cutenesses & quilting

I prefer to think I have simple tastes. Refusing to buy new clothes on ethical (feeling too guilty about sweatshops) and financial (you want HOW MUCH for that shoddy junk?!) grounds, I end up with basically whatever I can find. Luckily, a lot of those finds are interesting-- like old dresses and skirts, or weird enormous t-shirts which I alter into something weird and my size. I don't usually spend money on non-thrifted extras like jewelry or purses, and if I do, I try to get something that will match a lot of what I have; something simple and maybe even a little timeless (or at the very least, timeless in my own hodgepodge, out of date wardrobe).

But every now and then I come across something on etsy that makes me want to abandon all my visions of quaint vintage finery and go sugary, sweet, jaw droppingly CUTE. I mean, toothache-inducing sweet. Things that make me want to dye my hair cotton candy pink, paint my walls bright aqua, and throw on some petticoats, a la FRUiTS fashion:

If I were brave enough, or bold enough, to dress to the nines, these would be my accomplices:

Kup Kup's etsy shop.


wallet by the very rad Tinymeat.


Mister Cumulus brooch by etsy's adorable Smeeta.



As for me, I am currently engaged in making non-cute but very addictive projects. My class final is a quilt. That's right: a quilt. I am in love with this fiber-based painting class I'm in, and sad it's ending. I chose to make two quilts, out of my hand-dyed and printed fabrics, one for each of my little sisters. It would be nice to have some family heirlooms, and I don't think my great grandma's quilts are ever going to see the light of day again. They have a permanent residence in the uppermost region of my mom's closet. The quilting process, although time-consuming, is extremely pleasant when coupled with internet streams of This American Life or iTunes' bluegrass radio station (makes me feel in touch with my roots-- I imagine it's the 1930s, and I'm sitting out on the porch, listening to my pappy and brothers play bluegrass tunes as I alternately gaze down at my hand-needled quilt or across the soft slopes of distant mountains). Especially if I am lucky enough to be alone in the studio. Just a girl and her quilt and her imaginings of an ancestral past.


one of several printed cloths that I am quilting.

Labels: about me, art by others, craft

posted by Samantha @ 11:10 PM Comments: 0