What's On My Design Wall

Well, I talked about this being the Fibers of Life but they have not been terribly visible. At the urging of friends I'm going to start posting pictures. I'm not sure where this is going but it's going. I'm so grateful to the wonderful blogs I'm able to follow. Always full of goodness they are!

So this first picture is what is on my design wall at the present time. It includes a wall hanging done with the discharge method. It is waiting for me to decide how I want to quilt it.

The blocks are those I made with a block called Disappearing Nine Patch which is another really clever block I found reading blogs. It has quickly become a favorite. The fabrics were purchased as charm square packet of Kaffe Fassett and I knew when I learned of the pattern I had found just what I needed to make the quilt. I love Kaffe's fabric. He has a wonderful way of putting color, pattern and design together that just makes my creative juices get all stirred up.

The piece next to the leaves is my Convergence quilt also waiting to be quilted and next to that are the practice pieces from a class I took on perfect circles. It was great and I need to get busy doing something about what I learned. I think I love learning new things. Often I think that is what really motivates me is the excitement of learning a new technique or a pattern I found that I really love. It is funny what drives us creative folk. I suspect that when you have found your niche you just keep on going and never look back.

Now what is no longer on my design wall follows. This is a quilt for my step-daughter when she received her Masters Degree in Conducting earlier this month. I felt her accomplishment was worthy of commemorating. It is quite an accomplishment and she has already promised to go on for her doctorate. She is an incredible vocalist as well

While this is not the clearest picture, it certainly shows her at joy and finishing the job. We are proud of her. She has grown into an amazing woman whom I respect and admire a great deal.

The above is the quilt itself and the presentation label I made for it. The quilting was done by a Gammel machine by a friend who has a business of machine quilting. She is amazing and her work just sings. I was so happy to present this to Tuesday. She really likes it and was completely surprized. That made it all worth it.

It has been a month of running around and vacationing and meeting with family in Sacramento and then bringing my uncle back here to EP for a few more days. He is amazing and I'll tell more of what happened in the next posting.

For now, just in case all of you have been sitting there with baited breath waiting to hear from me again, here is your answer. I hope you enjoy reading. I will, I really will try to do much better.

How to Avoid Getting Dressed

I know this is a funny title but think about it, don't you put off doing somethings because you have more engaging things to do? Like, for example, reading others' blogs and then being so sparked by what you've read that you just have to put it into words. I think that reading other's blogs does alot for me. It kindles memories of similar things in my life. For this I am very grateful as there are some interesting things about living that we all share in common.

I have been encouraged by friends to show some of my quilts here so I will be putting something together over the next week or so for you enjoyment (I hope). Having just retired I am finding myself again and reconnecting with those things that make me go and feel alive. Quilting is one of them and I think blogging has taken its place there as well.

Let's see, I have been quilting for about 15 years. That seems like a lot of years but it only feels like yesterday to me. The biggest change over those years has been the fabric. It has moved away from calicos to much more vibrant and exuberant colors and patterns. I like this as I've been drawn to that palette from the beginning. I remember seeing the first art quilt and I knew, I knew beyond anything else, that this was a place I wanted to go. I was drawn to fabrics by designers like Nancy Crow, quilt designers like Rachel Kinsey Clark. I took one of her classes and was so jazzed by it I could hardly calm down. I was sizzling inside by what she taught and the joy of putting fabrics together.

Like most quilters, I have spent much time building "Stash". Its the medium we work in and you just never know when you might need that wonderful, outrageous piece you found in Iowa while on a trip and don't forget that while some people collect memories by buying trinkets, quilters buy fabric. It actually doesn't take up near the space that some of those "trinkets" do and it always has a utilitarian aspect that shouldn't be forgotten.

Then there are those fabrics that we collect as pets. We take them out, stroke them, unfold them, crinkle, fondle and ponder what we will do with them. I had a number of them which, when we moved, found their way to my daughter's mom group. Lovely women with not so much money, but wonderful children and creativity that needed feeding. So Corinne (daughter) came over and together we went through my stash and I succeeded in parting with 6 storage cases of fiber. They were all delighted and so was I. I think my husband Dave was also relieved to have a few less boxes of fabric to move. I felt good because I was doing something for others that they really enjoyed as well.

So, fast forward to our new house, 267 miles away from anything familiar, all our friends and family left behind, and no one we knew waiting for us. Since Dave isn't nearly as social as I am I had a lot of adjusting to do. I love people, their vitality, their friendship and just chatting with them, always looking for that common thread. You know, even 267 miles from anything familiar I found common threads. But I think one of the biggest blessings of all is finding a group of women who share quilting in common, aging and a general delight in life.

I am going to add a photo at this point of the quilt I started fall, 2007, right after we moved here and finished this fall 2008. It's hanging in the spot I had in mind for it and does what I hoped it would, which is hang there and look beautiful, IMHO.

All the leaves that are on the body of the quilt are fused there, each one was buttonhole stitched by hand and then the whole quilt was machine quilted with echo quilting. I loved picking out all the fabrics, and I think I bought all new fabric for this one as it was my first quilt in the new home. It took much longer to finish than planned but that's another whole story for another time. It is interesting to me how much it made our house feel more like home.