My entry for Friday Fictioneers, October 3, 2015.
Thank you Rochelle for your time and efforts each week to keep our creativity sparked! And a special thanks to Marie Gail Stratford for the featured photo offering.
PHOTO PROMPT – © Marie Gail Stratford
Why Marnie Got Fired
Marnie’s workplace was a yawn. Whoever decided that gray and tan were the optimal colors for this environment had obviously never been chained to a desk for eight hours a day. This lack of color scheme and hard lines had finally put her over the edge.
It started innocently enough with the mouse on her desk. A quilter in her spare time she envisioned turquoise chevrons across its top. That night she spirited it away and worked her magic on it.
Next morning she envisioned fitted slipcovers for the dreadful chairs. Kaffe Fassett would be an eye opener for sure!
~*~
Words: 100
~*~
For the uninitiated:
Kaffe Fassett is a world renowned artist, and fabric designer.
Colorful?
Yes.
Flamboyant?
OH, you bet!
And we love him for it.
Meet Kaffe Fassett in his own words…
~*~
For more really great takes on the photo prompt just follow the little blue frog!
Life on the Farmlet 
One of my favourite artists and creators! Thank you for the link, I’ve saved it to enjoy again later. Today, I used the very last scrap of some Kaffe fabric I’ve owned for nearly 15 years…
Kate, I do hope you have posted how you used it! I always enjoy your creations and Kaffe fabric is a delirious place from which to jump into creativity! (I think I have watched that clip at least 5 times today. He is such a peaceful and creative soul.)
It’s the final 2″ square of that fabric, and it’s going into one of my postage stamp blocks – look out for the post on 15th October. There’s another piece in another colourway which is about postcard size, and I just can’t make myself cut into it!
LOL! I totally understand that!
I have to tell you, that postage stamp process is just fabulous for making use of the really little scraps. I still have a bag of pieces that are too small even for that, but one day I’ll think of a way of using up all that really tiny goodness.
I secretly believe we are hoarders… 🙂
If that’s so, then I’m a well organised hoarder on a micro (as opposed to macro) scale. It’s all in one room, I can still see my work tables and floor, and each scrap has a meaningful history. I don’t keep the dull stuff…
I only wish it were so here… 😉
Well done. If it wasn’t for the mouse in that picture there wouldn’t have been a lot to go on.
I agree, Justin. Thankfully, the mouse exists and it spoke to me today! 😀
Glad you enjoyed my story.
I think “going over the edge” was the best thing to happen to Marnie! What a great story of awakening and courage to change. And thank you for enlightening me on Kaffe Fassett! Wonderful video! 🙂
I think that you are probably right, Lori. 😉
And as regards ~KF~ Can you imagine going to Jolly Olde for vacation and staying for forty years? I loved that part.
I think she may only just have got started here… original take on the prompt Lynda.
Yes, Sandra, the photograph does leave much to the reader’s imagination. I’m glad you enjoyed it and thank you!
Love your 100 words and thanks so much for the link to Kaffe Fassett video. I would love to spend a day with him lol
Thank you, Claire. I’m glad you enjoyed the link and must agree that a day with him would be a lot of inspiration!
after watching that video, I ended up watching several interviews last night and am even thinking of buying his autobiography ^^
I know what you mean, Claire. I thought of him because of the plot in my story. I knew not many would know who he was, so I went searching for the video. The fact is he is a very creative individual and far more complex than I ever realized. I too have been enjoying learning more about him. BTW, if you haven’t already, do check out Shoreacres link here in the comments. It is amazing!
Dear Lynda,
Gathering from you title, I’m guessing that Marnie’s boss didn’t think much of her creativity. Fascinating video. I’d never heard of him.
Nicely done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Dear Rochelle,
He certainly did not! Poor Marnie. As for Kaffe Fassett, he and a couple of other creators of fabulous fabric design are always largely promoted and heavily sought after in the quilters corner of the fabric stores. Me? I would if I could, but the price of quilter’s cotton is expensive enough. I can’t afford him! However, I can admire his work and the lovely jewel tones of his designs. 🙂
Shalom,
Lynda
Some work places can be un-inspiring. Nice take on the prompt.
Ansumani, I wouldn’t last long in that room to be sure! Thank you for taking time to visit and read today!
Ha.. that would be a transfer of the boring lightness…
Björn, it sure would! Thank you for visiting and reading today!
