DAY 3 – Alex Wuppertaler

Here’s the third patch from the quilt adaptation of the Trying is Good quilt. If you haven’t seen the show yet and don’t want the plot ruined like someone telling you that Bruce Willis is dead in The Sixth Sense, look away now! In fact, get away from this website entirely; it’ll completely give away the show.

I don’t know why this fellow won’t come out upright. Perhaps because he is so angry, being angry Alex, baker of Alex’s Wuppertaler Rye Bread that Josie liked hugely in Melbourne. To counteract his fury, he is wearing a squeaky turban.

DAY 2 – Peaceable Kingdom

Here’s the patch from day two of Trying is Good. If you haven’t seen the show yet, Beware Spoilers!

It is a rendition of The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks, which Josie saw in a museum in New York. Mr Hicks painted the scene about 100 times, with slight variations, though apparently none with fuzzy felt in them.

Still to come in this version: 1. a lake; 2. a little child; 3. some more foliage; 4. more peaceable beasts.

DAY 1 – fancy dress

Here’s what I cooked up on the first day of the show. If you haven’t seen Trying Is Good, watch out! Here be spoilers!

Firstly in pictorial form:

Yup. It’s a terrible picture, as I have wobbly hands and a grainy camera-phone. There will also be some more stuff on it when the quilt’s all done, but there’s only so much applique you can get done in an hour.

This patch represents the bit of the show where Josie is talking about how disappointing it is when people shun the opportunity to express themselves through fancy dress. The man in the pink t-shirt has come to the party as Pink. He is dancing with a girl dressed as a cat, which is my own fancy dress bugbear. On the left is Elvis as a mermaid, which is Good Fancy Dress. You can’t really tell from the photo how sparkly his tail is and how snazzy is the silver embroidery on his jacket. On the plus side, you also can’t get as creeped out by his currently blank face.

the night before Showtime

Here’s what we’ll be starting with:

Unlike the photo, the quilt is not terrible.

Here it starts

Hello!

For twelve nights from 28th November to 15th December Josie Long will be performing her show Trying Is Good at the Soho Theatre, which frankly is a good thing for everyone. Moreover, in a move not seen since the Bayeux tapestrists decided that needlework and reportage were not incompatible, I’ll be there committing the show to fabric to make the TRYING IS GOOD Quilt. It may currently look like a pile of jumble:

but in three weeks it will be Bloody Amazing. In fact I predict it will be my best handicraft since 2006’s giant inflatable Boggle set.

So check back here once the show is under way as I’ll be posting pictures of each night’s achievements in appliqué; and of course hurry up and book tickets to see the show, which will be entirely awesome.