Week in Review 2022 – 08/19

It’s A Wrap

Image of Putin holding a microphone and driving home a point
It isn’t easy to find images of Putin with his mouth open. This will help with inserting his vampire teeth.

It is four months since I started Bat Sh*t Crazy. Now I can officially say, “It’s a wrap.” What a journey it has been. The first step and impetus for this piece was the day Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. What I envisioned was one more crazed leader, a vampire, sucking the life blood out of so many.

The sky, or upper portion of the image is made up of jagged, scraps of red fabric. The base and much of the right side of the image is covered with tightly packed yellow buildings with blue windows and doors.
This will be my blueprint or guide for piecing together Bat Sh*t Crazy.

It’s in the Can

I was listening to an audiobook, not thinking of the quilt I would make when I heard the phrase “bat sh*t crazy”. Bam! I had my title. Instead of Putin as a vampire in a formal portrait style image, why not Putin as a bat looming over a Ukrainian city, perhaps Kiev. I spent a few days mocking up a blue print or piecing guide.

The image is visually divided along a diagonal plain. The upper left resulting triangle is predominately a crazy pieced red sky with a bat swooping down towards the village below. The village is the lower right section. It could have been built with children's building blocks. The walls are yellow with blue windows, representing the colors of Ukraine.
Bat Sh*t Crazy is 36″ H x 46″ W

I let the concept be my muse as I made various decisions about the quilt. For example, I chose a crazy pieced block made up of discordant red fabrics for the sky. Red is the color of anger and blood. The city, by contrast is innocent. It could have been made from a child’s wooden block set. Note the colors are yellow and blue to symbolize Ukraine. Finally, when you get close enough to the bat you will see a Z on each wing, letting you know this is Putin making his mark.

Close-up image of a thread painted bat. The bat has protruding eye teeth and a white Z's emblem is seen on each wing. The bat is set against chaotic red crazing piecing.
Putin looming over a Ukrainian city

All Done

It’s official. It’s done, finito, complete. If only I could say the same about the situation in Ukraine.

I’ve also finished my two orange blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

The two blocks are side by side. The one on the left features and 8 pointed star and the one on the right has a ladder or braid effect. Both are made from fabrics ranging from a pale orange sherbert to a deep sunset orange.
My two orange blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge are finished.

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By Gwyned Trefethen

I am an artist who uses fabric, thread and miscellany to create designs gifted to me by my imagination.

22 comments

    1. Absolutely, Norma. There was a time when making Bat Sh*t Crazy when I thought my finish would come long after the end of the war. Such a sad, horrific situation.

    1. Margaret, if you can stomach it, I highly recommend Googling for images of Putin. The man seems to be perpetually scowling and closed lipped. Glad I could give you a chuckle. The reality calls for gallows humor.

  8. Great to read your ideas behind this piece which is a clever and brilliant finish. Just wish we could whisk a wand and turn Putin into a bat. xx

    1. Now there’s an idea for quilt… Putin the bat fracturing with a magic wand above him. The wand could be blue the “magic” stars yellow and the lower ground the flames of Hell.

  10. an amazing quilt journey – thank you for sharing your thoughts that led you to create this piece

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