Textiles: A Puppet Party in the Park

If the stars align and a certain toddler isn’t too punchy from not having a nap, we’re planning on seeing some Shakespeare in the park tonight. ‘Much Ado About Nothing’…which really is about exactly what’s going on at the moment with all the overtired kidlet drama in the house. But I digress. 

It got me to thinking about theatre performances, kids and specifically Punch & Judy. I’ve been fascinated by them since childhood and the history behind this particular strain of puppetry. Spoonflower had a fat quarter hand puppet-themed contest last year and I couldn’t pass up the chance at illustrating my version of these crazy characters. I was originally planning on having both Punch and Judy together in a row boat (similar to this sketch I did) and you’d have to operate them with both hands. Turns out, for the size it needed to be, my epic idea wouldn’t fit onto just a fat quarter. After paring it down, I came up with this Punch & Judy kit. You can have one reversible Punch/Judy puppet, using one fat quarter, or you have a complete set of madness if you use both.

I’m really happy with how they turned out and I can’t wait to host some performances in our living room. For now, we’ll just head to the park and hope it doesn’t rain…



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