Slices of Life

Do you like the old blocks most, I do.  The Log Cabin, The Dresden Plate, The Monkey Wrench, The Double Wedding Ring and the Grandmother’s Flower Garden….all those ones that we droll over in antique quilts.  Those quilts that had special meaning to the women who were piecing them.  I am always amazed when I think back to those women and their creativity and resourcefulness and mostly that they did all those quilts with out a rotary cutter.

I am jealous of their Quilting Bees, and their determination to combine providing warmth for their families and still getting together with their women friends.  Undistracted by cell phone or the television. I can almost hear their laughter and gossip, their prayers for each other and their complaining.  What a gift.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS PART TWO

Do you have those projects that when you work on them you are enjoying it and cant wait for the next step, but the minute you put it aside it is hard to get back to?

This is how my Eleanor Burns ‘UNDERGROUND RAILROAD” is for me….I love making a new block and since I am making two sizes I love the challenge of making the 6” block and the 12” is always fun to make…but the minute I put it aside I really forget about it.  Which is a shame because it is going to be a nice quilt.

So here are the next two blocks:

Crossroads

Sail Boat

TTFN

SEWING FOR AIDYN ELIJAH

I am a quilter and not a sewer.  But when it came to Aidyn Elijah I temporarily became a curtain maker.  Mind you very simple!  It was actually the first time I ever purchased a whole bolt of fabric. The hardest part of the sewing was that the curtains were so long. But after pressing, sewing double seams (fancy huh) there are up and look good.  Three for the window and two for the closet.

A cuddly quilt out of Minkee, I simply gridded it.  Nice and simply. 

I found this cute panel when my daughter Meagan and I were at the Long Beach Quilt Festival, before I knew the theme of the Aidyn’s room. But I fell in love with the cute animals.  And as it turned out his theme is elephants so it fit right in.  I hand quilted this panel with the big stitch and using Perl Cotton. 

And now I am working on a Trip Around the World……pics to follow.

It is a whole new different experience quilting for Aidyn, I always ask myself ….how many quilts does a little man need…and a friend of mine told me….as many as you want to make him…..FREEDOM!!!!!

TTFN

TAKING CARE OF OLD BUSINESS ~ Part One

NEW YEAR ~ NEW LOOK ~ NEW IDEAS ~HOPEFULLY NEW FRIENDS

I am so excited to return to this place, it is a good place to share. And I have missed it.

Before the catch up and new stuff…I have to finish up some old posts the I never completed.

PATCHES OF SPRING

Here are the last of the blocks from Patches of Spring:

Fifth Block:  Breathe

You know that smell, that hint of freshness in the air when spring is ready to burst forward.  It is in the tiniest flowers and the new blossoms on the trees.

Sixth Block: Dance

And it is with that first smell, that the Lady Bugs and Bumblebees start their dance in anticipation.

Seventh Block: Thyme

And you start getting the urge to get your hand dirty in the mud.  Preparing the soil for new growth.  Making plans of what you will plant and watch grow.

Eighth Block:  Your Porch

And all this wonderful newness and change, you are privileged to watch from your front porch.  Soaking it all in, daydreaming and enjoying a new season.

This is your filler block.

This sweet covered button sits on a huge yellow to complete your corners.

And here is the completed sweet wall hanging as it hung it Sierra Cottons and Wools in Bishop.

It is easy to make and piece together and lots of fun embroidering. Perfect project to work on while waiting for Spring.

TTFN

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SUMMER

 

I was just sitting here, writing a post for June and now that whole summer has past and the weather is changing in Bishop again.

And what a difference a couple of months make.

Well, the Old Bear and I are still trying to get adjusted to this “retirement” thing. Especially now that I am not working at all myself, we find it difficult to be on schedule with anything, other than hair appointments.

Before we had to get things done in a timely manner because of kids and work.  But now… OH MY!!!

Thinking about it, I find it rather interesting, that we are probably busier now than we have been in the past, as far as travelling and being busy with projects.  But there are no deadlines, or starting times, so things are easily put off.

It was a wonderful summer, and in the next few posts I want to bring you all up on my projects.

But the biggest, most wonderful news that we received this summer, is that our baby girl is pregnant with our FIRST grandbaby. Which brings up the question…..how many baby quilts does a baby need?

Let’s do some more blocks from the Patches of Spring pattern:

Second block:  Long Walks

Even though this block is in the Patches of Spring pattern, I think it really fits for any season.  In S[ring, when the air is crisp and the leaves are showing up everywhere, there is a fresh smell in the air.  In the Summer, before it gets too hot and everything is in bloom. In the Fall, when the breeze is cool and the ground is covered in leaves. And in the Winter, when you have to dress warm because the air is brisk and you can enjoy the smell of wood burning fireplaces.  I especially like the thought of the walks being slow and long.

