Saturday, April 25, 2015

Tiger Stripes

My youngest graduates from LSU in Baton Rouge soon. Hooray! Their colors are purple and gold and their mascot is the tiger. So you'll never guess: he wants a tiger striped quilt in purple and gold.
Here's the top. This idea came from Sujata Shah's Cultural Fusion Quilts. I've certainly enjoyed her book; she has a great sense of design and color. It's a wonderful way to "tiptoe" into improvisation.


Purple and gold printed fabrics alternate across this quilt.
Tiger Stripes quilt (68"x85")
This zigzag layout looks like tiger stripes to me.

Barb at Fun with Barb made this same design in a delightful combination of red, black, and cream. Take a look.

I've been consciously purchasing yellow fabrics when I find them so there was quite a bit in my stash. I also chose to push into dark gold (almost orange.) But there was a dearth of purple. More shopping required. Two of the new purples have fish on them (one of my son's hobbies.)

Purple and gold fabrics.
You can see one light purple with fish.

Here are two other layouts I considered. In the lefthand layout all the rail fences march up to the right. The light blocks are in a slightly different arrangement in the righthand layout.
Purple and gold fabrics alternate to make the rails in this quilt design.
Two possible layouts for Tiger Stripes

This has me thinking about tigers, a frequent topic in high school literature classes. Who could forget William Blake's poem (or at least the first stanza?)

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Or the limerick by Edward Lear, William Monkhouse or Anonymous (your choice.)

There was a young lady of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger;
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.

Did you read The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton? I did and I still think she pointed to the tiger's door. What's your opinion?

Shere Khan in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book was always scary. A man-eater. Last week I watched Earth, A New Wild - Episode 1: Home on PBS which advances the theory that we need to coexist with wild animals for the good of the planet. Part of the episode discussed Bangladeshi tigers that kill one person every day on average. Because people rightly fear these animals, they limit trips into the forests. So the tigers are protecting the mangroves that protect this nation of millions from typhoons.

The grizzly bear was the top of the food chain in western North America until people arrived with rifles. How would this continent differ if they were still around?

If you're not yet tired of tigers, check out these recordings of Tiger Rag (also known as Hold That Tiger) on YouTube.
When Art Tatum first performed this fabulous jazz standard people thought he had a second person helping on the piano.
The Mills Brothers sang in close harmony. I love the way this quartet created so many sounds a cappella.

Enjoy the day, Ann

6 comments:

Kaja said...

Apparently I'm not allowed to listen t/see the Art Tatum clip here (youtube tells me so!) But I enjoyed the Mills Brothers a lot. This quilt has worked really well: the yellow and purple is very striking and the lighter blocks keep the eye moving around nicely. I think you definitely chose the best layout!

Ann said...

That happened to me once; I wasn't allowed to see something Australian. I supposed it's a copyright issue. Grrr (hold that tiger.)
I thought a diagonal V of the lights would look good, but didn't like it in the photo. If I hadn't taken a photo I might have used that layout. There's a theory that Dutch masters used camera obscuras. I don't know. They are certainly great artists. But using the camera is a helpful tool for me... when I remember to use it frequently. (Waste those electrons!)

Lara B. said...

Your layout is really dynamic and I too like it better Ann than the one with the stripes lined up. This is a really cool quilt and I bet your son loves i!
That is a pretty horrifying statistic for the Bangladeshi people. It is no wonder that they limit trips to the forest.
And yet the tiger limerick made me laugh.
It is amazing what the camera helps us see.

Ann said...

Thanks, Lara. I'm sure he will like this quilt. (I raised him right ;-) lol)
This four-part show is very interesting to me because it discusses the interconnections between all life and the health of the planet. I read an article last year about African elephants. The herds were severely culled in the 50s(?) to limit overgrazing. Now it appears that the herds actually kept the ground softer so plants could grow. And it's too late.
But I was also incredibly inspired by some of the Bangladeshi people interviewed. Despite personal family deaths by tiger, they still felt the animal was important. What amazingly thoughtful people.

Sujata Shah said...

Ann,

I love your quilt being so vibrant with the use of color. I love both the layouts. Congratulations to your son! Are you going to be an empty nester?
In India, there is a community who believes that mankind and animals co exist.. Their art is called Gond art. When you get a chance, you can Google it for the images. They are absolutely stunning. I will share this post on the The Root Connection fb page so people can read it. Thanks!

Ann said...

Sujata, thank you for the compliment. Your book is inspirational. Yes, we are now empty nesters. It is such a joy to see how much they have all grown and to watch them begin responsible, caring lives. I will look up Gond art this weekend. Thanks again.