A Great Sunday

We had a glorious day yesterday... Sean and Kim came up with Jake and Samantha, and Loren and Margaret came over as well (photo of "Uncle Loren" and Sammy. My dad got to meet Margaret and Sammy, and a good time was had by all. I also finished these two little blocks, though the one on the left doesn't look anything like what it does up close and personal. The horizontal middle pieces actually DO line up! Geesh!

More later!

It Feels SO Good...

to have time to sew... ahhhh, what a great feeling!

I came back from teaching my Saturday morning class (today was the last day) and I've been busy sewing and relaxed. Ahhh, the feeling!

This is D9 - Uncle Richard from my Dear Jane quilt. It is paper pieced.

I am swapping two blocks with a Dear Jane friend in Australia, Susan Moore. She's sending me some very needed brown fabrics in exchange for the blocks. She's collecting blocks from quilters around the world. You can see what she has so far by clicking on her Webshots Dear Jane album. Susan asked that everyone sign their blocks and tell where they are from. What a fun idea, and this will make a great keepsake quilt when she is done! If you want a closer look at these two blocks, click on the photo.

Back to stitchin'!

A Long Week

I can't believe it's been a whole week since I posted. I'm at the tail end of this semester for both Ferris and EMU, and I've had SO many papers to grade. There hasn't been time for very much else, especially quilting and blogging, so forgive me.

The best laid plans... never seen to follow through the way you hoped. I planned to start Samantha's christening gown last weekend, but when I opened the box and pushed aside the tissue paper, my wedding dress was covered with mildew and rust stains! I could have cried, but I didn't. (Did do a little cursing though!) Anyway, I put the dress in the washer and soaked it in Woolite and Cascade, and that helped a little bit. Not enough, though. Today after my last Saturday class (I have to give them their final exam) I'm planning on going on a hunt for Oxyclean. Everyone tells me it works miracles, so we'll see.


I've tried to keep up with the Dear Jane Block of the Week even when I'm busy. I let the Triangle of the Week go until I have more time. Here are a few I have completed recently:

C2-Streak of Lightening

K8-Springbrook Park, Paper pieced



H6-Pie Sale

All the kids and grandkids are supposed to come up tomorrow, Sunday. Can't wait to see everyone! My dad will also be over. He hasn't met Samantha yet, so he'll get to hold his only Great Granddaughter! He will also get to meet Loren's sweet Margaret. I'm going to take lots of pictures, and will post some when everyone goes home.

Have a Great Weekend!!!

The Beginning

Today is Saturday, March 22, 2008, and it marks the start of the making of Samantha's christening gown. I've waited until I had a day when I didn't have to work or teach, so this is it. It seems a fitting day to start her dress. Actually, I will probably only be cutting the pieces out. I think I'll wait until Easter to begin the sewing. That seems appropriate.




For those of you who don't know, or don't remember, I am making my granddaughters christening gown out of my wedding dress. The pattern I am using is the one shown, top left. You can see more of the gowns from The Old Fashioned Baby by clicking on the link.





I haven't posted in about a week. It's been a hectic week with work and school. I'm nearing the end of the semester, and there is SO much to do, and so many papers to grade. YIKES! I haven't even had much time to work on my DJ quilt. Here are two little blocks I managed to get done... but the basket I will probably do over. For some reason, it didn't turn out large enough, and I had to add a little strip to the top and bottom. I don't like that, but it's done. Time will tell. The block on the left is B-8 Water Lily. It doesn't look like it here, but the focus fabric is gold. The one on the left is J-12 Rebecca's Basket.

Speaking of which, (or is it "witch"?) I had an awkward thing happen yesterday. I talked to someone at work and asked her if she and her husband had any special plans for Easter. She said no, that she had celebrated her holiday the day before. I was puzzled and asked her what she meant. She said she is Wiccan. I didn't know how to respond to that, and it's left me with a pit in my stomach ever since. In thinking about this, here would be my only response.

The Ten Commandments or laws are contained with the Decalogue that God proclaimed to Moses, as the representative of the Jewish people. The Ten Commandments are recorded in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

I am the Lord thy God who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous, God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor and do all thy work; But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor the maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gave thee. Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shall not covert thy neighbor's house; nor thou shall not covert thy neighbor's wife, no his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. (Exodus 20:2-17)

Have a most Blessed Easter!

Henry Ford Museum Quilt Exhibit

THF display shows how woman lived

By Jasmine Boney, Press & Guide Newspapers

PUBLISHED: March 19, 2008

DEARBORN - The Henry Ford Museum is hosting "Quilting Genius 2: The Improvisational Quilts of Susana Hunter" now through April 27.

