So, as promised, here are some (small-scaled) photos of my 72″ x 80″ Super Mario Bros. quilt, featuring Mario, a Goomba, a Parakoopa, a Spiny and a Question Box.
The finished product has a 7″ black border, with what is called ‘trapunto’ effect — the blue sky background is stipple-stitched flat and the characters made to puff out slightly with added batting. The question box is also a pocket, and there will be a star, coin and mushroom set of quilted pillow covers/hot water bottle holders to match (photos of those later). Sorry, I just couldn’t do the Fire Flower!
I have a question about copyright infringement for the legally-minded out there. Obviously these are not my images – I carefully gridded out each character from its Nintendo prototype, and then created them in a 100% cotton format. I know it’s okay for me to do this for my own personal use, but what happens if I try to sell this as a work of art? Also, what about broadcasting?
This quilt is going to be hung in a show for my guild, and the show will be featured on television as part of an OMNI1 news special and on Breakfast Television for Toronto. Can I be sued for utilizing Nintendo’s imagery? I think maybe not, since in the documentary ‘Supersize Me’, they showed paintings by a man who adapted images of McDonald’s and the golden arches. What could be more brand copyrighted than that?
Anyhow, advice on this matter welcome, but for now – enjoy the pics!
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I have no idea about the whole copyright thing, but DUDE, that quilt is AWESOME!!
This is awesome! I love how the pixel nature of the game images lends itself so well to the strip quilting (I think that’s what the technique you’re using is called?). I can’t help but think about how much I want a Space Invaders quilt now…
(sorry, I’m not sure about copyright – I do know that the McDonald’s example you cited would be fair use for parody, I’m not sure how a straight-up depiction like this would fare with the brand lawyers)
Eeek that’s awesome! That looks great. ;D
now I have the super mario them in my head. 🙂
-caellum
Dude, that quilt totally rocks!! Awesome.
(And, I’m also no help with copyright stuff…)
Many thanks to you for suggesting the quilt grid — it had some problems re: tearing, not being sticky enough, leaving tacky black streaky bits on my sewing machine etc. but in terms of time saved, I think it was absolutely worth it. I would have gone bonkers trying to piece 2200 squares together one at a time.
I still love your Donkey Kong quilt. 🙂 And am very envious that you can sew your own clothing — a talent I do not appear to have at all, alas.
Thank you! It gets lonely working on these things sometimes, just you and your sewing machine (since I have no kitties), so it’s lovely to get feedback from the peoples when photos go up. Hurrah for LJ!
Oh man, I can’t tell you how tempted I am to sew one of those little chip-speaker things they put into singing birthday cards into a pocket in the lining, with a small “press here” instruction sewn in, so that the quilt can play the tune and then you can remove the chip when it needs washing.
Use some of that magical web-fu of yours and find me a chip that plays the Super Mario Bros. theme, and there could be a nice Thai food meal in it for you next time you come visit the T-dot…
Hey I am glad I was able to help you avoid the piecing. It really took forever (I had 1472 pieces myself, not that I was counting….)
Thanks for the notes about how the quilt grid worked, that’s good to know for when I use it next time I do something like this.
I have a feeling that for the TV broadcast they might have to do the ol’ Vaseline smear over your quilt. 🙁 But then again I don’t really know.
I also have a feeling that kitties would be HIGHLY detrimental to quilting. You’d have to keep your quilting room PADLOCKED.
I’ve had a fairly secret desire to learn how to quilt, ever since my parents gave me a *gorgeous* one for my university graduation. They had commissioned a quiltmaker friend of theirs to make me one (my parents picked out a lot of the fabric, and motifs and stuff), and it is seriously one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Ever since, I’ve had it in the back of my mind to learn how! And now that someone I know is doing it, it makes me want to even more!
Yay for quilts!
Dude. That is the brilliantest (it’s a word because I say it is) thing ever. Wow. Really.
As for copyright questions, I really wish I’d taken IP law. But Jacob Glick would probably know the answer to your question. I’m sure Amy knows how to find him should you wish to track him down.
WELL DONE!
I found a site that encodes it as a MIDI file, but alas, no miniature singing button. My web fu has failed you and my head is forfeit. You must come to Denver to collect.
-caellum