Third Block:  Rubber Boots

As a child I stepped in every puddle in defiance. I can hear my mama telling me “Don’t step in those puddles, you will catch a terrible cold”   Of course, once she turned her back, I splashed even harder…I can’t remember if I ever caught that “terrible cold”..probably selective memory.  Now as a adult, the rain still brings much pleasure, the sound and smell of it, the memories it conjures up.  And now in my older age, though I am probably more prone to getting that cold…..sometimes I still do it to remember her and her loving warning.

Fourth Block: Shine

It is good advice…..bloom and shine.  In no matter where we find our passion, whether it be quilting or writing, in woodworking or painting.  Wherever it may be, may we strive to bloom in it, excel in it and find pleasure it in…and then SHINE!!

NEW PROJECT: UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

I love Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day  (quiltinaday.com) books.  I enjoy her techniques and the pictures and instructions are so thorough, and include so many different ideas and sizes all figured out for you.  In this particular book she also includes lots of information about the Underground Railroad and its history. Although I have yet to make a full quilt in a day…

Because I couldn’t decide what size of blocks I wanted to do, I decided to do the 12” block in Civil War Reproductions, which seems appropriate. And then to pull some favorite fabrics our of my stash to make the 6” blocks.  Yea 6”, but there are so cute! 

Bow Tie

Shoo-Fly

I think this type of picture shows the contrast in sizes between the two blocks better.

Monkey Wrench

The Wonderful Log Cabin block.

Underground Railroad

Enjoy the change of weather.

TTFN

NEW PROJECT

The concept of a new project, makes me sort of laugh.  It gives the impression that I am caught up on all my UFOs and so it is on to a new project.

NOT

Believe me this is not the case.  But I finally finished all the buttonholing that I needed to do on 2 of the pieces so I thought I could share it now.

It is from

I have to admit that the title kind of threw me off…..I am a traditionalist quilter at heart.  I love all the old blocks, from the Log Cabin to the Dresden Plate. So when I read “Urban” it didn’t do a thing for me. That is, until I browsed through it….and fell in love with most of the patterns.

So here are the 2 main components of the quilt I am working on:

It was easy to fall in love with this flower, because my favorite color is red. And any afternoon spent in doing buttonholing is a good afternoon in my book.

And then to add black and white checkerboard, that is a huge plus.  These are a black on black print and a white on white, so there is some depth and fun to it.

My kitchen floors are just like this, that is with out the designs. But it makes me nostalgic for juke boxes, bobby socks and chocolate shakes. And really reminds me of Curry’s on Brooklyn Avenue in Boyle Heights where I grew up.  There not only has the best ice cream but also the best tuna fish sandwiches.  It was a big treat to go in there and hang out and hope some one would put money in the juke box so we could dance and sing out loud to Frankie Valle and the Temptations. 

Wow I guess this quilt brings lots of memories that I didn’t expect ….Another reason to love quilting.

I will keep you updated.

TTFN

 

JUST A LITTLE BIT OF SPRING

 

It is really started to warm up here in Bishop.  We still have wonderfully cool evening but the days are getting HOT and LONG!!

So before we are off to finding ways of staying cool, I thought I would share with you my pattern:

PATCHES OF SPRING

Although now that I think about it, there are ways even in this quilt to remind us how to spend some summer time and how to keep cool.

First Block:  Clothesline

What first triggered the idea for this quilt was this wonderful swirly fabric.

When I was growing up, my mama always hung the clothes on the clothesline.  That is except the “nicer” sweaters or blouses or the endless wool skirts she made us wear in September to look  nice for Back To School….the hottest month of all. No,  those were laid out on a blanket on the floor.  We had a wringer washer and we didn’t put the “nicer” things through but everything else went through whether it wanted to or not.

I loved hanging the clothes on the clothes line at the end of our walkway in the back yard. It was quiet time, alone time. Time to think of what I would be when I grew up, or which boy I had a crush on in school, or why do I always have to hang the clothes up. I could sing out loud and not get criticized (I just knew that the Miracles needed a girl singer) and mostly I could take my time.

Really it was a reflective time, the clothes smelled clean like Tide, and we had one of those cloth hangers that held the clothespins. We had to always put the clothespins in the holder and take the holder in the house, because we had a huge Mulberry tree and any of that purple juice got on them they would stain for sure.  You know, I am not sure why my mama wasn’t as worried about the clothes?

Now as a wife, a mom and a quilter… I have a washer and a dryer, but I still lay/hang those “nicer” blouses and sweaters.  Those mama lessons are embedded. But I long to see my quilts on the clothesline, waving in the wind. And smelling like home.

TTFN