacking up to be completed. 3) Pit might have been less than thrilled with all the gingham. 4) An unexpected dragon. 

Well, January, it seemed short and not altogether sweet but we made it through! Let's see what February holds...

First Finish of Two Thousand Fourteen

What does one do when a quilt spans the years? If most of a quilt was created in one year, but completed in another, what category do we put it under? This is a new dilemma for me, and I'd like to know how others tackle it!

Although most of the work on my latest quilt was done in the latter part of 2013, it was technically finished in the early days of 2014. I struggled with whether to call this a 2013 quilt... But I decided that it will be my First Finish of 2014!!

I really thought this quilt was going to be a regular rectangle. But they always somehow get out of control and go all wonky. That's what I get for not measuing. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

This is one of my Squares and Strips quilts, which is what I call my version of a crazy patchwork. I used many browns and blues from my stash, mostly vintage and thrifted. It also contains new fabric. Although the front is mostly brown, it also contains white on white and black. Some of my favorite pieces are repurposed black jeans, some tree fabric that my mom and I thrifted last summer, and a swatch of brown and gold that came to live with my when my husband did. 

There is a patchwork patch of blues on the front that contains some of my all time favorite anchor fabric that I bought new. 

Sometimes not having enough fabric for a backing makes everything more interesting. 

The back has a reverse style design. Mostly blue with a patch of brown patchwork. The main bit of blue comes new from Brooklyn General. The binding on the front also follows this "reverse" theme, blue where the front is brown and brown where the front is blue (pretty much). 

I used some of my favorite precut squares in this quilt. Both vintage and new. 

This quilt is completely hand pieced, basted, quilted and bound. It's my largest to date and has the most quilting. It was a blast to make and it might be one that I keep for myself. 

My cats Bippi and Tom spent a lot of time with me on this one. It's pretty fun to snuggle under!

Wrinkly Old WIPs

I've noticed there's a lot of quilting lingo out there. Some of the terms I like, some not so much. WIP (Work In Progress) is fine, normal everyday. UFO (UnFinished Object) on the other hand.... Not my favorite. I choose not to use it. (HST [Half Square Triangles], by the way, I quite enjoy.) 

 My sewing work generally breaks down like this:

I always have one or two quilts that I'm really working on at any given moment. Those I don't even consider WIPs bc they are active and getting done. These quilts could be in almost any state of progress. I like to have a few since I sew everything by hand. My hands tend to get tired but not my mind. I need one quilt getting pieced and also one getting quilted or bound. That way, when my hands start to hurt, or I have to give my callouses a day to rest, I can switch up the type of sewing that I'm doing. 

Next I have my ongoings. Little projects that aren't fully formed in my mind, or scrap projects. These are often littered about, sometimes easy to find and add to, sometimes not. These probably don't have a clear ending in mind. When they do, they will most likely move into the first category. Until then, these could be considered WIPs. 

Then there are the theoreticals. These are sometimes stacks I've pulled or stacks I'm adding to. Or fabric I'm just not using bc it seems to have a quilt waiting for it, eventually. Most times, these are only ideas I have for quilts. These really cannot be considered WIPs, bc they don't usually even exist. Yet. 

And lastly, I have the stalled quilts. These are mostly what I really think of as my WIPs. These are mostly quilts that I had to stop bc I didn't have the right fabric for them, or I got to a point where I wasn't sure what to do next, or didn't have the space to complete the next step. Occasionally, these are quilts that I just stopped bc I didn't feel like working on them. Not long ago, I was able to photograph some of this kind of WIPs. 

I started this quilt late last Summer, or during the Fall. I had some reclaimed bright feed sack squares and wanted a really bright vibrant quilt to showcase them. I started making blocks with lots of little fiddly bits and all the yellow I could find. I made six blocks and started putting them together, but ran out of the right yellows and the motivation. 

This is a quilt I worked on last Fall while working on another that has since been completed. Also using reclaimed blocks, I finished this top pretty quickly, but have stalled out on the back. For many of my quilts I wait to find just the right fabric to finish. And since I get most of my materials vintage or thrifted, this could take a long time. 

