When Fabrics and Colors Speak...

Part 1. Ceretta O, a woman from Lawndale Christian Quilters, made a fabulous reversible quilt using ethnic and animal prints last year (look in the Lawndale, Chapter 2 album). And the beauty of that quilt has had an impact on me. Slowly but ever so surely my stash is including some wonderful new fabrics, including one that was the key of Ceretta's quilt.

Part 2. About five years ago I bought a piece of student art, mostly because no one else bought it and partially because of the color scheme - lots of greys, blacks, and a big shot of yellow. This combination of colors I find appealing.

So these two piles of fabrics - the ethnic/animal prints and the grey/yellow/blacks - wound up on the floor together. And I'm working on log cabins in the new workshop. I've been trying to picture these two groups in the same quilt. I've even gone through various quilt books trying to find a suitable pattern to merge these two fabrics groups into. One of the problems is that several of the fabrics are not suitable for piecing because they are so lovely on their own.

Yesterday it dawned on me. I love Ceretta's quilt so much that perhaps the reversible pattern would work well again. I did make a reversible quilt last year (look in the same gallery for my Night and Day quilt) , but it was a gift to young Sean Parkes and his parents. So I could certainly make one just to live in the studio. In playing with these fabrics, some slipped from one pile into another. Some of the yellows/golds are now with the animal/ethnics and all the grey/blacks are together.

The beauty of a reversible quilt is that it's an opportunity to use of leftover batting, of which there's a constant supply. Within 24 hours I've gone from, "I need to begin a new project" to "Woo Hoo, I've got this great project going and can't wait to get back in the studio!" Of course I have other projects that I'm finishing, but there's nothing like the glow of being in love with a new project. And to Ceretta: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Decision made!

After a bit of thinking - not too much - I decided to go through my scrap basket for my demonstration log cabin. My scraps are fabulous; even my grandson Ryan says so. My scraps were divided into lights and darks. In keeping with tradition, I did find enough reds so that the center of each of the 36 blocks is red. As I was working on this traditional block with its perfect proportions, I realized that not all the Lawndale women would want to tackle this block because they are a very busy group of women with limited time.So now I'm about to begin a second log cabin for demonstration purposes. This one uses a bigger center square and thicker strips. Instead of a block having 17 pieces, this block will have 9. Fewer pieces means faster sewing. But then the old problem: what colors to use?

Since the center block is so big, I found one of my special fabrics - a goldish sort of snowflake pattern that looks Christmas-like. Aha! Christmas! The two biggest collections in my stash are red and greens. And really, who doesn't love a Christmas quilt.

Note on January 12, 2008: Kennedy teaching buddy Paul Lyons and his wife Marcy have a vacation house in St, Joe, MI about a mile from my sister Paula and have offered it to us. Since her house tends to get crowded over the holidays, we accepted Paul's offer - so convenient. The Scrappy Log Cabin now lives in the Lyons house in St. Joe as a thank you.

What to do? What to do?

The Lawndale Christian Quilters have been on hiatus for the past 2 months. When we resume meeting on Monday nights in May and June, we will by general consensus work on a Log Cabin Quilt. The Log Cabin is one of my favorite patterns because it's so versatile. My winter quilt is a blue and white log cabin. Every time I get in bed I think about those wonderful snow days in 1993 when I was forced to work out of my stash, and this was the result.

It's also my favorite art quilt pattern. In my dining room hangs a fabulous log cabin that is quilted in metallic threads and just sort of sparkles. I call it "A Tribute to My Mother" because she said every room needs a touch of red. That's what the red in the center is all about. Part of the inspiration for this quilt came from a stage setting at Shakespeare Rep in downtown Chicago. There was a one-man show about Charles Dickens, and the stage had one huge frame that was set an an angle.

