The Rules for Tonya

While I was making "The Rules" for Helen, I sent Tonya some pictures of the quilt in progress. She was "blown away" and asked if I would make a "Rules" quilt top with brightly colored letters on a white background in the same "font" for her to display on her website.

Who was I to say no?
I didn't want to do just that. I wanted to push the envelope a little. I liked making letters with different fabrics, so I wanted to do more of that. But I wanted to "ease" into it.

So the "IF YOU OBEY ALL" was pretty straightforward. One (fairly boring) fabric per letter, except for the little cats that popped in unexpectedly.

"THE" of course, in black and white, was made that way to alert you "something important" was coming up. The word "RULES" obviously pokes fun at the concept of rules in the word itself, with two letters made up of rulers. Since Tonya had lived in Paris, adding a cat wearing a beret was de rigueur. I simply had to use that Laurel Burch fabric full of cats somewhere, and the letter "U" seemed to be the perfect spot. A sedate "L" leading up to a freaked out "E" and then one of my favorite fabrics in one of my favorite letters to sew, "S."

Then all hell starts to break loose.

The second "YOU" has letters made up of multiple fabrics. For the word "MISS" I really wanted the word to get lost, because you are missing something. I love the "M" with four fabrics. I really racked my brain to do something creative with the "I". Searching through my bin of leftover bits, I found some Jane Sassaman fabric and I thought, "this could work if it were trimmed just right." Then the two wonky "S's" with the cat hiding in one.

The next "ALL THE" simply had to be made from multiple fabrics, and here I started adding slightly different colors and variations to each letter. I made no effort to disguise the fact that these letters were made from different fabrics.

I am all about readability though, so the letters don't stray too far. I love the little cat hiding in the "E."

Then, the riot of the word "FUN." How, I wondered, could I break apart the letters in a unique way, using multiple fabrics and colors in each, yet maintain readability. I confess I drew out the letters first. Then I hit the fabric stash, tossing fabrics around and arranging them. I love the "U" although I think the "N" looks pretty good too.

The original quote by Katharine Hepburn does not include an exclamation point. The phrase ends in a period (full stop). To me the feeling of the quote required an exclamation point. In Helen's quilt, I had used an image of a red-haired woman in the "dot."
For Tonya's, I knew I would add one of her cats. But when I examined this Timeless Treasures fabric I had, I realized I could include all four of Tonya's cats. But how? "FUN!!!!" with four exclamation points after it seemed a bit ordinary... so I broke with tradition (and the rules) and put two on each side of the word "FUN." A green sharpie helped me with Lily's eyes. The rest, I think, are pretty obvious, but for me, the pièce de résistance was adding the dancing skeletons for Howler's mark.

Halloween is Tonya's favorite holiday!