***
We had a long-running challenge over at the Saskatoon Modern Quilt Guild for the summer. The idea was to make a quilt "Inspired by" something that had meaning for us and to tell the story at the meeting at the end of September.
I racked my brain. And then, after watching Star Trek (the new one but not the new, new one - Pine but no Cumberbatch) for the umpteenth time, it hit me: I'm a nerd. And that's my inspiration.
Quilting and sci-fi have a little in common.
1) Those who aren't a fan, don't necessarily understand the draw. We've all had a conversation with someone who doesn't get why we take perfectly good fabric and cut it apart only to sew it back together again. Or why we HAVE to HAVE the entire line of fabric from Designer X and hoard it until the end of time! Sci-fi nerds often get odd looks when folks don't recognize a reference or understand the Twitterverse exploding over a new movie, graphic novel or tv show coming out.
2) A language used by 'insiders' - think fat quarters, tumblers, scant 1/4", HSTs, FMQ for quilting... Lightsabers, phasers, Daleks for sci-fi. Or in the case of this quilt, Red Shirt.
red shirt: the throwaway character on a science fiction episode, (namely Star Trek), who will be dead by the end of the episode, identifiable by his red uniform
This quilt relies on the idea of the Red Shirt - a no-name officer who'll be toast before long so we don't lose a main character. Poor Red Shirt, whatever his name is. Was.
It ended badly for him.
Colours for this quilt were chosen based on what I've observed from Star Trek over the years. Tumblers represent officers, the navy background is the 'final frontier', and the teal thread sort of makes it sparkly but in a throwback, retro-space way. I'm really happy with how the quilting turned out.
The back was put together using the leftover tumbler halves and yardage. Approx. 71" wide.
As a bonus nerd Easter egg, there are 42 little uniformed officers on the front of this quilt. Yep, I'm a nerd... :-) And a proud one.
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Ok - Gotta go catch up. Again! Trying to finish before the Blogger's Quilt Festival this weekend...!
That's really fantastic! I wish I could have seen ALL the quilts in Sept. What an episode that must have been.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah! You're a nerd....but that's what we love about you! See you Friday at the quilt show?
ReplyDeleteOh. My. God.
ReplyDeleteWhere do I even begin with this?
We always know the 'red shirt' because they're some "extra nobody" that you don't recognize. We'll yell out 'He's gonna die!' when they beam down. I never clued in their shirts were red. (It's my first time through Star Trek, you have to cut me some slack.)
The pool of blood is definitely my favourite part. And I'm totally digging your teal thread and the pattern. You have to watch old Shatner episodes curled up with this quilt. Forever.
Oh. Yes. Just excellent.
ReplyDeleteKaren in Edmonton
*waves* fellow sci if nerd right here. Such a brilliant idea Carly! Really really awesome quilt.
ReplyDeleteAhahahaha....I was laughing out loud at the table while my family was getting ready for school and work. It was a much needed laugh this morning. I love it! How true ... poor red shirt. We are a family of sci-fi nerds and Star Trek hits the regular rotation ... my kids find the retro ones hilarious (but it doesn't stop them from watching). We too always exclaim when we see the red shirt ... "He's doomed". What an awesome interpretation. Ahahahaha ... maybe I should put Star Trek on today after my appointments. Brilliant!!!!
ReplyDeletegenius!
ReplyDeleteThis is, of all time, my favorite fandom quilt!!! I'm one of those people that is a total nerd and I love to see fan quilts, but so often they're so literal. Not that that's bad, but I really think you've brought excellent artistry and a design eye without sacrificing the fandom and I got it immediately. Those poor redshirts......
ReplyDeleteJust fantastic.
Cool!! I totally want to do that square meander quilting on the quilt I'm making right now but I've never tried it. Is it easy?
ReplyDeleteChuckling as I read this, Carly. Totally loving this quilt! Now I'm going to have to grab some Star Trek just so I can look for the guy in the red shirt. ;o)
ReplyDeleteHaha! Your quilt is great! Poor red shirt's end is so... graphic. If you were going to mix nerd references, should the surviving officer have had a towel?
