Show & Tell

In lieu of the fact that today was a very ordinary day, I will post something much more exciting from the past. I want to share some of my favorite quilts so I'll start with one that I'm very proud of. "He Is Risen" hangs at the front of my church. I designed this one by adding a few elements of stained glass windows I'd seen with some quilt elements, and then collected fabrics for over a year. It was a lot of fun. I carried a little drawing of the piece with me and every visit I made to a fabric store or a vendor booth at a quilt show, I'd search for yet another perfect piece to include in this work. The colors are all batiks with the exception of the white dove and the unique brown cross fabric. That piece I found on ebay and was thrilled to find a nice wood grain fabric that worked so well for the cross. The quilt measures approximately 60" X 80" and is quite large for a piece that hangs on the wall. But I created this specifically for the church and I knew the wall would support a piece of this size. I'm happy to share this with you and would like to make more of this stained glass type of quilt to show off in the future.

Nature v.s. Nurture

I've always had a curious sort of mind. When I was a child I am sure it was the reason behind my getting into trouble so often. And in school it fueled my intense interest in science. One of the areas I find most curious and interesting is the question of Nature v.s. Nurture. Are we the way we are because we inherited certain traits from our parents or is it because we were raised in an environment that influenced us? I don't have the answer but I find it a very intriguing question. The reason I bring this up is because I witnessed behavior this weekend by a father and his son that made me think of this question again. I was watching a high school basketball game when a girl sitting by me pointed out the pair sitting across the gym from us. She laughed at how the two of them were splitting images of each other. They were sitting the same and when they clapped in excitement, they clapped in unison. Several of us got so caught up watching these two that when they would do something alike, we'd all break out in laughter. I have no idea what happened during that quarter of the game! So with camera in hand, I tried to get shots that would prove the similarities...and I would have to say I was successful. Is it Nature or Nurture? I don't know the cause, but I can sure see the effect.

Progress Made

It was a good night for quilting at my house. Both my granddaughters were here as their parents bowl on Wednesday nights so we have a standing date with the little girls every week. Tonight Annika was anxious to sew so while Vince and Kelsey occupied Alivia, Annika and I held up in my sewing room. Same scenario for Annika....unfolding, pressing, cutting, re-pressing, and re-folding..."Done, Grandma." I finished the machine quilting on my current project. It's turning out fun, but I hesitate to photograph it with the binding attached but not finished. So instead I'll show you the quilting from the backside. It's hard to see the stitches in these photos, but if you double click on the photos you'll get a nice enlargement that shows the details very nicely. I normally match the bottom thread with the backing fabric but I thought this might be a nice example to bring to class with me when I am teaching machine quilting. I feel I'm really mastering a nice smooth stitch as well as an appealing random design. So here's what it looks like on a section of the back. This project is a very unique project. It is intended to hang in front of some shelves we have in our half bath. These shelves hold a lot of unflattering items, some of a personal nature, and this will help keep all those items from view. Vince asked me if I could make a curtain for it and for those of you who know me well....I can't make anything that simple. Hopefully tomorrow I can post a photo of the finished 'curtain'. I'd like to think it will get hung up right away, but the bathroom isn't quite finished yet and I think this will likely be the last thing to go up.

My Quilting Companian Bo-Bo

Now that the active child has gone home the sewing room has quieted down to it's normal pace. Vince and Kelsey are gone to a basketball game and won't be home until late so it's super quiet now compared to ealier. Bo Bo is our family cat and spends most of her evenings perched here on my sewing table, nestled under the light. I put a piece of practice work on the shelf of the table and she loves her bed. The light provides her with warmth and every now and then I give her a scratch on the head. Before I put the fabric up there she'd lie on the other side of my sewing machine. It didn't last long though because every time I'd put my hand behind the presser foot, Bo Bo would think it was time to play and she'd start batting at my hand. I was afraid she'd get her paw under the needle so I remedied it by giving her the little bed she likes so well. She still insists on coming over and lying on top of the quilt when I am quilting. She likes the warmth my other work light provides and the softness of the batting. This must be it because she never lies on the tops before they are sandwiched.
Below is a photo of her while she relaxes in my room.
After I took her photo she decided to bury her head and ignore me! Typical Cat!

Day Two

As Day Two comes to an end I regret that I did not get this piece finished. I did some quilting this evening as you can see from the photo. But I have a very good reason for not getting more than this done....I got a visit from my granddaughter and I had to take some time to play. She did play well though while I finished up what I was stitching. She claimed a few fat quarters as her own and proceeded to sew them. This little gal is 5 years old and has watched her mom quilting so even though she's not old enough to use all the right tools, it's remarkable how much she knows about the process.
The first thing she did was unfold the fat quarters and lie them out on my big quilting ironing table. Then she pretended to spray them with her makeshift squirt bottle (an empty water bottle) and ironed them with her special iron (a small Tupperware container). After they were adequatey pressed, she brought each piece over to my large sewing table where I was quilting and proceeded to cut it with a comb! And she used it like a rotary cutter, using the ruler and everything. Then she'd take it back to the ironing board and iron it once again before refolding the piece and declaring it "sewed".
I'm very proud of her for paying such close attention to her Grandma and Mother while we sew. She narrated every step as she acted it out and she knew why she was doing them. I would guess that she asks her mom as many questions as she asks me when I'm quilting around her.
So while I didn't get as much quilting done as I had planned, I did have a great evening with my granddaughter. And when Annika went home she made plans to come back again and quilt with me soon (probably tomorrow, right, Grandma?)
I've posted another teaser that shows some of the quilting I did get done tonight. And whether or not I finished..........any evening spent quilting is a good evening!

And Now For A Little Tease....

And here's a little sample of what's to come. This is what I've been working on tonight and it should be done in the next day or two. This is just a small section of the whole project. I love these colors and can't wait to post the finished pictures.
I've started sharing my passions today. Living in a small town and quilting. Life doesn't get much better than this!
I have so much to post that it will be an exercise in self control to keep from ignoring everything else in order to post as much as I can.
Again, Welcome to my blog. I hope that you'll enjoy it with a cup of coffee and be inspired in some little way every time you join me.

More Winter

I love living in a small town. It's so close to living in the country. I have this old wooden fence that runs the length of the property in front of the house. There are spots where it's missing a piece and others where it could fall down any day. But I love this old fence and when it snows it's especially awesome. Looks very country with all the trees and snow.