Happiness ...

I have a lot to be happy about after my wild and crazy holiday season. My three daughters, their husbands and fiancée, and my granddaughter were all at our house on Christmas Eve to celebrate together. But Genevieve—my daughter who had the liver transplant—felt sick the entire time and ended up in the hospital on the 26th because of gut pain. She had surgery this past Wednesday for a partial bowel obstruction, thought to be caused by adhesions, but guess what they found? An internal hernia. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. A piece of her bowel was sticking through a hole in a membrane, causing her pain after eating. The ace transplant surgeon fixed her up, she’s recovering, and the entire family is so thankful and happy for the positive resolution of this latest problem. As I sit here beside her hospital bed, I realize she won’t be nearly as cheery as I am for quite some time, since she has to heal (again) from a big incision and won’t be able to drive or lift anything.

I have been taking care of my granddaughter for the past 12 days, which has impacted my post-Christmas quilting plans, of course. But I did get her “Christmas Hugs and Kisses” quilt done, and I’m really happy about that.

I also finished “Joan’s Log Cabin” for my sister—hand quilted and appliqued. She recently finished restoring a real log cabin in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and this little quilt will go with her red décor.

Hurray! I have a new laptop. My previous computer was seven years old, incredibly slow, and no longer connected to the internet. And double happiness—to go with the laptop, one of my Christmas presents was Electric Quilt 7—wow! What great software. I am playing with it to gradually learn what I can design.

My fellow Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild members created a final little bit of happiness for me. I am chair of our next quilt show (Oct. 8 and 9), and at last night’s meeting, quilters stepped forward and volunteered for many of the jobs I needed help with. That was a big stress reliever, and goodness knows I’ve had enough stress the past few weeks. Next on my list—take down the Christmas tree. When that’s complete, I’ll REALLY be happy.

Cheers!

I’m cooking with wine tonight to celebrate finishing TWO quilt tops. The first was the Mystery Quilt from American Quilter magazine, which I won’t show here because I have to send the picture in to the magazine after it’s quilted. The second is Danica’s Christmas quilt, hot from under the needle. Here it is:

I used two Moda charm square packs (pre-cut 5” squares), additional fabric purchased in Illinois, Tennessee and Missouri, plus a few pieces from my stash. The center is called “X-Rated,” a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co. (But I added 3 more rows and columns.) The little squares are 1½" finished, the rectangles are 4½" x 1½". The center has 525 pieces, for heaven’s sake!

I saw kisses rather than X’s, so I got the idea to add appliqué O’s for hugs. Every time I make a quilt with blocks set on point like this, I swear I will never do it again. My math worked out on this one, however—the setting triangles were all the right size. All would have been well except that I ran out of the dark green fabric in the border and had to piece two of the final sections with scraps. This quilt was a lot of work—I’m not gonna lie….

I have a few more marathon sewing days ahead. I would like to have this quilted by Saturday, but that’s probably optimistic, since I’m still making some Christmas presents, too. And my back hurts, perhaps from sewing, but more likely from carrying my outdoor flowerpots to the compost and dumping out the spent soil and dead plants. So, you see, I really need to cook with wine tonight, and I’m not putting it in the food!

Lucky, lucky day!

My sister and I went antiquing last week in Colorado Springs. I had to restrict myself to items I could bring back to Missouri on the airplane, and I was already loaded up with a few pieces of fabric from quilt shops in Longmont, Colorado, and Laramie, Wyoming! But I had fun shopping with my sister anyway, because she actually BUYS rather than just looks. (She is furnishing a restored log cabin in Manitou Springs.) I brought home two small quilts—an old doll quilt and a 1970s/1980s piece (either a lap quilt or table topper)—not antique, but funky and “vintage.”

This doll quilt had only one small hole and a couple of stains. I swished it in a sink full of detergent and cold water and the stains lightened up considerably. But it was filthy! I rinsed it until the water was no longer brown.

The quiltmaker here was pretty fearless--combining bright red with maroon! It had a Christmas feel, and I was in a Christmas mood, so I bought it.

I’ve been sewing since I got back Monday, trying to finish installment 3 of the mystery quilt from American Quilter magazine. I altered the pattern somewhat, so I’ve been trying to make all the pieces fit in a new arrangement. But I’m not going to post pictures of my quilt top because I hope to meet the January deadline for finishing the quilt. Several quilts will be chosen to appear in the magazine, and naturally I hope mine is one of them. If not, you’ll see it here.

Anyway, I took a break yesterday and went antiquing here in Missouri. I hit my two favorite places (I’m not saying where) and spent $150 on a full-size quilt in perfect condition, three beautiful crib quilts, and a mink stole. No kidding. Lucky day!

This is the hand-quilted full-size quilt--only $45. What a find! I love the composition and the colors. I estimate the two embroidered quilts below to be from the 1940's or 1950's.

The pink and blue in this quilt has more of a modern art vibe than a crib quilt feel. The pattern is certainly unusual and the back is a feedsack.

It’s back to the sewing machine today. I don’t even have to cook tonight—my husband wants to make Julia Child’s chicken fricassee. Go for it, babe! There are blizzard warnings for the northern part of Missouri, and it remains to be seen how the Ozarks will be affected. I have some Christmas presents to finish, so as long as we have power, I’ll be sewing all weekend.

