Why We Quilt... And Yet, One More (But Not The Last) Reason

If you've been following along with the last few posts you'll find the theme of "why we quilt" a continuing one.  Today I would like to touch upon those who have gone before us and how inspiration has played a big part in why we quilt, and continue to, to this day.  As a new quilter back in the mid 1980's I recall being inspired, and nurtured, by the established quilting community within my own local Guild. These ladies were all highly competent, gifted quiltmakers in their own right who, seemingly, had all the time in the world to guide a wide-eyed, ready to learn young woman in the proper quilting direction. I quite literally sat at the feet of some of these quilting masters soaking up every tidbit they had to share! Here is one, Vera Bell, these photos were taken at a Guild show back in 1992, she was 77 years old. I am particularly interested in both of these photographs because I just so happen to be piecing both a sixty degree diamond quilt and a tumbler right now. As you can see, Vera was an accomplished, and stylish(!), quilt artist; a lovely lady both inside and out. She was no stranger to winning ribbons and the colorwash beauty, hand-quilted of course, on the right won her the Best of Show that year. I recall falling in love with a most stunning Carpenter's Wheel quilt that she made for her son's home. He lived in a converted barn and she leaned heavily on a silver-gray color palette  incorporating a few, choice, bright accent colors to complement the rustic two-story barnboard wall where he planned to hang it. I can't see a Carpenter's Wheel quilt today without remembering Vera.  Does this lovely lady inspire me still? Yes, she does!  Looking at these photos reminds me that I can always go that extra mile, do a little bit more, challenge myself. That sixty degree diamond quilt as well as the tumbler that I am currently piecing I had planned to trim up straight and square along the edge. Now I am thinking about appliqueeing them to a border, capitalizing on the shapes and not destroying the integrity of the pattern, that's exactly what Vera did. We quilt because we love it; we're nudged to be our best by those who have gone before and encouraged us along the way, those who recognized that spark and had the good sense to breathe life on our fledgling attempts, thus igniting the flame and passing the torch!  I will always be grateful for that inspiration that has fueled me and drives me still... it's why we quilt.

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Vera E Bell 1915 - 2005 was a member of the Bell family. Vera was born on April 24, 1915. Vera died on February 17, 2005 at 89 years old. Vera E Bell's last known residence is at Winston Salem, Forsyth County, NC 27103.

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Life is Good!

Dim The Lights...

... cue the soft music, it's nap time! Okay, so maybe it's not nap time yet, but it soon will be! My dear DIL teaches Pre-K, where students still nap after lunch. Once again the generous Miss BeeHaven quilters have joined me in the challenge to supply three classrooms with nap blankets for the coming year. I handed off eleven last evening, what a good feeling! More will continue to come in before the school year begins; and, according to my calculations, we'll meet the goal of forty-five! In fact, this year's "Blankie" award goes to LP; who has, single-handedly, sewn up fifteen and blanketed one entire classroom! YAY!

I have a large, designated, tote bin that resides in the bottom of my stash closet into which all appropriate fabrics, measuring at least one yard, are placed throughout the year. Fabrics are donated from friends and family, the bin is still this full after sewing eleven yesterday, (that's twenty-two yards out!) it has truly become a "loaves and fishes" box. The nap blankets are simply sewn from two one yard lengths, placed RST and sewn all along the edges, pillowcase style, then turned and topstitched around the outside edges and from corner to corner with a large "X"; there's no batting. They are lightweight and comfortable, the children love them!

One little tip that I learned recently (an online tutorial... what did we ever do without those?) is to secure the opening when doing the RST stitching with a backtacked line of stitching perpendicular to the stitching along the edge, it makes the turning, and pressing down of that opening, so much cleaner and better!

Here's the teacher, my deal DIL, last evening. She burned the midnight oil and powered through to get her quilt top done for little Lynnleigh; she goes back to school next week and her evenings won't be as leisurely as they've been all summer, her clock was ticking! Didn't she do a fabulous job? I am SEW proud of her! She has some yellow flannel (Big Bird motif) for the backing, she's not exactly sure how she wants to finish it yet; she may go batting-less, like the nap blankets for her classroom, she's still deciding. Whatever she decides though, Lynnleigh will rest comfortably under this quilt of love sewn especially for her by her own sweet Mama!

Life is Good!

 

Run, Don't Walk!

I had the opportunity to hear Ami Simms present her "How Not To Make A Prize-Winning Quilt" lecture last evening. My sides still ache from laughing! She is a gifted speaker with a wicked sense of humor as well as being an incredibly talented quilt maker/teacher and an amazing humanitarian, having raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Alzheimer's research through her Art Quilt Initiative. OK, let's be honest, those of you who know me already understand that I am one of her biggest fans! Her lecture was illustrated by a slide show containing photos of her own early quilting attempts. She pointed out all the mistakes she had made along her quiltmaking "journey" and what we should avoid. That's the part that made me laugh out loud, I had made every single one of those mistakes (and then some)! She included close-ups of her mangled miters and her non-matching thread choices... yep, done that (but I never would have the courage to show them off in a crowd)! Judging by the laughter all around me, I'm guessing I wasn't alone in my admission of guilt. The underlying theme of her presentation was two-fold; don't take yourself too seriously (what fun is that?) and make quilts that you love (why wouldn't you?). If you have the chance to hear Ami speak; or better yet, take a class from her... run, don't walk, to sign up! Check her website for the class/lecture schedule and get yourself enrolled, you'll thank me later. But, a cautionary warning (for your well being): you might want to strap up your sides first... it's always good to be prepared!

