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Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Modern Baby Crazy Quilt

A new member of the family is on the way--Andy and Caylie's baby! Long time readers might remember the wall-hanging Andy commissioned from me when he was courting Caylie, back in 2010, and how it had the desired effect!  You can see and read about that here and here.

They love bright colors, so the baby quilt should be bright too!
Here are the steps I went through to make it...

1. I started with some improvisational 4 1/2" foundation pieced crazy quilt blocks done all in solids.  Of course, this was super fun work.  I pinned them up on the design wall as I went, knowing from the get go they should be on point.



2. Seeing them up on the wall as I worked, I just got used to the white background, and I decided the white sashing would keep those colors popping.



3.Here are the trimmed up blocks getting sashed.


  


4. Like all quilters do, I have a bin of leftover batting pieces.  I cut two pieces to size and spliced them together with some of C & T's Make It Simpler Fusible Interfacing.



5.  I made my quilt sandwich using my favorite bright Kaffe fabric on the back, leaving enough room to roll the edges to the front to make my binding. It was simple to just pin baste the center of the blocks.  I quilted in the ditch along the sashing and then made a horizontal/vertical grid through the centers of the blocks.



6. The "binding" being pinned into place.


7. After the quilt was all finished, I washed and dried it in hot water and a hot dryer.  I wanted it ready to go for baby duty!  But I discovered a few of my seam allowances were too small and they pulled out in a few places.


Bummer. So I sewed 'em up.


Here is the finished quilt.  It is 30" X 40".



And here are Mom and Dad!

The baby is due in mid-January.

Lots of love to the three of them!



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

My RARE Science Celebrity Bear for The Quilt Show Auction

The Quilt Show has partnered with the great non-profit organziation, RARE Science, whose mission is "to work directly with patient families and foundations to find more immediate therapeutic solutions for children with rare diseases." Together they have a special project this fall!

Some background first: One of RARE Science's wonderful programs is RARE bears, where a specially made bear is sent to a special child with a rare disease.  Hundreds upon hundreds of these bears have made children happy--just look at some of the videos on the link above.

There are many ways to join the RARE Bear Army. I was lucky to be asked to make a bear for the "Celebrity RARE Bear Silent Auction", sponsored by The Quilt Show.  A new bear is being revealed each day for the next three weeks on The Quilt show's blog, and mine debuts today, September 29th. They will be on display at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this November, and auctioned off to raise funds for RARE's ongoing work.

Here is the link to The Quilt Show's blog about my bear: 

Meet "Wooly Bear"!


I thought you might like to see how I went about making this cuddly bear.

I rough cut extra large foundation muslin pattern pieces and crazy pieced my wool onto them, using a curved flip and sew method.

Then I had a delightful time embellishing all the seams on each pattern piece, as is traditional in crazy quilting.

Once the embellishment of a "body part piece" was completed, I machine basted along the traced line of the exact pattern piece.  The size had to be exactly accurate so that the bear would sew together well.

When the bear was all together, I thought it would be fun to make a little accompanying quilt for him to sit on.  After the simple quilt was pieced, of course I had to add some matching embellishment to it!  This was during the summer, and I loved stitching outside...all the while thinking of those incredibly brave children who are living with challenges we can hardly imagine.

Again, there are many ways to join the RARE Bear Army. You can create your own, host a sewing or stuffing party...click on the link to learn more.

And be sure to visit The Quilt Show blog each day as a new Celebrity Bear is revealed, and see them all as they are added on the Auction page (the link is there on The Quilt Show's  blog.)  Wooly Bear is in very, very great company!



Monday, September 19, 2016

Free Viewing for my Quilt Show Episode from Sept 19 through Oct 1st!

Here is the link for my show, where you can view it online for free this week:

http://thequiltshow.com/watch/show-list/video/latest/show-1906-crazy-for-crazy-quilts?artist_coupon=19060911

On the show there are three segments: the first is an introduction where I am talking about a few of my quilts, but then the next two segments are about how I build the blocks and embellish "Idaho Sugar".  It's a great video tutorial, so I invite you to have a look!

 Here is the overall--it is 68" X 68"....

 ...Here is a detail.....

 ...and here is the back!  I used corduroy for the backing fabric, very cozy and textural.
So come see me on TV with Alex and Ricky! 