I firmly believe that modelling is the way to teach anything. So I do want to model a log cabin quilt, using the exact same measurements that the Lawndale quilters will use. My whole stash is open - all I need to do is make a choice. Perhaps some inspiration will come in another day or two. Really, how hard can this be? Two colors? Multi-colored, like Susan's Mexican Wedding Quilt? The group resumes in 10 days. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Nieces and Nephews and HS Graduation Quilts

When Chris Thompson graduated from St. Joseph, MI, high school in 2000, he knew he was going to the University of Michigan. So for his graduation I made him a quilt of Wolverine Blue and Gold. And then it dawned on me: I started a tradition that must be followed for the remaining kids. Jennifer Thompson graduated from the same high school in 2002 - her quilt was a lovely blue and yellow with an appliqued dancer in one corner. Then Laura White and Candace White both decided to go to the U of I after their hs graduation in 2003. The girls had matching orange and blue quilts using an "attic window pattern." Leslie White graduated from Richards in 2005, and Ali White is graduating this May.

For Leslie's quilt I tried a technique new to me that involved creating fabric from strips of 17 other fabrics and using curved templates. The colors and fabrics in Leslie's quilt were ones that spoke to me, and the design is subtle and rich.

Ali's quilt is the same pattern using the curved templates. The use of sashing strips and corner stones give this quilt a much different look. Her quilt is Burgundies and Golds and bright and curvy and in-your-face, a bit like Ali in some ways.

These quilts contain all the possibilities of the future. When I sew I naturally think about the recipient. My thoughts become a prayer and a blessing for having such interesting siblings who have such interesting kids. Ali's a bright girl who doesn't know what she wants to do. I hope she reaches for the stars. She'll figure things out.

My Turbinates for a Quilt

My sister Paula is married to Dennis Thompson, an ear-nose-throat surgeon. When my snoring was bad enough to interfere with John's sleep, Dr. Den was a great resource. He first used Pilar implants in my soft palate, but my snoring persisted. So then he shrank my turbinates with radio frequency. For the first time in years I think I am breathing clearly and well. When Paula and Dennis purchased a building for their practice in St. Joe, MI, Paula of course handled the decorating (as well as everything else) of this new space. There's a wonderful tall wall in a central spot, and Paula asked for a wall hanging. What a great opportunity to begin to repay Dennis for his services!

Armed with some mini-quilts, sample wall hanging, and fabrics in Paula's palette of browns, neutrals, and blues, I drove to St. Joe. They both spotted a design they liked, and Dennis seems to like bold graphic lines. Paula and I then hammered out the specific fabrics. The result is lovely - contemporary, quiet, eye-catching. There will be a better photograph once this is hung in its space.

The Lowly T-Shirt

There were so many highlights of our March trip to Beijing. Among them was seeing the Great Wall (can you imagine how great the rest of the trip was?). Spotting it from a distance was thrilling enough. But then to actually climb up one of the towers and be on the Wall was even better. John walked from one tower to the next, probably 2 miles total. We could still see remnants of snow and the day was brisk and sunny. John bought a souvenir shirt and requested that it be a wall hanging. The lovely greys of the shirt are perfect with the red and Imperial yellow. This wall hanging is what you see coming out of the bathroom on the first floor. So, several times a day we are reminded of our lovely time visiting the Great Wall of China. Click on the pictures to see some of the details.

Asian? Zen? Prairie?

What are Asian colors? What does "Zen" mean? What about the lines associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and his Prairie style? Asian architecture isn't exactly linear, is it? Just think about the lines of a pagoda. I'm afraid that Pottery Barn and Pier One have defined for me things that are Asian, Zen, and Prairie into a style that I should probably call Pottery One or Pier Barn. So I do have a sort of gestahlt that is emerging for Rachel's Wall Hanging.

Rachel is one of my Kennedy colleagues and someone who is on the frontline at Kennedy in the English classroom. Her students are lucky to have her because of her patience, her world view, and her respect for all. Rachel along with Susan, Corinne, Tanya and Deborah worked along side of me with our grant from the Fry Foundation, and I have a deep fondness for each one of these women. Corinne has a Christmas Tree wall hanging. Susan has a colorful log cabin that I made for her wedding - it's on the front page of my web site. I made buddy Tanya a log cabin wall hanging quilt when she bought her condo in Bronzeville. I willed Deb a piece I originally made for my Kennedy offiice, Amish Jewels, and offered to donate to the Kennedy Art Auction. It didn't get a bid, but it did wind up in Deb's house when I retired.