Amish miniatures

It’s been a busy holiday week--cooking, eating, cleaning up, visiting with family, and eating again! We had a thankfully short-lived crisis when my daughter Genevieve had to go into the hospital with a bowel obstruction the Saturday before Thanksgiving. But it resolved itself and she got to come home to enjoy the turkey dinner and all the trimmings. My little granddaughter loved the new bedroom/playroom that my husband and I set up for her, complete with my “Tiny Bubbles” quilt on the wall and a vintage quilt on the bed.

I made it back into the sewing studio for a day to whip up some Amish miniatures—perfect for taking on the airplane with me. Another road trip! This time to Colorado and then Laramie, Wyoming, where my youngest daughter will defend her master’s thesis in creative writing. (And I’ll help her write a resume so she can find a job!)

This pattern appeared in Miniature Quilts magazine in January 2000, and I’ve been making it ever since to give away as gifts. It is only 8 inches square, finished—an ideal size for hand quilting when I travel. Cutting directions:

Row 1: (Center square) Cut one 1 7/8” square

Row 2: (Triangles) Cut two 1 7/8” squares, then cut them in half diagonally for 4 triangles

Row 3: Cut four 1 1/8” x 2 ½” strips AND cut four 1 1/8” squares

Row 4: Cut two 1 3/8” x 3 ¾” strips AND cut two 1 3/8” x 5 ½” strips

Row 5: Cut two 1 ¾” x 5 ½” strips AND cut two 1 ¾” x 8” strips

When I give away these little quilts, I always put a nice label on the back that says something like “A Little Amish Sunshine—a miniature quilt made for you by….” In other words, I put too much work into this for it to be mistaken for a potholder! Anyway, I think most people who have received one of these little quilts from me have liked it enough to hang on a wall somewhere and enjoy the colors. I certainly like to make them.

What was I thinking?

525 pieces later, I can only ask myself—What was I thinking?!! I’ve been working off and on for two weeks—TWO WEEKS—putting together the center of a Christmas quilt for my granddaughter, Danica. And there have been so many interruptions—the roofers finally came to fix a skylight, I had to clean out and reorganize my closet before I tripped one more time over suitcases and summer sandals, the car had to be serviced, there was the church bazaar, and on and on, or so it seems. But really, the thing about this quilt that has taken so long is just the sheer number of pieces. No strip piecing here; each piece was individually cut, placed and sewn. The center of the quilt:

I guess I DO know how this started…. Last month when I was at the Main Street Quilt Co. in Shelbyville, Illinois, I fell for “X-Rated,” a little Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co. This pattern was specifically developed to use charm squares. The pieces are cut 2 inches by 5 inches, and 2 inches by 2 inches, making a 4 ½-inch finished square. These X’s looked more like kisses to me, so I had the idea of adding some O’s and making a Christmas kisses and hugs quilt.

I also bought two Moda charm packs—one called “12 days of Christmas” and one called “Bliss.” The colors are what I would call “new” for Christmas—apple green, light red, and turquoise blue. To avoid the matchy-matchy look, I added more traditional Christmas fabrics in darker reds, greens, and even a dark turquoise, and a white-on-white dot for the background. I almost reconsidered using this crazy mix of reds and greens of different shades (with pink, even), but I did it anyway. It really is true that the more fabrics you use, the less important any one of them seems.

It wasn’t very much fun to sew all these tiny pieces, to tell the truth, but I do love the finished product. I stopped at 9 rows of 9 X’s. I was going a little crazy and I could see this quilt was going to end up like an accordion—seams expanding and contracting—if I continued! This center measures 39 ½ inches, or 40 if I really smooth it out, so now I am faced with squaring it up and adding the border. The first row will stabilize and square it up, then I can add more X’s and the appliqué O’s that I have planned. I do love to machine appliqué.

And I just opened up the cover of the pattern and saw this written in pencil inside:

I hope tat u havv fun maceng mi kwelt Felse
(I hope that you have fun making my quilt, Feltsey)

Oh yeah—that’s what I was thinking. That’s why I sewed these 525 pieces! Danica is coming to my house on Sunday, and I sure would like to have the top ready to show her by then. I’ll be sewing like crazy for the next few days, before I have to start all the turkey business ….

Happy Liversary!

Today is the one-year anniversary of my daughter Genevieve's liver transplant. Read her blog at http://pscgenevieve.blogspot.com/. It has been a long year of recovery. Our family is thankful beyond words to the donor who made that gift of life possible. Sign your organ donor card, folks. It saves lives, and my daughter is one of them. We are so thankful to have Genevieve in the world.

The last few days I have been cooking for my middle daughter, Anne, who is home for a little TLC from Mom--and to use my washing machine because hers broke! I'm sending her home with a small quilted project--a Christmas wall hanging. This one is traced from a pattern with a Sharpie on muslin and colored in with crayons. I added borders and a little hand and machine quilting.

A quick post

Just a quick post to let you know I’m still here! I had a very nice road trip to Illinois, but now I’m in Tennessee helping my daughter Genevieve get off morphine. She is almost one year post-liver transplant, so this is a big milestone for all of us. (The anniversary is Nov. 11.) She has gone from being curled up in a ball, shaking, to trick-or-treating a block or two with Danica on Sunday. It’s up and down, day-to-day, but the road is headed upwards, not down.

Jackie asked me to post a picture of the scarf I made with 20 inches of different fabric at one end. Here it is:

I have been sewing a little for Danica, who asked me to make her a Christmas quilt and is "helping" me. These little pieces are only 2 inches square, so it has taken a while. I am determined to finish this one quickly. Good thing I'm not aiming for bed-size, though!

And finally, Danica the pteranodon who wants a Christmas quilt: