Why We Quilt

This weekend, I went to a small regional quilt show in Houghton Lake, Michigan. The artist statement for this hand pieced, hand appliquéd, hand quilted quilt, made by Connie MacAllister, made me smile.

It said: I made this quilt while waiting for our new house to get done. It helped me keep almost sane. All done by hand in 2003.

Sometimes it's as simple as that, isn't it? Keeping almost sane.

This quilt reminded me of Becky's hand piecers on the Quilting forum--who are currently working on lemoyne stars. I thought they'd appreciate it, so I took a couple detail shots for them.




(Click images for larger versions)

What Kind of Flower Are You?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

12 times 3 is (not) 48

Last weekend I finally started on my blocks for Kate's half-square-triangle sampler swap. I started with the black and red blocks, so that I could include Kate and Michelle's blocks with the sets of June lotto blocks they won.

Each of the sawtooth square blocks contains 12 HST units and one large one ... I started doing the math and realized I'd be making 260 HSTs by the time I'd finished my blocks for the swap. It was daunting ... so much so that when I started making HSTs for the three red blocks, I multiplied 12 times 3 and came up with 48 ;-)

After recovering from that mistake, I proceeded to sew right side to wrong side when making the pink block, decided I was too distracted and put the blocks away until today.

Things in the studio went smoother today ... and I'm happy to report my new status: 169 HSTs done, 91 HSTs (in blue and neutral) to go.





With each color I find myself saying, I wish I would have decided on this colorway ... these are going to be very pretty quilts, I think.

It's Only a Paper Moon

I discovered a wonderful set of vintage photos on Flickr --> Only a Paper Moon. Check out the clothes, the hair, the hats, the expressions--both on the people and the moons. I loved them.

Flag Day

Yesterday was Flag Day and I planned to mark the day by starting work on my interpretation of this element of an antique quilt that has captured the imagination of the hand piecers on about.com

The original photo comes from the book, The American Quilt A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950, by Roderick Kiracofe and Mary Elizabeth Johnson.

But ... it was a perfect spring evening here last night and I had dinner outside on the deck and lingered too long, enjoying the cool air, the meal, my glass of wine ... and catching up on blog-reading on my wireless laptop.

Flag MONTH continues through July 14 and, by executive order, the Governor urges Michigan residents to observe Flag Day and Flag Month by flying the U.S. flag from their homes and other suitable places to honor America and celebrate our national heritage. Do you think I might observe and honor by having my own flag pieced by then?

Seen the USA?

"Red states" are going to mean something entirely different in a few months, but for the moment, look where I've been:



How about you? Create your own personalized map of the USA (There's also a world map, a Canadian Provinces map, a European countries map ... )

Life Imitates Art

This morning, I left the house in such a rush–I was late and I was distracted, already creating a mental checklist of everything I wanted to do before I ran to a meeting starting almost as soon as I would arrive at the office ... Once I was out the door, the sight of my Clematis vine in bloom briefly brought me back to the present.

I planted it less than a year ago when I moved into this place (I'm the Johhny Appleseed of tumbleweed renters and plant flowers wherever I go). It didn't seem very happy last year. I wasn't sure I'd see it again. I wondered if I'd made a bad choice for this zone and the location next to the porch. When it started to come alive in Spring, the resident expert gardener told me there was no way it would bloom for a few years.

In spite of all that, this morning, when I walked out the door, I was greeted by a half-dozen deep purple blooms and lots of buds holding out the promise of more. I think this little-plant-that-could deserves a trellis this year ;-)

I came home for lunch today–to grab something I had left behind in my earlier, distracted rush–and took a minute to take these photos. While I enjoyed some sunshine, before heading back to the office (and another meeting), I remembered a quilt block I'd made for a friend several years ago, long before I'd even thought of moving to this area, that bears an uncanny resemblance to the blooms in my yard .



Isn't it interesting how we're drawn to the same shapes and design elements over and over again?

Crazy Aunt Purl Explains It All

Lately I've been thinking about how how best to share my life's journey over the past month ... when I have been woefully absent from the page and disconnected from friends. After reading Crazy Aunt Purl's astrological forcast for June, I think it might be easier to blame it on the stars.

About scorpios, she says, in part:

I heard it through the Pissed-Off-At-Astrology Grapevine that Scorpios were really unhappy with the way most of last month went.

That would be an understatment. But it does feel as I've come through it and my life now has some of the qualities of a fresh start--or as Aunt Purl notes:

The best thing about you and June is your real willingness to try new things to revitalize your life. It's rare that ya'll don't dissect through the consequences or results of all your actions, and this month you will feel liberated and (mostly) care-free, willing to travel to a new place, meet new people, all of it with a who-knows-what-could-happen attitude.

If you're a knitter--or even if you're not--check out Crazy Aunt Purl ... she's a very entertaining writer and wise astrologer ;-)

Portraits Among the Pages

Faced with hundreds and hundreds of 8 1/2 by 11 inch page-sized Journal Quilts at IQF Spring show in Chicago, it's interesting to look back over my photos and notice what caught my eye. The portraits definitely pulled me in. Here are a sampling of styles, made by ...

