Gladi's Remarkable Quilts

Fellow Blogger, Gladi Porche’s opening reception at The New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA is this Saturday (January 20) at 11:00. If you are anywhere near Lowell, you won’t want to miss this one! I have been fortunate enough to have seen Gladi’s work in person and her quilts are spectacular!  Unfortunately, I will miss the opening for family reasons (all good, I just can’t be that far from home right now). But, I will most definitely get to the exhibition before it closes in April.

Here she is with her "We are Stardust". I can't wait to see this one in person!

NEQM is also featuring “QuiltsJapan”. These are quilts from the 13^th Nihon exhibition in Tokyo. I have seen quilts from this in the past and they are sensational.

I hope you all get a chance to see these treasures!

2018

Well here we are, 2018! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I actually had a few decadent days of delightful quilting. In fact, there was so much peace and quiet in our house that I decided there would be no New Year’s resolutions for me. I’m going to head straight on into the new year with reckless abandon!

Here are a few of my accomplishments this past week.:

Noah and Matilda Block 4C - Wow, look at that purple! A bit bold (even for me) but oh so effective with this wonderful neon print. The backing on this one is one of my favorite reproduction neons. It is from an old Pilgrim Roy collection.

I've mentioned before, the fact that with a potholder quilt, the back can be as interesting as the front. This is why my backing fabric choices (42 different antique or reproduction neon prints) do not necessarily coincide with the front of each individual block. In the end, you will never notice!

Block 5C – I really cheated with this one and once again let the fabric work for me. The yellow & pink flower fabric is from a piece of Pierre Deux fabric I bought on St. Barts in 1993! At nearly $60.00 a meter, I did not cut into it for almost 20 years. I have savored every tiny scrid of it since then.

The original pattern has lots of layers in these outer flowers. See Dawn’s reproduction block (here) for the proper way to make this block. Her buttonhole stitch is superb!

I stitched the binding on my Sapphire Stars mystery quilt (with Kevin the Quilter), but I won’t show the picture yet as this is going to a special veteran and I want to get my picture with him before I post it.

I finished my Moda Blockheads block #42 and stitched the next to the last row together. One more row and this fun sew-a-long will be over.

back of row 5

I decided to join PatchworkInspirations’ basket block sew-a-long for January through March. I know, I know, what was I thinking? I need another “challenge” like I need another hole in my head. But, this is with sweet Cecile and, it is only 2 blocks per week and, they can be any size and, I love baskets, and…

You get the picture! So here is my first block. O.k., it is really a Cake Stand, but I have a plan for the overall quilt. Of course we all know how “plans” work. Mine are always subject to change.

We will be posting and linking up with Cecile (Patchwork Inspirations) at the end of each month. Stay tuned to see all the delightful creations.

And speaking of creations, well “creativity” really -  PrimitiveQuilts and Projects had a great article (here) to help boost the creative spirit. I rarely have a creativity problem, in fact I often find it difficult to squelch my creative brain from beginning too many projects! But, this article was interesting and helpful to me in channeling my energies toward what I feel to be most important. Hope it inspires you in your New Year quilting!

Peace

Peace is what I wish for everyone this holiday season. Inner peace, the kind that comes from the simple things in life. Counting our blessings, helping a friend in need, sharing a kindness with a complete stranger…

I believe as quilters, we tend to be more understanding and sympathetic. We know the value of time and we appreciate every moment we get to create something of beauty in this world.

So, whatever your faith, whatever you celebrate in this holiday season, I wish you a little more time, a little more joy and some very deep inner peace.

Merry Christmas and a Happy Quilting Year to you!

Noah & Matilda 3C

I started this Noah and Matilda sew-a-long because of the wonderful host, Dawn (Collector with a Needle). It is my first sew-a-long on Facebook (here). I am enjoying the process immensely. I am going slower than I would like, but as Dawn says, "it is not a race"!  We would love company. Anyone want to join in? Dawn's patterns are concise (when you are clever enough to actually look at them before stitching!) and beautifully done.

I love this block so much I made it twice! Here is the first mess.  I’m not sure what happened (can’t be the holiday stress, as I am actually very relaxed this year) but when I finished this one it just didn’t look right. I basted and started quilting it before I gasped “ick, I can’t live with this!” It looks like a big green and black blob. Kind of like one of those fantastic Japanese science fiction movies. I half expected an alien to pop out of that center!

So, I looked at the pattern again and said “oh, let’s start over”. Sheesh! Anyway, I love the new rendition. And, the old one will go in the orphan box for my next “pot luck” quilt. (I'm sure there will be other aliens in there too!)

I like this one much better! I am loving some of the antique fabrics I have found for this project. 

The background on this one is an antique shirting c1880. It does have a little overprint around some of the motifs, but it is such a dream to work with. When you finger press a seam, it "stays" pressed. I wish they made fabrics like this today. The black, brown & yellow neon in this is an antique as well. 

So check out the Facebook page (here) and follow along with us. 

My Boys!

When I started this blog, I mentioned that I would rarely post any non-quilty photos or blurbs. But, I feel I have to share this today. If you read my blog on a regular basis you know that we have a wonderful grandson who, for the past four years has spent Wednesday nights at our house.  

Late last summer, my son and his wife announced that they would be moving to Florida in the Fall. Because he has significant autism, I immediately worried about everything. How would he like his new school? How would he like his new house? How would he live without us? How would he…

We made our first visit over the weekend and I am thankful to say, all is well. They have settled in beautifully. He loves his new school, he loves his new house and he loves being able to swim whenever he wants! My children are wonderful parents and I am blessed! 

Now for something quilty!

 

Block 2C in our Noah andMatilda sew-a-long is now complete. I really am enjoying this project. I am going at my own pace which is essential during the busy holiday season. 

 back

Enjoy your quilting time and hold your dear ones close 

(take the needle out of your hand first – wink!).

The Little Red Hen

While looking through my photo file, I realized I had not yet posted about this little quilt. 

It all began when one of our “Seven Sisters” (Karen B.) decided to downsize her fabric stash. At first, we were all in a panic wondering if she was going to leave us! But, she assured us she was not giving up quilting, just a few hundred yards of guilty pleasure.

So, we gleefully accepted the invitation for “Cake and Take” at her house in early September. We all went home with full bellies and armloads of much needed fabric.

We decided on the way home that we must do something to thank Susie Karen (as we affectionately call her). I spied a pillow in her living room with a log cabin like design and drafted this simple yet bold block. I cut out 5 kits for each of the six of us and distributed them to the group. Then…

Fotini collected the blocks…

Charlotte put the top together…

Tina provided the batting…

Wendy provided the backing…

Kathy quilted it…

Karen M. did the binding…

It really reminded me of the story of the Little Red Hen in reverse since we ALL had a hand in it.

Susie Karen had knee surgery in early October so we had the perfect opportunity to visit her and present the quilt. Needless to say, she was very pleased!

the back 

I am very lucky to have this group of wonderful women in my life!!!

Time Flies!

I can’t believe Thanksgiving was a week ago! Where does the time go?? I did manage to get a few things done over the holiday weekend in between the cooking and clean up.

I finished my Moda Blockheads #’s 37 & 38. Just 10 more to go in this sew-a-long. It has been fun and not too taxing. 

I made a slight error on my Noahand Matilda block #1C. Somehow, I reversed the design. Of course, I didn’t notice it until I was halfway through the applique process, so you will just have to view it in a mirror!

I started a new "secret" project that I am very excited about, but can't divulge yet.

And, I worked on my little filler project when I didn’t have the brain power for anything else. 

Hope all of you had a wonderful and productive holiday as well!