The Spicy Neighborhood
The Spicy Neighborhood is my quilt for the latest Endeavourers Art Group challenge. Our theme for this challenge is “spices”. So how did I come up with a neighborhood for this theme?
As I was pondering, I thought about the spices I use in my kitchen. Many of them are from The Spice House, so I initially thought I’d make one “spice” house. Then I thought – why not take some of my spices, and dye fabric with them and see what happens? The result? Each house “body” is a different spice from my cabinet. From left to right: Curry, Chili, Tumeric, Clove, and . . . Beet. Yes, I know beets aren’t spices, but I had a jar of beet juice and I wanted to try using that for dyeing, so it became part of the neighborhood.
The quilt is constructed by first creating the background, adding batting and backing, and quilting it with wavy lines. I used a grunge in blue denim for the sky, and a green print I had in my stash for the grass. Once that was done, I took five white scraps of fabric and added them to the dyes. I did not do a “proper” dye – I just heated the water, stirred in the spice, added the white fabric, shook it up, and let it sit for about 24 hours. After the dyed fabric had air dried, I cut the into house shapes. Adding the roofs, windows, trees and flowers using raw edge applique was whimsical and fun.
Would you like to meet the neighborhood? I had a little fun with wordplay, so I hope you get a chuckle out of our little tour!
The Curry House
The Curry House liked to make itself known from time to time, and being the first in the neighborhood, it brought the fragrance and spice to this lovely piece of land. A cousin of the Tumeric family, it often felt overshadowed and resented that just a bit. Still, they were friendly and lively with the rest of the neighbors.
The Chili House
The Chili family liked living on the quiet side, but they could bring plenty of heat to the neighborhood parties or clashes when necessary. When the chilis gathered, their conversation was often peppered with laughter, loud music and dancing. It was always fun to mix it up at the Chili House!
The Tumeric House
The Tumeric House liked being the center of attention in the neighborhood. They knew they were golden, and they liked that a latte. They were health nuts, always milking that for all it was worth. For all that, though, they were a warm and friendly family, always soothing and caring for their neighbors.
The Clove House
Although the others never heard much from the Clove family, there was always a lovely aroma wafting from their windows. They were gingersnaps when it came to baking, and were always inviting the other neighbors over for coffee and treats.
The Beet Family
The Beet House knew it wasn’t quite like the rest of the neighbors, but that didn’t stop them from joining in any of the neighborhood festivities. While not spicy, they were rumored to have superpowers. They were musical, always moving to the beat (Little Pink Houses was a favorite tune). Neighborhood parties were often said to leave them a bit pickled.
Okay, enough of that nonsense – haha. This little quilt measures 11 inches by 31 inches. The backing is a lively polka dot that I bought and then couldn’t figure out what to use it for. The striped binding just had to be!
One last addition was to add the clouds using a bits of batting that was stretched and torn to look like clouds. I stitched through them with matching thread.
I hope you enjoyed meeting The Spicy Neighborhood! It was fun cooking this one up!
Wendy
Singing the Blues
27 Comments
Sally
That is so awesome, Wendy! I just love how you used different spices to create an adorable neighborhood!!
Barbara J Stanbro
This is adorable, Wendy. Very creative. I like your take on the prompt. I couldn’t really think of anything beyond the obvious. Dyeing your fabrics with spices was a stroke of genius.
Vicki in MN
You sure know how to think outside the box girl!! Fantastic project and the spicy story you wrote so fun:)
texasquiltgal
Oh my word how cute is this!! Love the story behind each spice, had to laugh out loud at “a bit pickled” 😀 What fun. You should send this story with photos to Spice House! Will you put it in your kitchen?
Cocoa Quilts
You are so creative with your thinking and execution. I love your neighborhood.
Kate
A perfect piece for the challenge. Very out of the box (spice?) thinking. Very cute and fun.
Karen
that is interesting way to dye fabric – I have done it with tea or coffee but not spices – it is a really cute piece
Kathleen McCormick
What an interesting neighborhood this is! Love your technique of dying the fabric and the fun clouds you added. This is truly a spicy story – you should print it up and put it in pocket in the back – to retain all the fun you had with it!
The Morning Latte
Welcome to the neighborhood, Beet! (slightly shy at first being a bit different but soon they saw he rounded things out nicely and welcomed him right on in the group. He and Clove became great friends…)
Yet another fun day in Wendy’s studio! Great idea that turned into another great quilt!
Bernie
What a fun interpretation of the prompt Wendy. Award winning!! I agree with Linda, send it to Spice House. If nothing else, they will all enjoy reading this – the quilt is adorable. I love the raw edges, cloud, button flowers and choice of fabric for the doors. It is really wonderful. Made me happy to read about it.
Nancy @ Grace and Peace Quilting
Funny stories, Wendy! You’re quite the storyteller!!! Love the addition of the clouds and the binding, too!
Diann@LittlePenguinQuilts
What a fun post to read, Wendy, and a delightful quilt finish to match your challenge! Such a creative idea to dye your fabric with the spices, too. I love it!
Rochelle Summers
Oh Wendy! You made me smile so broadly. A great way to start the morning. I hope you told the same or similar story when you introduced Spice House to the Endeavors Group. I can see this published (in living color) in a little booklet complete with the story. I love the clouds in the sky and the wonkiness of the houses. All those buttons make this such a multi-dimensional piece. Thank you for making my day!
Dorothy
What a wonderful “out of the spice box” quilt
laura bruno lilly
“It’s a beautiful day in Wendy’s (the) neighborhood…won’t you be my neighbor?” Oh, may I be your neighbor? The Spicy Neighborhood is my kinda place! 🙂
Mr Rogers not withstanding, this is so creative – using spices as dyes, the scrappy batting for clouds and the fun pairing of striped binding with stripy circles for the backing fabric! What a creation!
sandi1100
Wendy, I love your spicy neighborhood. You’re very creative!
The Joyful Quilter
OMG! Brilliant interpretation of the theme, Wendy. Each house is SEW darling, as is the story to go with. Well done!
aquilterstable
well that is SO FUN. I love that you dyed fabrics with spices and created a story about each house. Super sweet!
Quilting is in my Blood
What a fun cheerful challenge quilt! And spice-dying is genius. I loved reading your stories for each house.
tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles
The piece is fun and quite pleasing to the eye – nice job 🙂
Laura
I am in love with your storytelling and originality, Wendy! This is soooo cool! I am so glad that the Beets joined the neighborhood…so much fun! 🙂
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
I loved meeting those spice families. Not only is this a great quilt, it sounds like a really fun place to live 😀
davemelvanolan
What a delightful little quilt. I hope you will consider joining my Sew &Tell party.
Diane Harris
Oh my!!! Love, love, love this!
Tracie
Wendy, I don’t know which I like more, the quilt or your story about the neighborhood. I love it all! The detailed stitching, buttons and clouds are wonderful. This will be a fun addition to your quilt display.
Ginny Andersen
Came over from Melva’s after seeing your houses and wanting a closer look. So special and I love wonky houses. The clouds were inspired!
TextileRanger
I love everything about this, and I think you have inspired me to make a little neighborhood too!
Do you know the kids’ book, The Big Orange Splot, by Daniel Pinkwater? A man in a boring neighborhood spices up his house, and his neighbors follow suit. I used to read it on the first day of school when I taught, and your lovely neighborhood brought back that memory! 🙂