Space Invaders Quilt

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I can’t. I read a blog by an amazing quilter - Oh, Fransson! and this is all her idea. But imitation is the highest form of flattery, right? That’s what someone once told me when some dumb girl would buy EVERY FREAKING THING I bought at The Gap (it was 1990) and try to matchy-match me. Of course, she always looked better. Grrrrr… One-upping is not the highest form of flattery. Needless to say, Oh, Fransson! has nothing to worry about as mine will not look nearly as good, let alone better.

Anyway, the reason I decided to give this a go is because I was invited to an “art party” where everyone is required to bring an art project. Does the sound of that make you as nervous as it made me? “Wait,” you say. “Has craftiness somehow come to mean artistic ability?” Exactly. No, it hasn’t. But the party-thrower has assured me that the term “art” was being broadened. The invitation even included “sewing projects” on the list of “artwork.” HA! Right?! Obviously, that was just for my benefit. So, I decided to make a quilt. With some kitsch. Hence, Space Invaders. You guys know how I feel about Space Invaders. It’s not like I used to wait at the arcade with a roll of quarters to play. It just reminds me of when I was a kid. When you’re kissing 40 (again, a totally stolen phrase which I LOVE), you get nostalgic.

So, this is 3 of the 6 space invaders I will be making, but I’m not sure how many of each I’ll make. The party isn’t until March, but I figure that I should shake a tail feather. I hate waiting until the last minute to do things. Oh, and please don’t judge me too much on my not-so-lined-up seams. It’s a learning process. Apparently a very slow one for me.

Yikes. I didn’t realize how bad those seams actually look. I see some seam ripping in my future. Blerg…

Let me point out that, so far, this has been a total bear to make. Yeah, it’s just squares, I know. But each square is 2″. That means a LOT of cutting is involved and a lot of piecing. And lots of sitting down on the ground trying to re-piece because this happens:

Oh Ted. How can “someone” be so irritating, yet adorable at the same time?

I’ll keep you in the loop as far as progress goes. Per usual.