I loved the story, and got the point, even though I didn’t know Kaffe Fasset. To be honest, I thought it was a coffee drink. Ah, well. It just shows what I know about fabric and such. I did an image search for his work, and found that some of it is just too over the top for my taste. But — and this is a big but! — look at this dress and tapestry he did. Oh, my. Those I could live with!
Yes, some of it is over the top, but cut up into little pieces and quilted it often seams to work well. I’m glad you liked the story, Linda, and I love that image you shared! WOW!
Love this! A little drastic to be fired over such a small thing…
I remember buying a needlepoint with one of his designs.
Well, it is company property; is it not?
Thank you, Dale, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I love his needlework. I never knew about it until today and now I like it far better than his fabric. Do take a look at the link my friend Shoreacres shared here. It is amazing! 🙂
Will do!
A little creativity can take you a long way! Good for Marnie, taking it into her own hands… or Kaffe Fasset’s! Thanks for the link, too, Lynda. Fun!
Yes it can, evidently, even a new job! So glad you enjoyed the story and video, and thank you, Dawn.
People versus industry-fodder.
Good piece.
Yes, boring and bland does not inspire the worker to stay on task, nor for that matter to stay awake! I’m glad she did it, even if it wasn’t a lasting endeavor. Thank you, Mick!
a neat story…
Thank you, Sumana.
Nice take on that crazy mouse pattern. There is actually a group of ladies in Scotland who decided to knit a bunch of crazy colorful covers for stuff all over town like phone booths and such. Your story reminded me of them. 🙂
Deborah, I have seen similar with crochet here. So whimsical and fun!
Thank you for visiting!
I think every office should have at least a touch of real life. Real life has colors!
I agree, Joseph. I am at a loss to explain the craze for grays and greige as a color scheme in homes and offices. Boring! Yes, real life has colors.
I bet there’s a creative place just waiting for Marnie’s application.
I am certain there is, Tracey. A cheerful work environment encourages productivity and Marnie’s has been stifled for too long.
Thanks for visiting!
Sad that she got fired. Maybe she can go work her magic someplace more welcoming 🙂
Sometimes a person just needs a kick out the door to find the place where they can bloom. She will be so much happier in her new workplace!
Thanks for reading and commenting, Justjoyfulness.
This girl should be promoted for initiative.
I agree, Irene!
This workplace doesn’t deserve people like Marnie, and she deserves better. Interesting person, the designer, I had never heard of him.
It certainly do not deserve her, but definitely needed her, and we can be certain that the big kahuna probably never figured out why productivity dropped when she left. 😉 KF is known in all the quilting circles, and I imagine to the knitting world at large. I too learned something from the included film as I only knew him for his fabric design and knew nothing about his preference for knitting! Thanks for commenting, Gahlearner!
Thanks on two counts.
Loved the story and agree that Marnie deserves to become creative director of that BLAND office – productivity would soar.
Also loved the reminder of the lovely Mr KF. He is so inspiring! Years ago my Mum spent an age knitting herself one of his designs then knitted my then tiny daughter a matching jumper in the left-over wool. Today it’s worn by an old Teddy.(Talk about the Brits hanging on to old things!) Today I also spent hours I should have spent catching up on cleaning the house planting too many of the simplest brightest reddest tulips I could find – and Mr KF reminded me why indeed if bright red tulips are what’s needed, do it in style and be unashamed!
I’m glad you enjoyed my story, Miranda. Before my knees went out I used to spend hours and hours in the garden trying to make it perfect. I am certain that anyone who looked probably imagined that my housekeeping skills were of the same quality… Sigh, what fun is there in housework?
And now, I am dying to know, did you plant your age in tulips? I rather imagine from your comment that you didn’t stop there! I want pictures when they all come up!
Well having set myself the challenge, as I get older I have more tulips to plant each year. Imagining myself as 98 and finding this a little trying, but for now down with housework and up (in the spring) with tulips! Pictures to follow in a few months time…
It will be lovely, and I can’t wait!
My kind of office!
Before or after, Dawn? 😉
After!
I thought as much but didn’t want to presume. 😀
Thanks for the introduction to Kaffe Fassett. I see he was new to some of your other commenters as well as to me.
Steve, I think he is better known to quilting and knitting circles than the general public. I love his use of color, but have yet to get my feet wet in a project using his fabric. There are two reasons for this: 1) I wouldn’t know where to start, and 2) The fabrics I like of his I wouldn’t want to cut.
These are major setbacks for a quilter!