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My obsession with
matchbox twenty
It’s something about the music
Back in 1997 or so,
a great rock ’n roll song hit the local airwaves and caught my attention. It
wasn’t inspired lyrics or funky sounds that I noticed, just a good, solid
melody and words I could actually hear clearly and sing along with. (That’s
important to me…)
It was a little number called "Push" by a new band
with an unlikely moniker, Matchbox 20. Of course I ran out to the record store
and picked up their debut CD entitled Yourself or Someone Like You. The CD spent
the better part of the next three years in my car. (I travel an hour each way to
work and I do the bulk of my listening while driving - or sitting in traffic - so it’s unusual for any
one CD to be such a staple.)
It’s
about time
Even though I love YOSLY dearly,
after three years even the most devout listener is begging for some new
material. Enter Mad Season by matchbox twenty in May 2000.
Finally some new
tunes to enjoy. And enjoy them I did - and I still do. I spent several evenings reading
through the CD jacket - memorizing lyrics and reading thank yous and credits.
At
this point, I became fascinated with the cover art. Great shades of blue and
green, lots of dimension, silly character - an interesting graphic all the way
around. It got my creative juices flowing and I thought it would be challenging
to try and adapt it to my art-of-choice, quilting. So I did.
An artist’s
interpretation
Until this point, I hadn’t done
much designing. Mostly, I followed published patterns – making them my own
through my choice of fabric styles and colors. Now I was taking on an ambitious
project, to copy an image that was never intended for quilting. I must have been
nuts! - but once inspiration strikes, I hit the ground running. I spent the about
40 hours over the next several weeks working on my new project and I surprised
myself with the results. It was actually coming together nicely. (I usually end
up with the most expensive dust rags when a project goes badly…)
What's the story
behind "Bunnyman?"
While "under
construction," I began to wonder at the significance of the goofy guy in
the dress, walking a peacock. So I started searching the Internet for
information. Of course, I couldn’t find any, but I found loads of stuff on
matchbox twenty and I really felt I was getting to know the guys personally (sad
but true).
The
band members appealed to me because of their great senses of humor and their
ability not to take themselves too seriously. I enjoyed them so much that I
joined the fan club. And, at 35, I felt a bit silly. (This is the first fan club
I ever joined in my life - really!)
Now, of course there's more to my
obsession than. I got it in my head that I wanted to show the band my
quilt (like they'd really be interested...). So I embarked on a long and
difficult journey to meet the guys, and I was successful. Feel free to
read all about the quest and see the photos for yourself:
Success
story:
A
quilter's quest for a meet and greet.
Photos:
Amherst, Mass. meet and greet 9/22/00.
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