Humorous Quilts: Don't Piss Off the Fairies, by Ruth Powers

Quilts started out as very utilitarian, practical items for warmth and comfort in daily life. However, one of the most fun aspects of our craft has been the development of quilts to express artistic and cultural themes, such as holidays, celebrations, and humor. Laughter and comedy are part of all cultures, and humorous quilts are a wonderful way of expressing our more lighthearted moments. For the next week we're bringing you one humorous quilt per day.

Don't Piss Off the Fairies,  12 x 12, by Ruth Powers at  Ruth Powers Art Quilts

"Don't Piss Off the Fairies" makes us laugh because the irony of this topic. We usually think of fairies as whimsical, effervescent, creatures of childlike delight.  However, what happens when one of them has a bad day like all of us occasionally do? The result is a very human expression of grumpiness on a non-human being, and that brings a smile to our faces.

This little fairy in her woodland setting is intricately machine-pieced and machine-quilted. Notice how the light falls upon her delicate wings, which brings out the graceful quilting design. The golden skin tones complement the icy lavender shades of the fairies' wings and help to play up the focal point of her facial expression.  Ruth notes that it was a bit of a challenge to find the right fabric for her skin, but she thinks the batik she used worked out perfectly. She says, " I just love searching for the right fabric", and we know that echoes the sentiments of so many quilters.

"Don't Piss Off the Fairies" is a one-of-a-kind art piece that is now privately owned by the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection. However, if you are looking for a really cute (non-pissed-off) fairy pattern, check out Fairies In My Garden at Ruth Powers' patterns page. We really enjoy Ruth's work, as it is so inspired, fresh, and creative. You can see more quilts in progress - and more fairies - at Ruth Powers' Blog.

Image credits:  The image is shown with the generous permission of Ruth Powers.

p.s.  How does Google Translate deal with "Piss Off" ?  Let us know !  In case it doesn't translate, the MacMillan dictionary has these synonyms: To annoy, provoke, anger, bother, frustrate, irritate, infuriate, antagonize. In short form we may just say P.O. as in "I'm PO'd". Undoubtedly there are similar terms in every language.  We'd love to know.