Quilting Genius 2 showcases the creativeness and resourcefulness of the late Susana Hunter, who lived in Wilcox County, Ala.

Hunter was born in 1912 and lived through the some of the most controversial decades in American history. She died in 2005, leaving behind a legacy of hard work, love and a wonderful life.

Please read about this exhibit and Susana Hunter at Press and Guide.

CBS Quilting Segment March 16, 2008

Shown on CBS Sunday morning, March 16, 2008

A Very Quiet Day, another Cubicle Quilt

Very quiet at work today, lots of people were gone, including two people I work directly with. Days drag on when they are quiet.

I've been taking photos of my quilts that I have stored away. This one is one of the earlier quilts that I made for Sean when he was a baby. I don't know if you can see it or not from the photo, but the tan border has quilted carrots, and the narrow green border has an egg that is rolling around the perimeter of the quilt. On top of the barns is quilted chicken wire.




Brand New Glasses!

I had a big chuckle last night. I was leaving work for the day and had to run an errand. A few miles down the road, I got a call on my cell. It was one of the gals at Dr. Abdella's office - he's my eye doctor. She called to tell me my new glasses were ready to be picked up any time. It just so happened that I was about 1/8 of a mile from the office, so I whipped in the parking lot. I went inside, and told them I was there for my glasses, gave my name, and watched as the girl who called me just about dropped her gum on the floor. "Um, I just hung up the phone! How did you DO that?!?!?" Loved it! LOL

I decided that today was the day to change the quilt in my cubicle, so I hung this little bitty one.



Another year of being hooked on American Idol. I said I wasn't going to do it again, but...

It kind of gives me mixed emotions, though. I enjoy watching it, but last year the next to the last time I watched it was with my mom in her hospice room the night before she passed away. So it's a little melancholy.

Last night I stitched this little block (E3-Paddle Wheels) while I watched Idol. My money is on Carly Smithson or David Archuletta.

"We are the makers of music and we are the dreamers of dreams." - Willy Wonka

How Do You Store Your Quilts?

I'm running out of quilt storage space. It's a marvelous problem to have, but perplexing never the less. Here is one space I have quilts resting. These are some quilts I did long ago. Yesterday I spent a little time unfolding and refolding so as to not have permanent creases. I do this about four times each year. This corner cupboard (made by my hubby in the late 70's) sits in the corner of my dining room. If it were somewhere other than the dining room, it would probably only hold quilts, but since it's where it is, we put other things on the shelves and "up top."

Where do you store your quilts? I challenge you to post a photo on your blog!!! Send me a link and I'll post it here.

In my quilt folding yesterday, here are a couple I shook out (keep in mind that they are earlier quilts!)

I'll post some other pics later of other "unfolded oldies."

Sunday Sleepover

I'm going on a "sleep-over" tonight. Haven't been on one of those in years!

Ok, let's rephrase this. I have to go in for a Sleep Study tonight... the kind where they have you bring your jammies, crawl into bed, let them hook up all kinds of gadgets and wires to you until you feel like some kind of alien, then say, "Night night, sleep tight, be sure you SLEEP, we're watching you..."

That kind of sleep-over. I'm not looking forward to it at all. Then I have to get up in the morning and go to work.

In the meantime, I did some sewing today. Finished two DJ blocks and one side triangle.

The block at the top is called
B9-Tinker Toy. The triangle is Bottom 6, Frank's Rickrack. The final one, pretty simple in pink, is called F4-Old Windmill.

Everyone sleep tight.

Old, faded green

There's something to be said for not keeping your quilts in the light. This little wallhanging used to be hung in my kitchen twenty-some years ago... two houses ago, actually. It's called "Feathered Crown," and the flowers and center crown applique are hand dyed fabrics that I dyed myself. The green was store bought. The quilt used to have a great deal of color contrast... sharp, deep colors that were so fun to work with and stitch around. Now, it's a sad little piece, made even sadder by the blurry photo. Sorry!

In my Wednesday night reading class, we talked about the correlation between reading and writing. I made a statement that it will be interesting to see the effect of blogging on the world of writing. Will it make our society one of better writers? Better readers? Or will the short posts we read and write make us unable to concentrate more than a few minutes?

I was shocked to find out that only one or two of my students knew what a blog is. These are students in their twenties and up. I encouraged them to do a search of something that interests them, and include the word blog in the search. Another way to learn about blogs is to visit a blog directory and start poking around. The Blog Catalog and Bloggapedia are good places to go. Of course, if you are reading this, you can see what a blog is. But if you are limiting yourself to blogs by quilters, expand your horizons and see all the other good things that are out there!

EXPLORE!

