Art Doll Adventures

Mystery Quilt

My dad looked over to the couch where I was ripping fabric into strips and then measuring them before I snipped them into 1″ x 1″ basically squarish squares.  “What are you doing?   Is that a ruler in your hand – are you measuring stuff?” “Oh come one Daddy, I’m making a quilt… Obviously!” I tried to give him the hairy eyeball, but I my eyes were busy watching my self put little squares in the correct color piles.  “You mean you are making a “quilty quilt? You?”  Isn’t he just cute.  Hah!  I ‘ll show him!

This from the man who spent 2 years of my childhood hunkered over his easel, listening to Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung, in English – this is an epic opera, in German, that makes Lord of the Rings sound like a visit to the park with Papa Smurf and Smurfette) at a brain-slapping volume, with a COMPASS, painting these….

Joe Hertzi Circle Painting

Yeah that was painted, back in those days, Hal was science fiction, and a Mac was a truck!  He used a ruling pen to get them perfect.  Of course he sold these right and left and probably still would if he would make some new ones.  (now he is into beads…) He is ridiculously talented and can draw and paint like nobodies business so my mom was mystified and my sister and I joked about darts… Now… he IS my real father. Bearing that in mind, here is my quilt…

LI Hertzi's first Quilty Quilt

No perfect points here!  Compass? Riiiiiight! Straight lines?  Nope.

This is the result of a mystery quilt at the Quilting Stars of Ohio quilt guild.  We got the directions, cut the pieces and then sewed it together at the prompts of the organizer, delightful woman, patient, very patient… I only ripped it out 4 times to get the green “squares” to line up… when I noticed the renegade pink triangle I simply rolled my eyes and quickly put the binding on so as to forestall any of my fathers genes from surfacing and forcing me to rip again!  I actually like how the squares are not square and how the points on the sun are a tad blunted in places.

Next time I will actually use a ruler, and one of those rotary cutter thingies – no more ripping, and maybe I could make the seam allowances all the same… Ah, life is about learning, and laughing at ourselves, right?

Happy Day to all of you talented People!

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