Thursday, August 25, 2016

I'm on The Quilt Show!

 So excited!

Alex Anderson, Ricky Tims, and the whole amazing crew at The Quilt Show made me feel so welcome last March when we taped my episode in Denver.  It is almost ready for viewing at last, available on the Quilt Show website Sunday, September 11th!


While it is a subscription site, I will post a link here for viewing my show for FREE, during the week of September 18th-25th, so come back here for it, or find it on my Facebook or Instagram pages on the 18th.

Here is the trailer for the show:



Everyone involved with the show was SO NICE.  What a pleasure it was to meet and work with everyone. Thank you Alex, Ricky, Justin, John, Shelly, Lilo, Mary Kay, Ann and all the other fine friends I made there.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Memory Quilts....a story

Most of what I've been doing for the past 18 months has been for publication, so I haven't been able to blog about it.
But this project was from the heart, and done for love, so I want to share its story. It was a series of three memory quilts, done for a trio of siblings who lost their mom to cancer.

I don't even know these kids....except that I do, at least a little....


Making memory quilts--or pillows, or teddy bears--out of the clothes of someone who has died for a grieving relative or friend is something we quilters just do.  It is a natural instinct, really.  Quilts can give the most intimate form of comfort.  So what could evoke the presence of a dear one who has passed on more than a cuddly warm hug made out of the very clothes that hold her memories?

Not everyone is drawn to this, of course.
But as one who lost my brother when we were so young, how I wish I had a quilt of his little boy clothes to hold in my hands 50 years later.  And as one who lost my mother very, very early in my adult life, I would have loved to have just a little throw made from her clothes...to wrap up in during those harrowing first years of grief after she died....and later, after time had mellowed my memories of her into a deep and peaceful love, to pull the throw out of my cedar chest on her birthday and just smile over the memories. (And to laugh at how awful her taste in clothes was.)

So when my sister Mary told me about how her 14 year old daughter had a new friend whose mom had just died, how sad I was for her.  Not long after, Mary asked if I would consider making a quilt for this young girl out of her mom's clothes. I immediately said yes.

The girl's dad was having real problems so she couldn't live with him. So Cassie was staying in the home of a friend to finish out the school year.  My dad having had some of the same problems, I could guess what that was like too. It gave me all the more reason to embark on this project.

Cassie has a younger brother, Jack, who went to live with their older half brother, who has a young family.  Could I make a quilt for Jack too?  Of course.

As I was just completing the top for Cassie--I made Jack's first--I learned that there is another sibling, Allison, who is in college.  When she learned about the quilts, she wanted one too!  So then there were three.

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It started with a duffle bag full of clothes.  I didn't even know their mom's name--Jenny--or see a photo of her until the quilts were well underway.  She kind of revealed herself through those pretty sweaters, the tshirts and sweatshirts related to her Marine husband's interests, those jeans worn out at the knees, the nighties she must have worn when she was so sick at the end of her battle with cancer.
There were some crumbs in the pocket of a polka dot blouse; a few of her hairs were stuck in the collar of a sweater...

But then, thank you Instagram.

As a way to connect with the kids and show them at a distance (they live 1000 miles away) how the quilts were coming along, I started posting project pictures.  And very soon the girls started leaving comments or hearts, so I knew they were out there.  I saw pictures of them and their mom, of the adorable Jack, and of Andy, the older brother with such a kind face.

I didn't want to intrude on them, have no presumption of truly, actually knowing what they are going through....but I thought it would be fun for them to watch the progress of the quilts, and it was fun for me to show them.  Gradually, those three whom I've never met became very real and precious to me.

Quilts have that kind of power!


There were a lot of sweaters.  I posted this picture on Facebook asking my friends to give me suggestions on how to work with them, and as always, they came through with ideas and pictures of their own projects.

As I used different parts of them, I added lightweight fusible knit interfacing to the sections I was going to sew.  That stabilized the knit and all went just fine.  The sweaters turned out to be one of my favorite things to work with.


These are both cotton. Quilted as they are onto polar fleece--after I made each top I then quilted it onto high quality outdoor fleece--sweaters give the most comfortable texture and have a most sumptuous drape.