March and Miniatures

It's March... and what better way to show off the "month of the Irish" than with this adorable little dish my friends Sandy and Mike gave me! It came straight from Ireland where they lived for several years, and is a piece of Belleek. The Belleek website is very interesting... check out the castle on the main page! Facinating!





This quilt is only 16 x 19 inches and was made years ago during my "Amish period." At that time, my house was decorated pretty Country Primitive. Funny how our tastes change, isn't it? I'm taking it to my class tonight as part of a lesson on the Amish. This is a class in reading instruction for Ferris State University, but I can never teach a class without bring in at least one quilt as part of the lesson.

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face.

And rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

~ part of an Irish blessing

Sunday Sewing

I mentioned earlier that I spent most of Sunday sewing. Here is one of the right border triangles on my Dear Jane quilt, called Epicenter (R3). I had a lot of fun with this triangle, though it took quite awhile. It is pieced, appliqued, and reverse appliqued. And I adore the print I used... dark brown (almost black) background with dark gold leaves printed on top. Mmmmmm. Maybe a black and tan quilt someday!?!?!

I also mentioned a few quilts that I put on Ebay. One of them has an opening bid of $150 already. Whooo hoooo!

Yesterday, Kim sent me a few photos, with a comment:

"I think someone looks a whole lot like their daddy!"

The first photo is the daddy, my son Sean, at about 3 weeks old, held by his Grandma Trudy.

The second photo is Samantha, one month old. I think Kim is right! The mouth is sure the same. And the cheeks!!! Hair? Sammy does have Kim's ears... and not sure about the eyes yet. Too funny!

NOTE: the date on the photo of Sammy is NOT right! She was born on Feb. 2nd, 2008.

Another Antique Quilt on Ebay

I just added another antique quilt to my eBay store... it will be visible at 8:00 Eastern time today, March 2, 2008. This quilt was made in the 1930's, and has absolutely stunning hand quilting. The quilt has been in my posession for over 20 years now, and I still marvel at the exquisite quilting. The quilt measures 74 x 92 inches, and has a narrow white binding. This is a great example of 1930's fabrics... each of the little leaves has been painstakingly appliqued, and the stems are all of a consistent narrow width. The batting is quite thin, which explains how the quilter was able to manage such tiny stitches! The quilting motifs are lovely, and a faint pencil line can be seen if you look closely. There is one small stain on the back that does not penetrate through to the front, otherwise the quilt is in fantastic condition. See the photos on Ebay for a close-up of this area.

This quilt will be a great addition to your collection!

Funny site... check it out

I just happened upon a VERY funny (and cute) website that you definately should check out. I Can Has Cheezburger features nothing by photos of cats - and a few other random critters) with funny sayings... Be careful if you click on the link, because they have so many pages to look at, you will get hooked.

Dad is now back in Michigan. He arrived safely last night, and seems happy to be home, though he hates the snow on the ground. Here's a favorite picture of mine... taken seven years ago in January. He was in Arizona and Bob took the picture when they were at the park playing with Brendan.

A Sewing Kind of Day

It's a beautiful, sunny winter day outside, yet I've been in my basement sewing since around 8:00... and loving it, I must add.

I finished all the little blocks for row A, and started on one of the harder triangles for the border.

I'm also working on some letters for my coffee and tea quilt called "Scottsdale Cappuccino". I started this a few years ago, and I'm eager to get it finished and put something into the quilt frame to stitch on. I miss hand quilting! Here's a sneak peek at one of the blocks, though the quilt doesn't look like a block-by-block quilt. My brother lives in Scottsdale, and on one of my visits there a few years ago I noticed how much the coffee industry has infiltrated the economy. Hence, the name "Scottsdale Cappuccino".

Enjoy your sunny day... I'm heading back downstairs!

Antique Quilt on Ebay

I put this antique quilt on Ebay last night called "Pink Quilt."

This quilt dates back to the early 1930's and is notable for the wide assortment of attractive and eye-catching printed fabrics from that period. A very pleasing balanced design featuring a framed center square placed on point and two wide pastel borders enlivened by the two One Patch borders.

The quilt has been hand-pieced and hand-quilted with a heavy cotton batting. Although the quilting stitches are not super tiny, they are very even and form a simple cable design in the border and the long pink strips of the quilt.
The quilt is in good condition for its age. A few tiny brown stains are visible, but only a few, and they are smaller than the size of my smallest fingernail.

This quilt can be seen on page 50 of the book Contemporary Quilts from Traditional Designs by Caron Mosey. I will be adding one or two more antique quilts this weekend as well. I'm running out of storage space for quilts, so I thought I'd pass this one along for someone else to enjoy. It really is a nice quilt!