Perfect Present

Friends Richard and Laurel Seidelman just gave me this. I love it. I love it for the simple lines of the actual piece. I love it for the colorful moquilt which Rich cut from old license plates. I love the photos from my blog that Laurel chose because they represent a progression The first - bold geometric lines with fabric. The second - more intricate but still geometric piecing. And the third represents the direction I think my quilting is heading towards. Click on the picture to see some of the detail. 12" x 22

The thoughtfulness of this carefully-crafted piece overwhelms me. Here's what Laurel said.

Obviously there was another gift which was left at home on Friday. But after our evening together we were inspired to create something that rejoiced in YOUR art. I listened carefully to comments about your passion for geometric shapes and your Beijing inspired interest in yellows and reds. I let those comments steer me to quilts that shared a common color scheme and sense of geometry. It's interesting that they also follow a progression in your style sense. We labored over the positioning of the photos and finally felt comfortable with the final order with no idea that it was ideologically correct. We are pleased that you are pleased.

"Pleased" is an understatement. That this gift celebrates MY art? Priceless.

Mors Bag update

I've now made 27. And I can't stop...

Reduce, reuse, recycle...

Christmas Presents, 2008

Long time good buddy Midge suggested we go to the Fiber Arts show at the Botanic Gardens in Glencoe. At that show I met a fellow quilter and have really enjoyed getting to know Wayne. Too many coincidences - he too is left handed, has a Husqvarna, does the same kind of quilting I do, and is passionate about travel. We've been feeding each other ideas for the past month, and one of his has lit a fire under me.

Wayne sent me a Mors Bag that he made , and I tried my first one a couple of days ago. Then I decided I would make these for Christmas presents. So far I've made eight, and I want to make a total of 22. I'm finding some wonderful fabrics in my stash - click on the picture to see some of the detail. In keeping with the spirit behind "sociable guerilla bagging," I'm using up little bits of thread left on spools and finally finding a fabulous use for the tons of leftover muslin I have from quilts. hese bags are 11" by 17".

About 10 years ago John began using canvas bags for grocery shopping. He's excellent at remembering to take them with him when he shops. My goal is to keep a bag with me when I am a fabric store or Walgreen's or a book store. A visual reinforcement for not using plastic bags happened to us in southern Argentina. It's pretty much a vast scrub land. There are zillions of little scrubby bushes, which from a distance seem to sparkle. Until we got closer and realized that the "sparkles" were plastic bags caught in the bushes. John referred to this area as a huge plastic bag farm. Shortly after that trip I heard on NPR that the same sort of thing is happening in South Africa. There are also whirlpools in remote parts of the oceans where plastic bottles and bags are endlessly swirling. Our resources are finite. Reduce. Reduce. Recycle.

For Christmas this year my sister Paula suggested we make one another presents. My sister-in-law Pam has been doing this for years (can't wait for her "cracker candy"). I've enjoyed making my first 8 Mors bags and am eager to do some more. I'm trying to make some that the men in the family won't be embarrassed to carry. However, as with quilts, I want to keep each one that I'm making. I'll have to adjust that attitude in that next 10 days!

For Jim Pretkelis

 
I was lucky to get to know some very special people at Kennedy High School. My last few years were the first years of music teacher Jim Pretkelis. What a terrific guy he is. His passion for music and respect and genuine fondness for students are a winning combination. Whatever I asked him to do, he did - usually something connected with media or sound. I have been mentally working on this quilt for so long that it will have to be shared by TWO children - Jim and his wife just had their second baby. That's why it's pretty big. 60" x 66"

There are only 2 blocks in this quilt. Jim told me his first daughter loved reds and yellows and is a vibrant little girl. Hope this quilt holds up to her personality. This quilt is a tangible reminder of her father's gracious dependability and how much I value him.

The Christmas Fairy Comes to LaGrange

Every year while I'm working on quilts, John decorates the house (and does the cards and the Christmas shopping and everything else). While I normally don't embellish my quilts in any way, John found some little tiny ornaments which he carefully pins to the quilted Christmas tree I made several years ago. Even I admit that the effect is very nice. His real labor of love however is his Christmas Tree. And I love that he uses my bargello abstract wall hanging as a background for his tree.

A Christmas Present

 
So many things connect to Dodie, my college roommate. December 17 will be the second anniversary of her death. Dodie's older daughter Mani nannied for the Dunn family when Mani was attending Converse College in Spartanburg, SC. The little Dunn girl has since graduated from college and pharmacy school. Mom Fran came across Brie's undergrad t-shirts and memories of so many Kappa Delta events. Using Wofford College school colors for sashing and borders, this t-shirt quilt is the whimsical and charming result. Fran even arranged the layout. This is Brie's Christmas present. Click on the picture to see some of the details of the shirts as well as the dog bone fabric for the Wofford mascot used for the cornerstones and the binding. 84" x 96"

When the family went to Myrtle Beach about 7 months after Dodie's death, the Dunns offered Mani their house in Litchfield. John and I stayed there along with Dodie's brother Bill and his wife. It was a sad week to be together, but the gracious and lovely house - the Jim Dandy - of the Dunns made the week a bit easier.

Art Quilt #4

 





This quilt was an exercise in the use of a couching technique, gimping cord and foot, and variegated thread. While I like the look of this quilt, it's much less substantial than its 3 companion pieces. Click on the picture to see the detail. 11" x 14"

I think I'd like to try couching something other than gimping cord and a satin stitch. Maybe I should ask my sister-in-law Chris H for some bits of her fabulous yarns and play around with some things like that.

One of the wonderful lines from "Sunday in the Park with George" is "Work is what you do for others - Art is what you do for you." I've had fun with with art recently, but let the work resume. I have a December 5th deadline for a t-shirt quilt.  

Art Quilt #3

Continuing with my circle theme, I tried to do 2 things with this piece. First, I tried to break the visual line removing a portion of the bigger circle and then quilt as if if was there. In retrospect, I think the negative space would have been a better visual. Second, I used some couching to create a series of rings around the inner circle. It's an interesting technique and worth continuing to play around with. 11" x 14"

To Try

1. Fabric Paint Sticks + various patterns for rubbing
2. Couching Foot + cord
3. Drunkard's Path templates - 3", 6", and 9" sizes
4. Quilt using all plaid fabrics
5. Vertical Strip Quilting

Quilting Tip from Lady Macbeth

I've been wanting to try a landscape quilt for the longest time. What's been stopping me? Partly a lack of technique but mostly the fear of stepping out of a safe zone. So I sometimes use advice from Lady Macbeth (yes, I know she was dead by Act V...): Be bloody, bold, and resolute. So armed with resolve, some great fabrics, the lines of Kaberi's photo, and a lot of Steam-A-Seam, here is the result. It's not bad for a first effort. I think, like with Monet and his haystacks, I will use this design again and again and see what happens. Most useful to me is seeing the photo landscape and the fabric landscape in the same photo. 11" x 14"