i never thought this would happen

crafts and controversy? oh not just no, but HELL no. crafts and controversy go hand in hand. depicting touchy subjects in crafts or sex in crafts - well that's been going on forever (and i hope it continues to do so). crafting is an expression of what we are, what we feel, what we know to be true, what we hope to be true. our crafts are a part of us.

no, what is shocking to me is the wapo actually writing an article about CRAFTING AND FREE EXPRESSION and crafting on the edge!!!! wowwwwwwwwwww

(the article is kinda funny too)

and SHAME ON YOU JO-ANN FABRICS

Uncovered! The Unseemly Side of Quilts
By Monica Hesse
Washington Post Staff Writer
The issue is wrapped in a prim plastic sleeve, but the lurid electric blue display copy still leaps from the page:

Shocking!

Controversial!

Quilts!

Quilts?

As in, "Shocking Quilts: We Show You the Controversial Patchwork." Advertised right on the cover of Quilter's Home.

(The magazine's other cover lines: "5 Popular Appliqué Glues Put to the Test," "Read This Before Buying That Longarm.")

Mark Lipinski, the editor of Quilter's Home, knew that the January/February issue might be perceived as scandalous.

This is why he took precautions -- $2,500 worth of precautions, which is what it cost to wrap each of some 45,000 copies in plastic before distributing them to newsstands and craft stores across the country. Doing his best to protect the unwary public from the adults-only images inside (but you buy it for the articles). ..........

pic: Mary Beth Bellah says her Viagra-inspired quilt "Helping Hands" has caused a stir at some shows. (By Stephanie Gross For The Washington Post)

look at this quilt!

it's a solar system quilt and it was made in 1876 by ellen harding baker (of cedar county, ia)

(via craftzine)

genome quilts

the artist, beverly st clair is a practing psychiatrist

if you go to her site you can even find out how to map your genetic journey (from national geographic society

(found via boing boing)My idea for genome quilts grew from the juxtaposition of two experiences at Wesleyan University in November 2001. First I viewed an exhibit of work by Anni Albers, an artist I have admired for many years. The show included her serigraphs of triangles arranged in a grid. I was struck by their similarity to quilt patterns. The next day I attended a lecture about the Human Genome Project and was impressed by the beautiful shapes of the proteins illustrated and the interesting patterns made by the microarrays. I realized that I could use a simple quilt block to represent each of the four bases in DNA: cytosine, guanine, adenine, and thymine. A square bisected into a light and dark triangle is rotated in four orientations to resemble the letters C, G, A, and T............