This poor little guy has been waiting a very long time to finish. Started in AZ at my BFF's house in 2010, this mini only needs the quilting and binding finished.  I chose a particularly annoying quilting pattern for this quilt, then lost the thread I was using, then, who knows.... One day, it will get done. 

Every once in a while, I pull out these WIPs (plus more. But not too many more...) to look at, remember, or to see if anything in my stash has become usable for. These three may be doomed to stay in the pile, tho, at least for the time being. Just bc I'm not picking up these projects doesn't mean I'm not sewing! I'm making more WIPs all the time. 

The start of one busy quilt...

Modern Art in the New Year

As a belated xmas gift, we took my father to the MOMA last week. We specifically went to see a Magritte exhibit that ends tomorrow. That means there's still two days, if you want to catch it! My father is a huge Magritte fan and we always try to catch any retrospective that travels our way. It's always nice to see the old favorites, like old friends, and there's always a piece or two that I haven't seen before, or haven't seen live. This time, I discovered Le Chant De L'orage which has been on my thoughts ever since. 

No photos were allowed for the Magritte exhibit, but I couldn't help myself. 

Any trip to the MOMA requires that we visit our favorites. Such as Duchamp's To Be Looked at (from the Other Side of the Glass) with One Eye, Close to, for Almost an Hour, or Oppenheim's Object 

The MOMA has quite a few nice Duchamp pieces. The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a ton, as well. Worth a trip!

I'm not sure why this furry cup has always been so appealing to me!

Not only are many modern art works reminiscent of quilts, some of them are quilts! Like Rauschenberg's Bed. 

Detail of Bed. Not the best lighting. 

And in keeping with a theme lately, we stumbled on a Yoko Ono work that I had not seen before. I wonder if perhaps she is my spirit guild this year?

I'm a fan of Art Books, in general.

I also like instructionals. Is that even a thing in art? It should be. 

All in all, a great trip into The City and a a great start to the new year. I fully intend that this year shall be full of good art, good work, good trips, good family and friends, and good times. 

If you live in the area and haven't checked out the MOMA, or haven't been recently, you should go! We bought a years membership ($70) which paid for itself just on this visit. 

Stephen (my father) and I in some Modern Art. He looks so serious here, but he had a good time. 

Mad Cat Quilts Welcomes Library Card!

 Only the first week of 2014 and new exciting things are already brewing here at Mad Cat Quilts!

The only thing better than a pile of quilts is being snuggled up underneath them! 

The site has been slightly updated.

The Portfolio section has been updated with better pictures of the 2013 Collection.  The photo are not the complete collection as there are a few things that are still un-given gifts. When the remaining pieces go up, I'll be sure to let you know! 

A link to Mad Cat Quilts official Instagram has been added in the navigational bar. It's gaining followers and I hope to gain more in the coming months. There's an upcoming giveaway planned, so stay tuned for more info!

The Shop has also been updated! Go check it out for new pieces, new prices, and best of all new creators!

Mad Cat Quilts proudly presents the addition of Library Card goods for sale!

 Library Card creates unique handmade items.

Library Card creations are handmade in Brooklyn and feature a variety of useful objects.

To start, Mad Cat Quilts now has Library Card 2 and 3 pocket wallets for sale! These wallets are super soft and made in a variety of interesting pattern and color combos, using new and vintage fabric. Perfect for tucking in your pocket or bag, these little guys are a simple solution for keeping your money and cards. 

December in Review

A great month to end a great year. And a great month for photos!

Thanksgiving was quite late this year, so the first week in December was all about coming down during the holiday lull.

The next week we flew off to Tennessee to see family. Even though it was only the second time I have visited there, it feels like coming home. We had a wonderful time with family! We got to explore Nashville with friends and on our own. The visit was too short. 

1) The kitchen table at my In-Laws during our trip to TN. 2) On the way to NJ for the holidays. 3) The windowsill at work never disappoints. 3) Goodbye 2013!