Deirdre Abbotts and Pamela Allen:



Michele David and Patty Gamberg:



Denise A. Hitzfield and Diane Kopec:



Lampi-Legaree and Kathy Nida:



Linda S. Schmidt and Louisa L. Smith:



Synnov Vanar and Sue Wilson:



There are more faces in the pages in my photos of selected quilts from the Journal Quilt Project exhibit, beginning --> here in Flickr.

Celebrate Spring

Breeze
Originally uploaded by jeansophie.

This quilt, Breeze, made by Rachel Wetzler of St. Charles, Illinois was the viewers' choice winner from the Celebrate Spring exhibit at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago a week ago.

I've uploaded my photos from this exhibit to a Flickr ... with more from the show to come (have I mentioned that I took many hundreds of photos this year?)

A Full Blown Tulip Catches My Eye

When this adventure began, I had no idea what that interesting block I noticed in Nancy Rink's quilt, Cocheco Star of Bethlehem, was called. The quilt was hanging in the IQF Spring show in Chicago, as part of the exhibit, In the American Tradition IV. The notes said that the design source was an antique quilt featured in QNM that caught her eye. What caught my eye was this interesting block design.


I knew the quilters in the hand-piecing discussion on the Quilting Forum on about.com would be interested, too. So I shared these photos.

Becky almost immediately identified it as the block known as Full Blown Tulip and before long had drafted the block and templates. Here's her first outline drawing and a link to her sample block in her WebShots album.

Gail shared a link to an antique quilt with a similar block, which prompted me to google for more. I found a quilt with another variation of the block on the Quilt Collection page of the Rochester Museum and Science Center web site and another on a quilter's blog, Scraps and Threadtales. I even found templates online for the Full Blown Template block, also known as the Strawberry here.

I even found an excerpt from the out-of-print, 1929 book, Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them, on Amazon. The author, Ruth E. Finley is quoted in one of the customer supplied reviews:

Describing Pennsylvania Dutch quilts within the context of the drabness of the Pennsylvania Dutch woman's existence she says, ...it may have been some unconsciously craved compensation for the drab monotony of their days that caused the women of these households to evolve quilt patterns so intricate. Only a soul in desperate need of nervous outlet could have conceived and executed, for instance, the "Full Blown Tulip"...It is a perfect accomplishment from a needlework standpoint, yet hideous (she describes it in detail and goes on): This green-red-lemon-orange combination is enough to set a blind man's teeth on edge...

Wikipedia Spawns a Meme

I just read this on Jules blog and loved it. You put your birth month and day into the search on Wikipedia. It spits out a list of events, births and deaths throughout the years that occurred on your birthday. Here are some of mine, from November 8:

Events:

• 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great pomp as would befit a returning god.
• 1793 - In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.
• 1960 - U.S. presidential election, 1960: John F. Kennedy is elected over Richard M. Nixon, becoming the youngest man elected to that office. Election day often falls on my birthday, among others, in 1864: Abraham Lincoln is reelected, in 1892: Grover Cleveland is elected, in 1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover in a landslide victory, and in 1988: George H. W. Bush is elected.

Births:

• 1836 - Milton Bradley, American lithographer and game manufacturer (d. 1911)
• 1900 - Margaret Mitchell, American author (d. 1949)
• 1949 - Bonnie Raitt, American singer

Deaths:

• 1674 - John Milton, English poet (b. 1608)
• 1887 - Doc Holliday, American gambler and gunfighter (b. 1851)
• 1978 - Norman Rockwell, American illustrator (b. 1894)

Anyone else want to play?

Signs of Spring

Last week, Spring arrived at 28 degrees.

I was determined to start walking to work again, and bundled up and made the trip downtown to the office, about a mile and a half each way, twice. I remember noticing the temperature on the bank that's across the street from that capitol: 28 degrees on the first day of spring. It was a very bleak.

But tonight, in the garden, I saw this and finally felt I'd seen a real sign of Spring.


It's simply amazing how giddy-happy these little buds made me feel. I came inside and prepared a feast of pasta primavera, opened a bottle of chardonay and started looking forward to gardening, meals on the deck and naps in the hammock.

Confessions of a Swapaholic

Soon after I began quilting, I discovered online quilting groups and swapping. I loved scrap quilts and built a scrappy stash swapping 4-inch strips and 10-inch squares. I made blocks and swapped them, too ... and before long I was hosting swaps of my own.

Since re-starting the Beginner Block Lotto last fall, my swapping has slowed considerably, but sometimes I can't resist the idea of making blocks to swap for others' efforts. I love to see the often unexpected choices others make in their interpretation of the same block or theme. I love the wonderful, scrappy quilts that come from these blocks. Even when the blocks don't find their way into a quilt right away, I don't mind, because I enjoy the process and the friendship I've found in these swaps.

This weekend I was making Not Quite Bow Tie blocks for a swap. I joined this swap because, I rationalized, a "clean out your stash" type activity would be good for my stash. I created a little challenge for myself by building blocks that reflected various color wheel combinations. The only guideline for the swap is that the large squares must be RED--not an easy color for me. But here are my attempts at: monochrome, analogous, direct and split complements and triad. It was fun

Victory!