Where the cables were too thick, I just quilted around them, "in the ditch", so to speak.  The mohair sweater on the right with its pretty silver sequins was really a joy to add to the mix.

For indeed, the mix of fabrics and styles was the biggest challenge to me as a designer.  How to make it all go together, and somehow be just right for each person?

*******************

I started with Jack's quilt.
Having raised two boys of my own, and knowing Jack is 9, I tried to make his as boy-like as I could.
And because I am a firm believer that kids love to see their name in print, I started with spelling it out.


And in context.....


I tried to keep a pocket intact on each quilt.
Jenny must have loved these jeans.


I thought it was important to keep that worn out knee in there too.  ;-)


On all of them, the binding is simply the edge of the polar fleece rolled to the front and stitched down.  Simple.

Cassie's quilt came next.
It was kind of mysterious, how the clothes and colors just sorted themselves for her quilt. But mostly, it was the feminine side of Jenny's clothes that came together for Cassie.


I know nothing about the meaning of Iowa in their lives, but this Tshirt is old and well loved and the feeling of it set the tone for Cassie's quilt.  Lace from some of the nightgowns is appliqued on either side of it.


My prayers and hopes for Cassie's father are quilted right in here too.  My dear Uncle Hal had also been a Marine--no matter what, they all are a special breed apart.

Quilting the quilts was easy on my Sweet 16 by HandiQuilter.  How I love that machine.


Spirals...all of them were quilted in free form spirals.  I liked the curves juxtaposed on top of all those straight lined shapes, and it just felt very natural.


Cassie chose white for the color of her quilt's polar fleece backing.  That is so perfect.

Allison's quilt was last, and in feel it is a combination of Jack's and Cassie's I guess.  For hers, I was inspired by the Gee's Bend quilts.


This shows how simple the finishing process was, once the tops were done.  I just pin basted them directly to the polar fleece and then quilted them. It does help to have a big beat up work table.  ;-)


On the left side here, I didn't have enough room to fold in the edge of the fleece for the binding. So that side has a regular quilter's cotton.  But it has just the right colors, doesn't it?


Each quilt is 60" X 72".

They are in the mail now, on their way.
I didn't put a label on them, or sign them, or anything like that.  I told my sister that I hoped Jack and Cassie and Allison eventually would forget who made them, and just have them.  Mary said, "Yes, like they were directly from their mom."

What could be better than that?

**************
This month of quilt making was one of the most meaningful I've ever had. As a designer it was a challenge and a thrill to make everything work; but more importantly, as a mom, a daughter, and a sister, I felt like I was doing my job.
I thank these three for allowing me such intimate access to their mom's memory.  It was a huge honor.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Flip-and-Sew Fleece Throw

Published again!  This project is in the new "Quick Takes" section of Modern Quilts Unlimited's Winter 2016 issue of their magazine.


It used two jelly rolls, some polka dot fleece, and a little velvet ribbon.  So fast, so cozy, so fun!

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Laura Haskell's Viet Nam Veterans Crazy Quilt

I met Laura Haskell when I taught down at the Valley of the Mist Quilt Guild in beautiful Temecula, California a few years ago.

One of the very best things about teaching is getting to meet the amazing women who show up as students.  And sometimes they bring in the most astonishing work to share.  Laura brought in this quilt..her very first crazy quilt.

It stopped me in my tracks.  I had just met Laura in class, and didn't feel it was appropriate to ask her the story behind this quilt.  I was sure it was very personal, and very private.
But the quilt speaks to all of us.  I think it is a masterpiece of folk art, and conveys tremendous power and love.  It blew me away.

Crazy quilts are not just about pretty flowers and lace.

In the wonderful world of social media--and I do think it is a force for good, as it connects people in new and meaningful ways--Laura and I became friends on Facebook so I can keep up with her life and her work. The subject of this quilt came up and I asked her if I could post it and she graciously gave me permission.

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I've taken a year off of crazy quilting as I worked on a quilt book on another subject--which I am very excited about and eager to share when the time comes.
But I also am glad to return to this beloved genre. Crazy quilts can tell a story like no other quilt can....I think it is because they take time and are such repositories of the maker's heart and soul, memorabilia, and memories.

Laura, I bow to you.  Thank you for letting me share this.