Quilt Challenge Day 10 (the end)

We are at the end of the quilt challenge. It was supposed to be a 10 day challenge, but has taken me close to a month to complete. Talk about technical difficulties, family issues, and life challenges, including a bout of CoVid 19. Believe me, when you're sick from that, you don't care about your blog, your social media, or even your people. 

But this post is about these quilts, which really deserve to be together. They are sister quilts made for two granddaughters who really know how to be sisters. They wanted the quilts to be different but also to coordinate. Sometimes they share a room, sometimes they don't. And the girls have very different personalities. Anyway, here are the sister quilts. 

BTW, I can't match the girls to the quilts. I just call them the sister quilts and smile when I think of the girls. 

Aren't they "close but not quite" in color and design? You should see them on single beds in the same room. Perfect!

Quilt Challenge Day 9

For day nine, I'm showing this quilt that I made for a granddaughter. Marley chose the colors and asked for "something zigzag." I think she must have seen another chevron quilt. I needed to play a little, so the compromise became two sizes of chevrons in three colors. They lost their home to mold several years ago and all of their quilts were lost, so this one is in a landfill somewhere. But that does not take away from the fact that it once existed as a silly quilt for a little girl who loved zigzags just because she had learned a new word. Marley has made two quilts since they built their new home (one the other side of our house) and is likely to find an excuse to make yet another, perhaps one for her mom and dad since they lost a quilt also.

Quilt Challenge Day 7

This happy cross quilt is one that I pieced on a trip to the Great Lakes. I always take a couple of easy kits that are cut and ready for sewing. When we return home they are quilted (or put into a basket where they may wait a bit too long.) I sold this one at a guild show a few years ago. It became a gift to a priest who was leaving one parish and going to another. Don't you think happy is a good description for this one?

Quilt Challenge Day 3

A small modern quilt that I finally finished. (The tops are beginning to pile up somehow.) Quilting proved that straight lines are much too boring for me. Lots of fabrics, no repetitions.

Quilt Challenge Day 2

I made this quilt when my mom was fighting cancer and Alzheimer's. Life felt deeply depressing, so I designed it to give us both a little cheer. (I really need to take a better picture though.)

More Masks and "Favorite Fabrics" ~~ finished!

Do you know how good it feels to pick up a quilt top, quilt-bind-label it, and call it done? Yes? Great. I'm here to tell you it feels even better when said quilt top has been waiting, patiently, in a basket or bin or (gasp) plastic bag for longer than you care to remember. Oh yes! It's a wonderful thrill. I recommend it highly. My heart still does a little flip when I think of it. 

More on the quilt later. First let's get these masks out of the way. There are 15 in this picture, more or less. Eight will go to a friend who requested them. The rest, I don't know. Maybe I should have a few here in case we need them. Heaven knows, I am done with these things. Could it be more boring? Not for me. I'm kind of ashamed, really. But 50ish are all I can wring out of myself for now. Maybe after Easter if there's still a need I can make more. 

Now back to this finish. At some point I realized that the very pretty pieces of colorful, playful fabrics that I'd purchased at 
Lola Pink in Lafayette were becoming smallish scraps. It occurred to me that together they would make a pretty quilt. So I gathered up pieces Since they were literally scraps, sizes were varied, but showcasing the designs was important. Otherwise, what was the point? 

The sizes were not cooperative but finally I came up with this clean, modern design. The blocks are 3½", 5½" and 7½" each with 2½" white strips. Into the waiting bin the top went. And just like that, quilt tops are forgotten. They deserve better, so it's time to get them finished. 

I had this white linen with small navy stripes that was just large enough, so I figured it was meant to be. I should have used those stripes to my advantage, but no, I prefer to make things... challenging.

For no reason at all, I decided to use straight line quilting but to leave out the prints. Then after all that quilting, I realized that the largest blocks were too big to leave un-quilted. I added fleur de lis and lotus flowers to those blocks. It was a good opportunity to play with those two motifs, which I really like.

		Quilt Stats
	Name:	Favorite Fabrics
	Size:	54" X 58"
	Fabrics:	Various fabrics from stash
	Pattern:	My design
	Backing:	Linen from stash
	Batting:	100% Cotton
	Binding:	fabric from stash
	Quilting:	Straight lines w/ motifs in largest blocks
	Completed:	2020

Tell me what you think. I really like constructive comments. They help a person to access and grow. So yeah! Comment.