A friend of mine sends messages of positivity each morning and in the third week, I embraced his words and set about being positive and happy about a work situation that I'm less than thrilled with. It's helping!

Week four was back to being all about the holidays! We went out to see my mom, uncle, brother, and niece and nephew for xmas eve. Despite a rocky start to the day, it was a calm and lovely holiday. After xmas, my dad came in and we walked around Brooklyn and chatted up a storm. We spent New Years Eve in Prospect Park watching the sky explode. The perfect end-of-year celebration. 

1) Christmas comes to Green-Wood Cemetery. 2) Our first morning in TN, it snowed and made the holiday even more festive. 3) Even my dad, a classic scrooge, loves xmas. 4) South Slope gets decked.

December was a great mix. And a great mix always includes quilts and cats!

1) Been working on this, my biggest and most quilted, quilt for several months. 2) Some holiday goodies were quilted. 3) Flounder lends a hand sorting the stash. 4) A lynx looks on at the Nashville Zoo. 

Thanks to everyone following Mad Cat Quilts on this blog and on my Instagram during the 12th month!

I'm so grateful to be gaining readers and followers. So grateful in fact, that I've decided to do a giveaway when I reach 1000 followers on Instagram!! I'll have more details soon, but in the meantime, tell your friends bc I have a little ways to go!

I hope everyone enjoyed December as much as I did, and I hope you all had a lovely start to 2014!

Cutting Floor Room

I had great plans to post more during the past week. 

Even though my holidays were calm and easy, there never seems to be enough time. I'm trying hard to get one more quilt finished before the new year (but, it looks like it will be just after the new year, at this point). I have also been helping my husband with some projects he's working on. 

We craft all over the house, but are mostly centered in the living room. This is how our sewing machine table looks most of the time. But often with more cats on it. 

My husband has a few weeks off and has decided that he wants to create something every day. What a great idea! One of the larger projects he's embarking on is creating his first quilt. He picked out his fabric, and the square he plans on using, but he hates the cutting! Now, I don't use a mat and rotary cutter for my own quilts or projects but I'm happy to cut his pieces for him. His scraps become my pre-cuts!

One thing I long for is a big, wooden table and a room to put it. Right now, I cut everything on the floor. 

I keep almost every scrap bc I use them a lot in my quilts. But I haven't figured out what to do with these tiny edges. Any thoughts?

It's very fun to help and collaborate any way that I can. I try not to interfere with the creative process too much, while still being helpful and encouraging. 

We have very different taste in color combos. It's always interesting to see what he matches together!

I hope everyone had a calm and creative holiday season. 

Sunday

Sunday Stash #2

My BFF sent me a huge box of fabric! I haven't even had the time to go through it all yet. 

Some of the things she sent are appropriate for the season!

I also needed  to order an exact thread for the quilt I'm working on and couldn't help picking a few things up from Fabric.com. 

I love these nautical prints, but they are so large! Not sure how to incorporate them in to my work...

Art and nature in Tennessee.

While we were in Tennessee we visited the Cheekwood Gardens and estates. I was told Winter was not the best time to visit, but I wasn't the least bit disappointed. There was a fresh sprinkling of snow and ice on the ground and no one was out except us and the animals.  

Im not sure what kind of grasses these were, but they were pretty neat. Quilt inspiration?

As well as many themed gardens, Cheekwood has a sculpture path that winds it's way around the outside of the grounds. I didn't catch most of the artist names, but it was fun to "discover" sculpture in the cold Winter woods. 

It was startling to come upon this great creature/structure in the middle of the woods. 

We saw four deer making their way along the same path we were. 

James Turrell was a highlight of the sculpture walk.

It will be very exciting to go back in a different season and see how much the landscape changes. There were tons of squirrels and birds out but I bet there are even more in spring and summer. I most want to visit the Water Garden and Japanese Garden when we return. 

We saw quite a few interesting birds but practically no feathers! Shame, I was looking forward to bringing some home. 

There's a ridiculous amount of lichen in TN. I wish I could have taken some. I don't think it would survive the plane ride. 

