Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker, and Tits. Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that’ll infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war. —George Carlin
I was going to…
I was going to write about the First Amendment and tell you how much I believe in it–even to protect speech I find abhorrent.
I was going to remind you of the ground-breaking comedian Lenny Bruce and his repeated arrests and trials for indecent speech and/or obscenity.
I was going to remind you of the late, great poet, comedian and philosopher George Carlin and his Seven Dirty Words bit. Here’s a transcript of the version that got him in trouble with the FCC and was the basis for the case that went all the way to the US Supreme Court.
Better yet…I was going to tell you to listen to him. Hear the music in his voice and hear how much he appreciated language.
Gosh, I miss George.
I was going to tell you about how much this made me giggle last week.
I was going to…but I got lazy. I hope you get the idea anyway.
Long live that first amendment. What a beautiful and thought provoking quilt. Amazing.
Heh. Better not hang that on the outside of the fence, though.
But yes, that’s the hard part, defending people’s right to say the things you don’t necessarily like to hear. That’s equally important.
i’m giggling right now!
Ah, the heavy seven. But saying them sometimes makes a burden seem lighter. How does quilting them feel?
I love this quilt. definitely makes me gasp and giggle. Yeah, the 1st Amendment – gotta love it even when it protects creeps who yell the most horrible bigoted things at families who’ve just lost a beloved son or daughter.
this came out great! and i love, love, LOVE george and miss him terribly too. i hope he’s laughing and swearing down on all of us. :)
You already did
George carlin came to LC while I was a student and it was one of the most memorable evenings of my college life.
love, love, love
Being British I couldn’t say I am clued up on the First Amendment but could no doubt research it to enlighten myself. If I made a quilt such as yours (kudos for originality!) I can tell you that it wouldn’t just contain seven words – quite a few more indeed :)! I think maybe you have started something here that I could work on for myself – those people in the world that really get on my wick get a quilt with some choice words on! Oh the endless possibilities for Christmas presents lol!!!!
I love you, C! And your quilt!
Aw, you made a baby quilt! LOL.
Tara, I laughed out loud and long at this comment. witty!
Is tit possible to have goosebumps and be giggling at the same time? You are awesome, and so was George.
I love it.
I really liked Rossie’s comment. I agree with it and am wondering the same.
Also, I am shocked at how just-plain-pretty this quilt is!
It’s spectacular! I love that this quilt is full of your giggles! :)
I love what you’re doing… and your letters are beautiful. Long live free speech!
Love! Awesome quilt, I especially like the actual quilting!
I love George too. Especially intrigued by his idea of throwing all the violent, pervert cons in one big pen.
Fantastic how you used all the colorful words on such bright colors. You’ve brightened my crappy morning while I wait for my root canal appointment:)
Thank you. I love it.
Fucking awesome.
I love this and can’t wait to listen to the bit from Carlin you linked to. What a fantastic piece!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha! Feckin brilliant! :-D
I love this quilt! It also reminded me of an “interlude” song on one of my favorite albums http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jekYjn3ADSY&playnext=1&list=PLEAF0DA0C6916F3DA
It is brilliantine. Love George Carlin. Love him. Your amazing and creative mind, C. It’s a thing to behold.
this is the most glorious and beautiful quilt ever! i love it!!!
fantastic!
One of my good friends refers to me as “Grandma Fox” because he knows no other 29-year-olds who have such a hobby as quilting. I sent him the link to this quilt, I think he’ll finally appreciate the beauty of quilting, lol! Looks fantastic, the workmanship is great!
Wheeeeee!! Love it!!
You are 27 kinds of effing awesome.
Perfectly said and executed!
Chawn, you are amazing. Have you ever seen the film Kings of Comedy directed by Spike Lee? Bernie Mac does a thing about mother fucker that one of the funniest routines I have ever heard. Your quilt can stand up with Lenny Bruce and Charles Carlin. Congratulations.
I love George Carlin. I also used to have a potty mouth until my niece who was then two repeated the word shit repeatedly without hardly a pause. I haven’t been completely reformed and have been known to utter one of the seven on occasion.
Just very extremely cool.
More word quilts, please!