ReplyDeleteGoodness Carly! Your personality shines through with this quilt! I am not a Star Trek geek, nor do I know (completely) what you're talking about, but I get the gist enough to appreciate that you've created a spot-on representation of your infatuation with Star Trek. Love the little uniforms - are they FPPed? - and the red one... well, I get it. So. Darned. Fun! Wish you could pop down here to Florida and blast (with your trusty laser) some modern into our MQG chapter. Yada, yada - I'm with ya - about those people who post once a day. Insane. I can't keep up with reading that many posts, let alone write them! High five, girlfriend!
ReplyDeleteSuper fantastic!! A great quilt Carly. Nerdy perfection. I only dabble in nerdiness so a few of the references are unknown to me (42, the answer to life, the universe and everything?) Love the shirts and the quilt back cracked me up. I like Star Trek the original series the best but the new and newer ones are fun too. Thanks for sharing this quilt on your blog!
ReplyDeleteAnother amazing quilt of yours, as always! It is true about sci-fans and quilting! I love the comparisons.
ReplyDeleteWell this is very cool and what great quilting!
ReplyDeleteSuperb nerd quilt. 42. Oh yeah. Love it so much.
ReplyDeleteLove your quilt. The ending badly on the back was great! I also love to quilt to Star Trek. Working through voyager at the moment.
ReplyDeleteGreat to see your post!! I have to tell you that your quilts are awesome. So unique!! This one will have my vote in the festival!! You go girl!!
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic, Carly :D Great interpretation and a lot of fun too!
ReplyDeleteHi Carly! This is exciting quilt and I love your inspire story! Great quilting, too! x Teje
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness sakes. I love the story behind this quilt. I often have inside jokes with my quilts so I love all the inside jokes in this one. It could just look like a cool modern quilt if you don't know the joke!
ReplyDeleteThere is so much to love about this post. First of all, I can totally relate to your "yada yada" intro! I also like your analogy between the lingo of quilters and trekkies for example. I have just recently become fond of Star Trek, but I am a HUGE Star Wars fan and totally get the fact that some people under those type of references where others do not. I learned about the "red shirt" guy from Galaxy Quest which is a movie I can watch over and over. My daughter and her friend have their own language with their John Green/Hank Green; VlogBrothers; NerdFighters obsession. Have you heard of them? Anyway, love your quilt and story behind it. Challenge well done. Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI love Star Trek - this quilt hilarious, and it looks great on it's own too! Love it.
ReplyDeleteAhahahaha! Awesome. What a great idea! Great execution of the idea too. The back is so fun, what a great detail.
ReplyDeleteAhhh!! HAHA! Oh, my gosh - his blood, even! I'm am really laughing over here - a Red Shirt Quilt - this is brilliant. We're all nerds at this house, so this is going to go over big. ;D So, is the first newest movie your favorite Trek piece? It is mine. The casting was amazing, the story epic, the filming absolutely unbelievable. I drank in every second at the IMAX and enjoy it still on DVD. Although I do really love Voyager - how can you not love having a woman captain? And I still laugh heartily over the older one with the whales. . . And I'm blathering. ;D
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. "Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Ricky are going down to the surface... guess who's not coming back" :) Great work!
ReplyDeleteFinally getting a chance to come on over here and see what you're up to. What awesome stuff you have! Really, I love it all so far. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG! This quilt cracks me up!! This is awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteLove this! We used to call him the Unknown Ensign -- because until they killed off Tasha Yar, they were always junior personnel (TNG was during my university days, that's how old I am).
ReplyDeleteOk, so I'm going waaay back in time to look at this, but at the time I was still sleep deprived with my newborn so I missed this. I love everything about it. And, in case the Harry Potter quilt wasn't a give away, I'm firmly in nerd territory with you!! Also, 42 :-D
ReplyDelete