N is for natillus and numbers; O is for ox

So I was explaining to how I wanted to carve a nautillus linoleum block for some time but it worried me, because I could not wrap my head around nautillus anatomy. I mean a) they are Class-A WEIRD and b) they seem to appear different in evert photo. Finally, it occurred to me that their very oddness should actually free me, rather than restrain me. I mean, no one else knows precisely what they look like either (encephalopod marine biologists excepted).

The N square of the quilt is made with one original lino block print of a nautillus in a sort of pale burgundy on blue cotton which I printed with my collection of letterpress numbers in various colours and N. I highlighted the N with embroidery.


My O square of the quilt comes from my Niu: the Ox lino block of Chinese Zodiac prints. The ox is printed in silver on navvy cotton along with a vintage letterpress O.


This is the post-z block to fill in the corner. It is the entire alphabet of vintage letterpress letters in various colours printed every which way. The quilt will be 7 rows of 4 so there are two more blocks than the number of letters in the alphabet.

See, I am getting somewhere.


To be completed: Q, U, V, X, Y and Z.

I is for iguana, and insect, and indigo

This is the latest panel in my alphabet quilt-in-progress. It is a hand-block printed iguana in green ink on an old (though high thread count) cotton shirt in gray. The 'I' is printed with a vintage letterpress block. The insects were screenprinted by Smoking Lily - they sell scraps of fabric with prints they don't use in their clothing line. The insects in blue (on tee shirt material) are reverse appliqued onto the black fabric with one white fly.

What do you think? Maybe 2009 will be the year and I will actually finish this quilt.

I need to finish the 'N' and 'O' panels, which are in progress. I have to start 'Q', 'U', 'V', 'X', 'Y' and 'Z'. Then the actual quilting process can begin.