Inside the estate, they had a xmas tree display that was fairly uninspired (although, I hear it's been far better past years) and a small museum space. The exhibit was something to do with the early 90s and had a few interesting pieces, including one where a woman answered personal ads (pre-internet) and then requested the men eat birthday cake with her while being filmed. I didn't think too much of it at the time, but I have found the images strangely haunting me this week. We also got to see a Yoko Ono piece that incorporated some of her earlier work to make a new one. I think I need a book of her art.... but I think I missed the xmas deadline!

I have been lucky to stumble upon some of Yoko Ono's work recently. It often appears in unexpected places. 

Last week

Last week we went to visit family in Tennessee. We spent most of the time catching up with family and friends but we were able to squeeze in some thrifting and eating. 

The place I most wanted to visit to eat was The Nashville Biscuit House.  We went there directly after landing and it did not disappoint. I tried to get back almost every day after that, but it was not in the cards. We also hit the Barista Parlor in East Nashville. It was almost unbearably pretentious. But I did have a killer cappuccino. For a big family dinner we ate at Cock Of The Walk, where they throw your cornbread in the air! To round out the southern eating we had awesome ribs at Bar B Cutie.   

All that food and the only pic I snapped was Waffle House. It was my first time there!

We managed to hit 4 Goodwills, 2 Southern Thrift, Music City Thrift and Thriftsmart.

This cute homemade Easter basket with bunny and eggs could not come home, but was good for inspiration. I was tempted by this old singer, but it was in bad shape and crammed into an ugly modern sewing table.

We bought so much stuff that we had to send a package home. But we were able to bring most of it back in our carry-on, thankfully!

We bought mostly fabric and toys. Of course.  

I found a bunch of vintage fabric for my stash, and we got some animal baskets. 

I am already thinking of our next trip... We didn't even get to any of the quilt shops on our list!

Sunday

Cleaning up the sewing room I found some ginghams. I want to make them into one busy quilt some day. 

most of these are thrifted and vintage.

I also uncovered some treasures that we picked up in Vermont last Summer. 

Vintage bell with a nice chime, New Jersey souvenir spoon, and a crazy gemstone that is much more sparkly in person.

November in review

November can be an up and down month but over all this was a good one. It balanced itself out nicely. This november had some of the coldest days we've seen this year. Bitter and biting. But they were tempered by crisp, bright sun.

Our friends from Tennessee came to visit for almost two weeks. It's always great to be shaken out of my routine. Visitors want to see things, do things!! So we did a lot of new things, new restaurants, new galleries, new landmarks. But I also got to show them all our favorite spots, all the things we like to do. So it didn't get overwhelming. It was wonderful that our friend is a craftsman and seamstress. She showed us some fun projects, how to better use the sewing machine, and nerded out about fabric. 

Then there's Thanksgiving! This year, it went perfectly!! I got to see both sides of my family with little to no fuss. We also got to spend one night Down The Shore.  

Here are some instagram moments from the 11th month. 

1) Lovely windowsill at work. Still time for pumpkins! 2) Now that the weather is cold, I can snuggle up under the quilt I'm working on with Tom. 3) The heron at Green-Wood Cemetery is looking a little chilly. 4) First eggnog of the season in my Grandfather's bird mug.

Mad Cat Quilts Instagram

1) Watcher spotting never goes out of season. 2) Buying fabric at Brooklyn General then having a cocktail and reading a novel at Fort Defiance is a pretty perfect day. 3) We stayed at our friend's lovely beach house on the night of Thanksgiving. 4) Flounder has the right idea about Fall.

Richard Serra and light art in Chelsea.

A few weeks ago I took the long trek into Manhattan (The City). Besides visiting the quilt gallery at The City Quilter, I also got to see some great Richard Serras that are up in Manhattan right now. 

This piece was one that you can walk inside of. Sometimes the strange perspectives and energies can be quite intense. 