So, back to Rachel. She bought her first place, a condo in Oak Park, in 2005. She's been saving her Dining Room wall for me. I've known all along what I've wanted to do, but it's been one of those projects that's had a hard time gettng out of my head. The trip to Beijing in March, 2007, helped to solidify the whole "Asian" theme for Rachel. A color palette of reds, greens, black-browns, and neutrals. Strong lines with a vanishing point. Touches of bamboo and the Great Wall. New techniques like fabric weaving, pleat tacking, and raw-edge applique. Midway through the project I met with Rach to show her what I had. The one sure-fire piece in my mind used a lot a red and was a variantion on the Kimono theme. And it was the first one Rachel eliminated because of all the reds in her living room. And all along I was thinking to use brown to unify these 6 little mini-quilts. One meeting with Rachel made me realize that black - or perhaps a brown-black, should be the unifying color.


I'm excited about this wall hanging for Rachel. It's been a wonderful leap from my safety zone. Each one of the techniques I've used in this quilt is something I want to try again - and again.

The Long Arm of Quilting

This is the most beautiful quilt ever. Of course I say that about each quilt I make, but this one truly is spectacular. Because I was making it for the bed that I share with John, I wanted to make it wide and long. Most queen quilts at 90" wide, so I wanted this one to be 100" wide. John prefers a long quilt, so the length is 114". That is a lot of fabric. I worked very hard piecing the blocks for this quilt. Since this quilt is so large and so pretty, I deciced to splurge and have a long-arm quilter work on this quilt. Normally I do my own quilting, which is straight-line and utilitarian. My machine-quilting holds the 3 layers together and reinforces the geometric lines of the quilt. Just recently I've been experimenting with free-motion quilting, but that's a skill that has to be practiced quite a bit before tackling a full-size quilt

The quilt we currently have on our bed, a white and blue log cabin, is a quilt that I had machine-quilted with an all-over pattern. That technique would not have been good enough for this Jinny Beyer "Around the World" quilt. In February 2007 I met Downers Grove quilter Judy Teska when she and I shared a 90-minute timeslot at a quilting-themed women's retreat held by the Downders Grove Congregrational Church. What a charming woman and what a talented quilter! Judy gave me the name of a long-arm quilter, Debbie of Tinley Park. Based on Judy's recommendation, I took my fabulous quilt to Debbie in February. On March 30 I returned to pick it up.

Debbie is truly an artist. She initially asked whether I wanted my blocks/design or her quilting to be dominant. When I asked her if her if the two components could highlight one another, she smiled. She suggested a varigated thread, Nordic Fjord. She worked her magic (although I must point out that she has a heavy workload and the wait time was 4 weeks). I hate to use the word spectacular again, but really it is. The photograph doesn't even begin to hint at the textural richness created by the quilting. The quilting lines are so organic and complementary to the design and the colors. It's really a work of beauty.

I can't wait to create a new quilt top that is somehow Deb-worthy.

If you're thinking this quilt looks suspiciously like the one in the Made Possible by a Grant From... in a March post, you are sort of right. These fabrics are the same, and so is the overall design. However, the first quilt posted has a Mariner's Compass center and corners. This quilt has a simpler center and corners.

Generational Connections

I began quilting in 1985. There was a Women's Day magazine article by Eleanor Burns about making a quilt in a day (see www.quiltinaday.com). But I've always known how to sew. In fact, I took a sewing machine to Milligan with me in 1967. Sewing was a bit second nature because of my mom. In fact, my mom's 1948 Singer Featherweight is all packed and ready to go to my Lawndale workshop tomorrow evening.

