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| A quilt in Marty Goes to Mars |
Those who know and (I assume) love me know that my penchant for fabric, which has always been a vice, has in recent years developed into a full-blown instinct to hoard. I blame the creativity of fabric designers. I am certainly not an expert, but it seems to me that fabric design is experiencing some sort of wonderful renaissance. I am especially drawn to what I would describe as "narrative fabrics", fabrics that tell a story or allow you to imagine one. I am thinking of fabrics like my beloved "Marty Goes to Mars" by
Suling Wang (really, do yourself a favor and click on that link).
I have lately been moved to search for fabrics designed by my favorite artist illustrators and been disappointed to find that it has not been done, or not been done in a way that I can get it into my hotlittlehands. So, Big Fabric Execs, please make the following available as soon as possible.
Edward Gorey is a no brainer. Come on, people! He himself designed
strange little stuffies, one of which I actually owned as a child but of course has now gone missing (thank goodness I still have my damned Koosa, though). Alexander Henry took a stab at the Gorey mystique with his
Ghastlies this past fall. It was a step in the right direction, but I am dying for the real deal.
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| Turn me into fabric, please! |
My next suggestion is
Charley Harper. No, I am not a fan of
Two and a Half Men, and if I was, I would be way more on Team Duckie. A great friend of mine gave my son a Charley Harper floor puzzle, and we are hooked. There is no Charley Harper fabric that I know of, but I was delighted to stumble upon an
amazing quilt design by Angela of The Artists' House. Unfortunately, I would not be able to applique her design if my life depended on it, but the quilt sure is pretty.
Lastly, a living artist whose work is screaming out to become fabric--
Tao Nyeu, author illustrator of the picture book
Wonder Bear. Her artwork creates a whole other world, and it is a world where I would like to live.
A girl can dream, right?
