Some Political Peace

 I know our nation is not yet out of the woods. The contrast of the capitol attack on January 6 with the normalcy of the January 20 Inauguration of Biden and Harris is stark.  The majesty of all the events on Inauguration Day gives me great hope and some political peace.  The last four years with Trump at our nation’s helm - and those Republicans who enabled him - have been a shit storm.  Disregard for convention has been rampant.  But the three days of the Biden presidency point to a return to political sanity.  So still I sew, but with a deep sense of optimism.  

This quilt has been batted with wool and is incredibly soft.  It’s 60” x 80”.  

And of course more masks.  Still.

Combined with my sense of a growing political peace, my heart is rejoicing for two new lives coming into this world.  And for the baby quilts I’ll be making.  This one is an exclamation point quilt - Get Happy! - for my doctor’s second baby.  

The days are getting longer.  The sun shines more.  It’s still cold, and there are winter storms still to come. But in the paraphrased words of Keats, can Spring be far behind? 

                                                          

Get Happy! No. 4

 

What a winning combination of fabrics and pattern!   I made two of these for nieces who both had quarantine babies last spring.  One niece loved hers so much that she commissioned one more for her sister-in-law (all pinks, see previous post) and for her mother-in-law who will have for the first time a baby grandchild living close to her.   

This pattern Get Happy! is available at the Bernina We All Sew website and was created by Laura McDowell Hopper (@lmhquilts, formerly @sonicstitches), a past president of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild.  It was designed to be paper-pieced, but I made templates and pieced all four tops.  

The backing incorporates an exclamation point in fabric featuring cursive writing.  The border is the same cursive fabric but in grey.  Exclamation points are from text fabric.  This quilt? Perfection, IMHO!

From Sad to Happy: Two projects

 

We know life is about births and deaths.  And we assume a natural order:  people die when they are old. In March an 8-year old died suddenly.

And a family, both immediate and extended grieves.  My friend Cecilia commissioned this quilt for her niece, Maddie's mom.  It is 65" x 75" and made in loving memory.  This pattern is Have a Heart by J. Michelle Watts, available at Etsy.

Because blue hearts are so special to this family and such fabric isn't easy to find., I found a fabric at Spoonflower and had it made.  See the picture below.

There was such an aura of sadness while working on the blue heart.  My niece asked me if I would duplicate the baby quilt I made for my nephew and his wife for her sister-in-law in NYC.  Perfect:  working on a baby quilt and focusing on a new life!  I love this pattern. It's "Get Happy!" by Laura McDowell Hopper, a free pattern at the We All Sew website

Baby Quilts: Get Happy! and Two Little Koalas and Bright and Sunny

Baby quilts are one of my favorite things to do.  They are small, fairly easy to quilt, and - most importantly - keep me focused on possibilities of the future. My nephew Chris and his wife are having a little girl pretty soon.  Pink was the color of choice.  Guildmate and current Chicago Modern Quilt Guilt president Laura McDowell Hopper posted this quilt, "Get Happy!" on the We All Sew website.  There's a second Get Happy! quilt in the works for my niece who is having her baby a month later!

Two Koalas, an Elizabeth Hartman pattern, is complete.  I struggled with how to quilt this and finally took a tip from Lady Macbeth:  be bloody, bold, and resolute.  I dropped the feed dogs and free motioned the background.  And I must say it is spectacular.  The wool batting makes the quilting pop.  A word about Elizabeth Hartman patterns:  they are terrific.  I was a bit taken aback when friends with a pregnant daughter in Perth, Australia, asked for a quilt with an animal on it.  I wanted to say, "Wait, I don't do cute."  But then I found this pattern and have fallen in love with the cuteness.  So I guess I do do cute!

Evenings I am working on this beautiful log cabin.

And another baby quilt!  I'm quilting it right now - it will be for Helios's new little sibling.