I never thought I'd actually finish my Knitting Olympics project--my own personal (secret) goal was to just make a good start on it . . . but here is my shrug (with it's arms raised in victory):


I finished it Sunday morning, while watching the Swedish Hockey Team receive their gold medals.

It felt so good, I think I'm going to order the yarn to make the shawl pictured with it in the Mission Falls book, after all ... but don't expect me to finish this one in a fortnight :-)

More Japanese Eye Candy

This is a photo of a detail of a quilt from the Tokyo Quilt show from Be*mused. Don't follow the link to check out her album until you can take your time and enjoy–there are many so wonderful quilts.

Artist way: week 12 check-in

All too often, when we say we want to be creative, we mean that we want to be able to be productive. -J. Cameron

In terms of Artist Way tasks, my performance this week was anything but stellar, but still, I experienced a feeling of accomplishment for completing the book and enjoyed looking back on the small, positive changes in my creative life.

The photo is of a section of my branching out scarf, knit last fall and cited as an example of my habit of creating and abandoning almost finished objects. It's pinned to my design wall, blocking now--I am going to wear it to work one day next week. Along with another almost finished scarf, socks and a sleeveless turtleneck, I faced my fears of judgement and finished the projects anyway. The sky didn't fall.

I also made the leap and tried a new direction in quilting. No one laughed out loud or slyly intimated that my approach was too simplistic.

In the time available to me, I am making more and finishing more. I credit the work with TAW.

At work, I have re-established an attitude of work as play and am finding ways to enjoy being there.

Getting back to the basics, a week of sleepless nights resulted in no morning pages this week for me and, honestly, I missed the way they help me stay grounded during stressful times.

My artist date this week was the beginning of a 2 week adventure that I'm sharing with more than 4,000 others around the world: the Knitting Olympics. A couple of participants have blogged about why they think we're all doing it. My opinion is that we're doing it for the simple JOY it brings. It has all the qualities of a perfect artist date.

My Knitting Olympics experience provided me with a bit of synchronicity, too. As I just described in my upate, after making phenomenal progress, I discovered a mistake and had to rip out most of what I knit yesterday afternoon and evening. Flipping back through chapter 12 and my notes on it, I had to smile at this, very appropriate for me, quote:

Do not fear mistakes–there are none. -Miles Davis

The Thrill of Victory and Agony of Defeat

The Knitting Olympics have begun.

Along with more than 4,000 other knitters from around the world (see map). I watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics Friday night and, after the flame was lit, cast on and started knitting a new, challenging project of my choice.

it has been a while since I have worked with needles so large and yarn so thick. Although I was too sleepy to knit much Friday night, I woke early on Saturday and by noon, I had completed the back of the shrug.

I was thrilled. Until I actually started knitting, I honestly didn't think that I'd actually be able to complete my sweater and was ready to settle for just making significant progress. By Saturday afternoon, I was confident that I will finish.

After a quick trip out to pick up groceries, run some errands and track down the extra-long circulars that I'll eventually need to add the ribbed edge, I came home and enjoyed the luxury of an afternoon and evening of knitting and TV.

I watched the women skiers bounce over moguls, pairs figure skating and caught up on episodes of Project Runway that I'd missed and couldn't believe the progress I made on the first sleeve.

I woke up (early again) this morning and started to pick up where I left off, except ... re-reading the directions, I saw that I'd missed a critical line and realized that my sleeve was wrong, wrong, all wrong and would have to be ripped back, almost to the cuff.

Agony yes, but I refuse to feel defeated ... like the skiers that land the jump, lean back and ALMOST sit down, I gritted my teeth, ripped out ALL THOSE ROWS and started knitting again.


I'll probably always remember this sweater as the shrug with three sleeves :-)

Artist Way: week 11 check-in

Last week, I did morning pages 5 of 7 days. I have suggested the practice to a couple of colleagues as a way of starting the day centered in the midst of too much going on at the office.

For my Artist Date, I spent a morning in my sewing room, truly playing with two ideas: the Illustration Friday topic of the week (chair) and Ami Simms' Art Quilt Initiative. The result is this start on a journal-sized quilt which, if it turns out well, will be donated for Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts.

Synchronicity is alive and well and even following me into the office on a regular basis. My project has become very interrupt driven--I'm being bombarded with phone calls and email messages from a large cast of characters and yet, I continue to be surprised by how often I'll pick up the phone to call someone who is calling me or I'll be in the middle of responding to an email message and the person I'm mailing will call. On the home front, I was home in bed with a cold one day last week. I took advantage of being home during daylight hours and ventured out briefly in the afternoon to take a photo to use as the basis for the design for my February Journal Quilt. While I was out, I popped in next door, where I met a friend of my neighbor who is on the brink of moving to Santa Fe, a place I believe could be my next home. She was also talking about a very innovative business program that she recently completed that actually sounded very interesting to me; it's very innovative out-of-the-box stuff. So now you know--I'm not just a quilt class junkie ... I love to learn and this could be my next learning adventure.