Pin It Weekly #297

It's been a minute since we've met new followers. Here's Salma Shehada and her board on rugs and rug making.

These pins are from Amber Rush Moore's Quilts of Valor--a nod to this week's Veteran's Day. Thanks Amber!

Amber's Quilts of Valor board impressed me. And just like that there's another section on "heart, quilts." For now it's the first one, but my OCD librarian tendencies will move it into ABC-order, so don't be surprised.

These last ones come from Leesa Stroman. I love her color studies board. 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: art deco

At our modern guild meeting, we discussed art deco, what it means and looks like, and how it influences the modern quilt movement. 

Art Deco uses bold design, clean lines, colors and patterns to create geometric shapes. It was most popular after World War I and fading from fashion after World War II in the beginnings of the 1950s. Intense color, line and shape are characteristic of art deco.

1930s-inspired quilts, some meet the art deco design description. 

20 Skills Every Sewist Learns

Have you ever wondered what skills you've learned as you picked up sewing? It was a topic of discussion on one of the Facebook groups where I'm a member. The writer mentioned several and others chimed in. I've compiled the list of skills with a few examples of each. This list is certainly not exhaustive, but it's a great way to get started thinking about the many skills you have learned along the way.

1. Artistry (creating and designing, use of color, fit and form)
2. Chemistry (fiber content, treatment and care of fabrics, glues)
3. Color theory (using color, color wheel)
4. Conservation (avoiding waste, recycling)
5. Construction (basting, stitches, sewing buttons)
6. Efficiency (meeting deadlines, completing projects)
7. Finances (making purchases, budgeting)
8. Fine motor skills (hand sewing, putting in zippers, easing)
9. Following directions (putting patterns together in order)
10. Gross motor skills (cutting, using large equipment, setting up work-space)
11. Hand eye co-ordination (threading needles, sewing straight and curved lines, detailed handwork)
12. Math skills (basic math, fractions, geometry)
13. Mechanical skills (threading and adjusting machines, long-arming, cutting equipment)
14. Physics (fabric content, drape, pressing, lighting and electrical)
15. Reading comprehension (patterns, books, magazines, blogs)
16. Spatial awareness/geometry (sizing, fitting pieces together)
17. Teaching (planning and teaching the next generation)
18. Technical knowledge (selecting fabric, thread, and machines; adjusting patterns)
19. Terminology (specialized vocabulary)
20. Troubleshooting (diagnosis and repair of machines)

What have I missed? Add your ideas in the comments! 

Quilting teaches me.... Courage

Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s the strength to move forward in the face of fear. Courage is perhaps the most vital virtue to develop. When we feel the fear and do it anyway we develop courage.

from Stepping Stones by Lubhna Dongre 

It's occurred to me that if I continue this series, beginning each post with the words, "I am not (insert virtue) by nature," you'll begin to believe that I have absolutely no virtues. Well, the truth is that I'm pretty human. If I do possess any virtues, it's that I have them on an on-again, off-again basis. I may be courageous but it's mostly defending from a distance. You know, defending human rights, where no one is being oppressed. It's really easy to argue for change, when someone else is setting policy. 

I wish I could be a whistle-blower, but the sad truth is that it would scare me half-to-death and then the worry would kill me. And I'm extremely grateful that I live in a tiny hamlet of a town where people don't really need me to be courageous. Or at least not often. And not to a very big degree. 

Nope, the most I can claim courage to is, well, facing my fear with a bit of humor and lots of color. Yes, you read right. Color. You see, my mom was an Alzheimer's patient and had cancer. As one of her caregivers my fear was that I simply would not be able to help her. I worried that I'd become depressed and not be able to bring myself to the next visit or appointment or overnight stay. I was fearful that I'd just quit and let someone else do the disheartening work of care-giving.   

One day I realized that I could find the courage to face both my mom's terminal illnesses and my own fear. I began using quilting as a means of keeping occupied during those long days of doctors and hospitals and tests. I was able to improve my moods by adding color to projects. Taking care of some of the mental exhaustion helped me to stay the course. I used it to begin conversations with strangers, fending off some of the loneliness of being away from home. And late at night I curled under an in-progress quilt knowing that in the morning there would be something familiar, something to help me move forward, despite the fear.

Quilting teaches me...

Perseverance

Charity

Simplicity

Patience

Why

Authenticity

Courage

Contentment