Girl, I tell you I look away for a couple of days and this happens!! I was laughing so hard the man on the other side of the living room raised an eyebrow or two. He wouldn’t get it. I Love you for it though. Thanks for making my night.
I love it. I’m not sure what my reason for loving it is, is it the naughtiness in me? There is one word I’d have to miss out. I’m a liberal swearer who loves to swear (but not in every sentence, only when appropriate) but I don’t like the C word. The shorter C word.
Love it! While I’m not proud of it, I do have to admit I swear entirely too much in my daily speech. Sometimes it just feels right, no? Reading through your last two posts makes me wonder if Carlin wouldn’t rewrite his seven words to include health care, art education, global warming, etc., if he were here. It seems as if lately these words are more shocking/provoking than the original seven! ;)
That’s some gooood shit man!
I am up to my eyeballs at the beauty of this quilt and the freedom it exudes. I want a mini version to flaunt out my window when someone steals my parking spot…! Or maybe that would be illegal?
Hehehehehe!!!
This is absolutely BRILLIANT!!! Some of these words are just lovely to say, ha! ;)
It is pretty and functional! Charmed!
Love the statement and what makes it work is the quality of your design/work. Great quilt.
I did not read all the comments but I LOLd at the one about the baby quilt. Just love this project and hope I can be forgiven for being as focused on the beautiful workmanship as the message!
Also I agree that a British version would be a lovely addition to the series. It IS a series I hope. The Brits have such great cuss words.
I can’t believe this is my first time here……. So so so great in so many ways.
This is an amazing amazing awesome quilt.
Too
Damn
funny
Yeah George was one of a kind……I liked all his catholic humor too :0)
Now where will you hang this? Leave it to your grandchildren ya think?
Happy Sewing
hehe… this is great!
This is a very cool quilt. Something like this would be perfect for my nephew, he is always using “bad” words….only, I can’t say some of these words out loud, let alone sew them into words!!
Then I thought some more…what if I put asterisks or pound signs in for some of the letters??? like, sh#t…c*cksucker or t?ts. Just a thought, I will think about it some more.
Love your blog, the colors and quilts! It is all so beautiful.
George Carlin was genius! And so are you for taking his words even further and showcasing them in such a warm and demure medium. :-)
Fabulous! I admire your guts making a quilt like that…I think if I made one like that and showed it at my local group I’d get kicked out! LOL
The quilting is amazing! Must have taken you ages!
Love it!
OMG! Love it. I just found your blog & have it added to my favs already.
Totally. Fucking. Awesome.
(I miss George too.)
WOW…., so cool!
Love your blog!
Huge Lenny and George fans over here! But my all-time fave renegade comic is Bill Hicks. Do you know his work? This quilt is cracking my shit up up on a a snowy, dreary day;)
I am so lucky to have recently discovered George, and this sketch in particular a few months back (we had Billy Connolly to keep us on track, “there’s no such thing as bad language; only bad use of good language”). This quilt is genius on so many levels.
Excellent! I love it!
Awesome! Long live free speech! I live in Canada … we don’t have the first amendment, but we do have protection for free speech. However, a young woman got kicked off the bus here for wearing a pin that said “Fuck Yoga” … now I love yoga. I do it every day. It keeps me sane and supple. And I understand her point of view that it has been taken over and possibly corrupted by yuppies and corporations like lululemon. And I will fight for her right to say Fuck Yoga! Maybe I should make a little quilt!
I can’t see your latest quilt on Flicker (which is ok, you don’t know me), so I decided to read through your blog.
You are one super cool chickita.
I love word quilts. One of the 1st quilts I made w/o a pattern was a word quilt.
Also, I just showed this quilt to my S.O. and he DARED me to make it. Seems he thinks that just b/c I’m a pastor and it’s Holy Week that I won’t go and do just that.
Thank you for the inspiration!
I followed you here from my Flickr stream. Then saw your allusion to hateful comments and started to scroll backward.
How fitting that I suspect those comments were in reference to this quilt. Which I love, by the way. Your workwomanship is spectacular, and your message is one very dear to my heart.
Oh, how did I miss this fun quilt? You are brilliant!
Brilliant quilt!