If Theo and Vincent Were Cats 🐈 🐈‍⬛…

So it all began when we considered buying tickets for Immersive Van Gogh…and decided instead to immerse ourselves in movies and books about Vincent 😉 while on staycation. (I particularly loved Willem Dafoe’s performance!)

The longer I stared at “Starry Night“ —

…the more I saw the possibilities of Jackson taking the place of that cypress tree…and what incredible fun it would be to stitch that sky! I had a photo of the boys that has been in the make-a-quilt queue forever:

And had actually progressed as far as SVG files for my digital cutter…reminder that I cannot live without the Procreate app nor my Cricut ;)…

I thought I would experiment first with a Joy Quilt Project square study to make sure the shapes translated to fabric as I hoped…check!

Now onto the larger scene…the blue color way from Windham’s Paint Splatter collection would be the perfect sky. I decided to put the boys atop a hill and cut/fuse/stitch a simple village in the lower right…

2 tips if you like to create with fused shapes:

1-washi tape is simply the best for parking those shapes on the wall, away from furry studio helpers (like painters’ tape, it does not damage the paint one bit. I’ve been slow to hang quilts in this studio but have discovered I basically have a giant whiteboard!

2-animal cracker containers from Costco are fantastic receptacles for scraps of Mistyfused fabric! (See giant one behind Loki.) I sort my fat quarters by color in the wire drawers below, but little scraps get tossed into that clear container where I can see them.

I kept the composition simple – a hill, the boys, tiny village – to let the thread work shine. SO MUCH FUN stitching a swirly night sky with different shades of 28wt Aurifil- it helps the stitching to stand out. I use a slightly lower thread tension than for 50wt and try to remember to go a little more slowly.

And, somehow, was able to finish it despite Loki’s…participation…

So last week we attended a fabulous museum opening of Alphonse Mucha’s work at the Speed Art Museum…guess what I’m working on now? 😆 Hmm, a new series may have begun! 🐈‍⬛🐈 🖼