Fini!

"The French Connection" is quilted!

It's a good thing I finished this quilt a few weeks ago.  

I've been snuggling in it ever since, recovering from a virus 

and then a sprained ankle.

Remembering the joys of going to France last year 

and meeting wonderful quilting friends.

Feeling thankful for the many friends I've met through

being a quilt maker and blogger.

Pondering the changing world around us,

with all its joys and sorrows.

Contemplating the life lesson that always seems to hit me over the head--

DO LESS, REST MORE.

Paix et la Joie en 2016!
Peace and Joy in 2016!

Guess What!

You've got a friend in SIMPLY MODERNE!

This summer I got an email from Carol Veillon, creator of Quiltmania publications.

She and her husband, Jean, would be in Seattle.

Could she do an article about me and my quilts?  Sure!

A week later, they drove up on a motorcycle, leathers and all.

After coffee and a short conversation, we began digging through 

the nearly 50 quilts in my closet and made a very fun mess.  

She especially liked my quilts made with old clothing and other thrift store finds.  

Good thing, because that's the majority of my collection!

Santa, my only Christmas quilt, had to be included in the December issue, of course.  

I feel like Christmas has come early at my house.  

What a gift to be included in this beautiful publication!

Merci beaucoup Carol and all the staff at Quiltmania!!

The French Connection

Warning:  This is a sad post.

The Paris attacks on November 13 struck me utterly speechless.  

Like most of us, I mourned for the French people and for all of us 

who can no longer take our safety for granted.  

"The French Connection" 58" x 70"

I found myself compelled to make a quilt that reflects this sadness. 

I could not help but drop everything and make this over the last two weeks.

I used simple hour glass blocks.  I knew I wanted to make it quickly.

The somber colors would communicate my feelings.

I started with my small collection of French fabrics.     

The top right block uses fabrics given to me by Willemke and Katell 

when I visited France last summer.

The other fabrics are from my stash, including shirt stripes.  

The blue is another treasure from Willemke. 

The border is an old French curtain.  

Friday was France's official day of mourning.

Katell told me they named all 130 victims on the radio.

Most were in their 20's and 30's, from 26 nationalities, leaving 50 orphans.

I finished the top on Saturday.  

I will quilt it soon and use it all winter,

sending wishes of comfort and healing to the victims, their families, all Parisians, 

the people of France and all of us as we try to make sense of this changing world.  

I know you all are joining me in these wishes.

Peace.

LeMoyne Star Quilt

Back in 2011, I visited Marit and her mother in law, Linda Dodd.  

Linda has a rich quilt-making heritage.  She kindly showed us some of the family quilts.

This one really caught my eye.  I took several photos and vowed to make one like it.

You can read the quilt's story at the bottom of the post.

After studying the quilt closely, I realized it was pieced by hand.  

I tried, but couldn't find an easy way to piece it by machine and keep the integrity of the original.

 Besides, I needed a travel project.

So I bought Jessica's great book and learned how to do English paper piecing. 

Her instructions are very clear and easy to understand. 

Plus, she shows you how to make the perfect little travel sewing kit. 

Forty-nine stars--mostly made on trips--and over a year later, 

I decided it's time to start connecting them.

My plan is to make 100 stars.  

I found the red I wanted, and began cutting squares.

This weekend I began connecting stars and squares.  Very exciting!

I can't believe I've taken on such a labor intensive, long term project.  

But something about this quilt kept talking to me.  

Recently I remembered this block is called LeMoyne Star.  

My mother's name was LaMoyne--a different spelling, but still--

and her favorite color was red.  

Hmmm....

Here's the story of the quilt. 

Linda's grandmother, Dora Stevens, made the quilt from 1940's feed sack remnants. 

The remnants came from dresses that Linda's mother, Elsie Mae Peterson, 

had sewn for two of her daughters, Ester and Carol--Linda's older sisters.  

It was war time, and Elsie took great care to find matching feed sacks 

so the girls could dress alike. 

The quilt is tied with red embroidery floss. 

It has a pieced back.

White and Red and Stitched All Over

I was at the beach last weekend, and used the opportunity to photograph my recent finish.

This quilt was started over three years ago! 

Most of the quilt is stitched in ivory perle 8--hard to see in the photo, but lovely up close.

The top row is stitched in red perle 8.  

Here you can see the large Baptist Fan design from Barb's wonderful stencil.  

The border is a table cloth I found in a thrift store in Norway several years ago.

The back is another thrift store find.

"Quadriga Aprinette?"  According to Google, it means "five sided apron."

Some good reminders from the beach.

Gwen Marston Workshop

I got to take another workshop from my favorite teacher, Gwen Marston!

I've taken several workshops with Gwen, and I've learned something new each time.

Her message is always this, "Make YOUR OWN quilts."

When she pulled out this quilt, I was thrilled!

I saw it in one of her books years ago, and decided it's my favorite she's made.

She explained how she got the idea from an old quilt.  

Look at that quilting! All by hand, of course. 

The label shows she was making abstract quilts over 20 years ago.

Here are some students' work, all made in the two day workshop.

This one is mine.  It's the start of a background for a folk art appliqué.

I used Sujata's technique for making the broken dishes blocks.

The light ones are 2".  I've never worked so small.  

Crazy?  Maybe, but each one is so dang cute!

I feel very fortunate and grateful for the opportunities to be around Gwen Marston.  

She, more than anyone, has shaped my ideas about quilt-making.

Two Great Quilt Shows

I saw two great quilt shows in the San Francisco area recently

featuring my favorite kind of quirky quilts!

The first was an exhibit curated by Roderick Kiracofe 

at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles.

This was the entry, all sweet old quilt tops hung on clothespins.

Here are some of my favorites quilts, many are from Roderick's collection.

You'll recognize some of them from his wonderful book, 

Unconventional & Unexpected: Quilts Below the Radar 1950-2000.

It was thrilling to see them up close!

Dots and stripes!

All made of hat bands.

This one was particularly intriguing.  

All the pieces were sewn on only three sides!

Hmm, little pockets?

He also incorporated some newer quilts.

By Sarah Nishiura

By Joe Cunningham.

I got to visit with Roderick and have him sign my book!

If you'd like a signed copy, you can purchase it here.

The next exhibit featured quilts from Eli Leon's collection

at the Oakland Museum of California.

Here are a few highlights. 

By Rosie Lee Tompkins

By Rosie Lee Tompkins

By Angie Tobias

By Mattie Pickett

Love that pink binding!

By Sherry Byrd

By Mattie Pickett

My favorite of all!