Life is Good!

"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." ---Steve Jobs

Fannye's Legacy

I'm preparing binding today for this scrappy Bear Paw quilt. Sundance helped me out to get it to this point, quilted and ready to finish. Fannye Hall died very unexpectedly four year ago; she was the matriarch of our local guild, mentor to the masses in these parts. I purchased this as a top of hers at an auction a while back, the proceeds going to benefit my aforementioned guild, a fund-raising idea of which she would definitely approve! Time and circumstances have bound us together forever on this project, I have a feeling she would be pleased with this collaboration. Fannye can rest assured that I will bind this quilt with care and precision, she'd expect nothing less from me. It was she who taught me how to bind a quilt properly; how turn a sharp, square corner, one of which we could both be proud. Fannye's legacy lives on. I still miss her, but today I recognize it's the blessing of having known her that will endure into tomorrow through every quilt of my own.

Life is Good!

Talk To Me, Fannye

Fannye Hall was the matriarch of our quilt guild, she died unexpectedly in December 2005. She taught almost everyone in our county, and beyond, to quilt. She attended every meeting and saw to it that they were run properly. After her death a collection of quilt tops were discovered by her family and generously donated to the guild that Fannye loved, to be auctioned with the proceeds going toward guild projects and education. This split hexagon was one of them. I didn't purchase this one, my friend Nane did. She appliqued the edges to the solid navy border and for some reason I volunteered to quilt it for her! I don't normally do things like that, I surprised myself! "What have I gotten myself into?", I worried. Then I laughed, thinking all along that it was Fannye who made me do it, she always had a way of recruiting volunteers! All summer the prepared top has languished in the closet, I loaded it on Tuesday and said a little prayer, I talked to Fannye as I threaded the machine and asked her what she wanted me to do on this one. I was prepared to quilt swirls and squiggles in and out of each little half-hex. "Talk to me, Fannye" I implored. I turned Sundance on and we got started, in and out, back and forth, round and round. I was mesmerized by both the rhythm of the movements and the diverse collection of fabrics that Fannye had hand-stitched together. I finished the first section and advanced the roller to begin again. "What do you think, Fannye?" I asked out loud. Her answer popped into my head. "It's a lot more work than I would have put into it!" I laughed again, "really?" I asked her. "It's nice" came the response. Was I imagining Fannye's responses? I don't know. I asked her to talk to me, she was a woman of few words; I hope she approves.

Life is Good!

Imprints

We are who we are because of the people and experiences that have left imprints on our lives. I've had many life-teachers, one stands out as a bright and shining example of honesty and integrity; I don't even remember her name. When I was twenty-one years old I worked for The Singer Company at Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette, IN; I was the bookkeeper. The store was open from 1 PM until 5 PM on Sundays, every once in a while I had to take my turn on a Sunday shift. One such Sunday I was working along with a fellow employee, John. He didn't much like working Sundays, either; he was a service technician and was as eager to close out that afternoon in March as I was. It had been a slow day and as we we approached closing time, I was cutting fabric for a lone customer. John slid one of the front doors closed at five o'clock and closed out one of our two cash registers, he waited for me to finish up so that we could lock up and each go home. The customer needed some notions to go along with her fabric purchase; finally, I carried her accumulated items to the register and rang up the sale. John had readied a bag for me, it was waiting on the counter, I slid her items inside and he locked the door behind her. I totaled out the register and looked for the receipts, checks and cash from the other cash drawer while John locked up the office. We only needed to drop these into the bank deposit as we exited the mall and we were free to leave for the day! I asked John where the contents of the other cash register were and he gave me the strangest look... "In the bag..." he responded, in what I remember as sort of a strangled whisper. "Bag?" I questioned; but we both already knew what had happened. He'd placed the money in the very same bag that I had sent home with our last customer. She was now carrying fabric and matching thread along with most of our day's receipts! I can recall, even now, the cold, sinking feeling of absolute panic that was overwhelming me as John ran in circles around the store before bolting to the parking lot in an attempt to find her. It was too late, the parking lot was empty. We didn't know the customer, she'd paid by cash, we had no way to contact her. We didn't have a choice, we had to call our manager. At first he couldn't believe that we would do anything that absent-minded, but when he figured out that we were serious he asked that we each come in the next morning before opening. We were both certain that we were losing our jobs. He sat us down and closed the office door, I'm sure we must have looked absolutely pitiful. He didn't fire us but rather gave us a pep-talk and then told us about all the times he'd screwed up and how people had given him second chances when he felt he hadn't deserved them. We both were relieved, able to breathe again, and yet still felt like we'd let people down; we had much to prove now that we'd been let off the hook. Less than fifteen minutes later our boss came strolling out of the office wearing a huge smile. The customer had phoned, she'd found the money and was returning it right away! I was amazed, I hadn't even dreamed that might happen! Somehow The Journal and Courier got wind of the story and printed a small article in the next day's paper entitled: "Singer Co. Pads Lady's Purchase". (I still have a copy of that article in a scrapbook somewhere.) We took some good-natured ribbing for awhile from customers and fellow mall employees who'd stop by and ask if we were giving away any money that day, things like that. But, as long as I live, I'll never forget the look on that dear lady's face when she returned that bag of money thirty three years ago, she was so exceedingly joyful. (So was I!) She was the human face of honesty and integrity; she taught me so much... simply through the way she lived her life. I am who I am today because of the scores of people and myriad of experiences that have left imprints on me; joyful, indelible imprints!

...I am deeply appreciative...
Life is Good!