I had only seen one other exhibit of Serra's, earlier this year, at DIA: Beacon. A trip to that museum is well worth the beautiful train ride upstate and highly recommended for lovers of modern art. Richard Serra's work is really amazing and I'm so happy that there is so much of it on view at the moment. 

Another gallery had more simple slab work, although the materials are very minimalist, there is still an amazing amount of texture. 

These works were all exhibited by the Gogasian Galleries in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY (http://www.gagosian.com/artists/richard-serra/artist-exhibitions). 

We ended up walking around and popping into a few more galleries that day. We got to see a lovely light art exhibit where, sadly, I didn't catch the name of the artist or gallery. The exhibit was small and simple, using mirrors and light to make beautiful reoccurring patterns. Very quilterly. 

I didn't get any good pictures of the mirror works, unfortunately. 

Although going into The City can be a chore, trips like these make it easy to see why I should be doing it more often. 

Shop update/website update.

There are new items in the shop! Please click "shop" above and check them out! I plan to add more items over the holiday weekend, so check back often. 

I hope to add more product shots to the shop soon, as well. This wintery light is not the best for indoor photos.

As I stated in my previous post, I'm not good at the whole computer thing. Squarespace (http://www.squarespace.com) makes it easy to design a simple and clean website, that's why I chose it. But when it came to making my shop, it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I decided to go with Bigcartel (http://bigcartel.com/). So you will see that when you go to shop, it now redirects you to my Bigcartel site. 

I'm still working on the shop, making it how I want it and exploring what the site has to offer. Things like packaging and post, combining purchases, and are still in the experimental stages. If you have any questions, please contact me on either site. 

So far I'm very happy with both sites, and can't wait to learn more and become better at working with both. I'm looking forward to more changes in the future, like having my own domain name. I hope to gain more followers to the blog and to sell more items and be able to take commissions. 

As always, thanks for visiting Mad Cat Quilts. Your suggestions, comments and insights are always welcome, as well. 

The internet is hard.

I'm most definitely not a tech person.

Ask anyone who knows me. They can tell you. 

This website is still very new to me. I'm working out a blog and shop schedule. I was hoping to have a shop update as of Monday but it didn't work out that way. I am trying to get into a routine and hope to have it set by next week. My new plan is to have the shop updated by Tuesday 11/24 around 2pm. Plenty of time to get some quilted creations by xmas. 

I've made a bunch of oversized "old lady" pot holders or table protectors to sell. This is part of the Butterfly Series.

Thanks for bearing with me as I stumble along here at Mad Cat Quilts! I would love to hear any feedback on the site so far.

Visitors and Art Quilts.

Last week, our good friends were in town from Tennessee. It's always nice to have visitors in bc we get to do things that we often neglect living here. Or things that we have wanted to do, but haven't made the time for.

One of our friends is a fiber artist so I was able to easily persuade her to visit The City Quilter (http://www.cityquilter.com/).  I had been wanting to go there for a while, but rarely make it into "the city" (Manhattan). I hadn't realized there was a gallery there and we were lucky to stumble upon a quilt exhibit by Cécile Trentini. Her work was quite varied but I fell in love with her use of unexpected materials, such as daily household items.

A lovely geometric quillt made with coffee filters!

This one is tea bags!

We bought some lovely fabric, too, of course!

Always room for more fat quarters in lovely prints! The maroon on top is actually a oversized yard that I plan to use as a quilt back one day.

I don't usually go in for novelty prints but these were too fun to pass up! The black is already covered with cat hair, of course!

I'm glad I was spurred into seeing this shop by my friends, and I won't wait until I have more visitors to go again!

Surrounded by quilters.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I knew a lot of quilters growing up. They were all around me, casually stitching away. It was common place to see someone making a hexie pillow here, or a quilted eyeglass case there, making squares for collaborative sci-fi quilts or some such. Women were hand stitching, or machine stitching or walking around fabric shops pretty much all my life. It's not surprising that I was inspired by them. 

A new website.

I'm trying to figure out how SquareSpace works. Here is a test.

A corner of the first quilt I made. Cat hair: no extra charge.

We will see how this works.