I have vague recollections of my grandmother Eloise White quilting. They are similar to the ones I have of my great-grandmother Mary Merganthaler Sheehan crocheting a tablecloth. Perhaps it was 1955 when I accompanied Grandma Eloise to town (North Judson, Indiana) to get some fabric for a quilt she was working on. More tangible is the quilt I have of hers. It's pieced and quilted by hand, and the batting is visibly smaller than the quilt. How could she have put all that time into a quilt and then skimp on the batting? The answer I'm making up is that she simply wanted to get it done and move on to something else, and getting proper-sized batting would have slowed her down.

In January 2007 my parents came from lunch, and my mom had this quilt-top with her. It's a Postage Stamp quilt (all pieces are 1.5" squares), and all hand-pieced. It had been handled so many times that the edges were all lettuce-y. Many of the seams, especially on the outer 3 rounds, had been quickly and carelessly pieced. And every time someone handled it, seams had come undone. My mom and I both concluded that this was an unfinished quilt of my grandmother's.

Earlier this week my aunt Elizabeth White, the widow of my dad's younger brother, my Uncle Leonard, was in town with my cousin Jerry White and his family. My parents were also here for lunch. And of course I had to show Grandma Eloise's quilt. And you know what? My mom and my aunt both agreed it wasn't Eloise's quilt - it was my aunt Jean White Gill's unfinished quilt. Turns out my dad brought it back with him from Everett, Washington, after her death in 1995.

My aunt Jean was my mom's age. She was someone who doted on me and did special things with me when I was a child. We took a motor trip together in 1962, driving through the Smoky Mountains and to Washington, DC. When she and her husband moved to Alaska in the 70's, several of my White cousins - John, Jerry, and Jim - spent their summers there. She was quite the character.

I've always said quilting connects me with an American tradition and an American sisterhood. Quilting now deepens my connection to my grandmother and my aunt. I know why I quilt, and I bet they quilted for some of the same reasons. Quilters talk about their UFO's (unfinished objects). What a pleasure to finish my aunt's quilt.

Inspiration and Projects

Inspiration has a multitude of sources. Sometimes a particular piece of fabric becomes the source of inspiration. And it could be a combination of fabrics or colors. Sometimes it's a design. I still have a landscape/sunset quilt trying to get out of my head from our trips to Alaska. The same is true of our drive along the Mississippi Valley on our way to Minneapolis. Sometimes a special occasion coincides with a technique I want to try. That's what happened with niece Leslie's high school graduation quilt. This quilt is from the leftovers of Leslie's quilt. And some quilts have no inspiration - they are just something that must be done.

John and I just returned from a fabulous and intense short week in Beijing. Our lovely guide Hua Jing showed us stuff until our brains were full. And I come home with Asian motifs running through my head. Kennedy teacher/friend Rachel is someone who has been on my quilt list. Rachel is dedicated and personable, and we spent much time together working on various projects. She bought her first place in Oak Park and has some dining room wall space that she's saving for me. I've been bouncing various ideas off of her, but when I got back from Beijing I knew what I wanted to do. The palette is a warm one - neutrals, browns, sage greens, true reds, some golds. There are 6 blocks, each with an "Asian" motif and simple lines.

Yesterday I was in a work groove when John reminded me that I'm making a Jazz T-Shirt Quilt for the Brookfield Jazz Society. And that reminded me that I'm taking the t-shirt John bought at The Great Wall and turning that into a wall hanging. There is also a pile of red/cranberries/burgundies in the studio for niece Ali's quilt - she graduated in December from Richards HS but I figure I still have until May for completion. I think I want to use the same technique for her quilt that I used for Leslie's, which involved making my own fabric from strips of fabrics.

So today I will head up and continue to work on Rachel's quilt. When I hit a rough patch, then I'll begin squaring up t-shirts. Then I'll think about John's Great Wall Wall Hanging and what fabrics to incorporate into that. And then I'll look at the some of the ethnic fabrics and dream about how I want to use them. I may even look at the pile of scraps I had my grandson sort - I want to try a weaving technique in an attempt to create a checkered fabric. The freedom to work on various projects simutaneously and to have the space to do this is fabulous.