Great Bumpersticker

Letter from a friend

This letter really touched me, and I'm sharing it with permission (although I'm leaving off my friend's name). The reason I thought my blog readers might like to read it is that it seems rare for a quilter to learn how a quilt they make for someone is actually used, and if it really means anything to them. We all send quilts off here, there, and everywhere and usually get a quick "thanks" but it's rare to get a note like this one:

"This morning I was changing my bed sheets and smoothing out the blankets and the quilt. And as I ran my hands over the quilt I was thinking about how much I love it. And then the Third Street apartment popped into my head and I remember those horrible days and nights after my husband left and how that quilt was at the bottom of my bed and it brought me so much comfort because I thought of you and all the support you have given me over the years and I thought of Nova Scotia. And I was thinking that that quilt is the one item that I strongly identify with Third Street that transferred back to Fourth Street and held, throughout, its good karma. And I thought about how much I loved it and how amazing it was that you made it for me. I feel like the quilt took care of me. I feel like it is a security blanket.
Thank you."

I've been smiling ever since I received it!
Ginny

Mini-quilt Swap

I received this terrific little quilt today from my secret partner in the Quilting Blogger's Spring mini-quilt swap:

Isn't it great? It was made by Heather Ferris, a quilter and blues singer from British Columbia.
She also included a copy of a CD her family band recorded---Ties That Bind---that's excellent. I know my DH, who's a bluegrass fan, is going to be very happy to hear it.








Here's a photo of the back of the quilt:

Instead of the usual label, Heather added a tiny pocket with a Velcro closure that contained a tiny card inscribed with our names. How cute is that? I love it!

My most fabulous quilt retreat

I had a grea time at the Brooklyn Quilters' Guild retreat in Connecticut over the weekend. There's nothing like a weekend away with good friends and being waited on hand-and-foot so all you need to do is sew, sew, sew!
Here's what I accomplished:

I made the small bird quilt above from the bird blocks I'd made for the Block Lotto drawing and was supposed to send away to the lucky lottery winner.  But I needed a small quilt for a spring-themed quilt secret swap I'd signed up for, and what could be more perfect than birds and flowers? I made 3 more bird blocks afterwards to send off to the lucky Block Lotto winner.

I also assembled and started machine quilting the mug blocks I'd won earlier in the year in Block Lotto. Aren't these mugs great? This quilt was one of the hits of the retreat---lots of quilters stopped by to admire the great variety of quirky mugs I'd won. It was fun to be able to show it off, and maybe get a few new recruits for the block lotto?

Hmmm....I think I've got a theme going here. The quilt top pictured above, which I also assembled over the weekend, is made from Block Lotto blocks I won last month. I love the modern look of it. This one is lap-sized, and I'm going to finish it and give it to my dear Dad, who's got Alzheimer's. I think he's going to love it.

This photo show the only dark part of the weekend, which occurred when I sewed through my finger while I was free-motion quilting the mug quilt. Ouch! It was a first for me, but several other quilters told me they'd done the same thing at some point during their quilting careers. I was lucky to have done it while I was in a room full of quilters---three of whom happened to be nurses. The finger was impaled on the needle, and stuck in the machine, but they rushed to my rescue and had me bandaged and sewing again in no time. I'm sure it's going to look pretty nasty for awhile, but since it doesn't hurt much, and it's bandaged up pretty well, I've decided to keep it wrapped and not look at it until I have to.
TMI? I hope not!
Ginny

"Workt by Hand": Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts" at the Brooklyn Museum

No, that's not a typo in the title of this post, that's really the name of a new exhibit of 35 American and European quilts from the the museum's own collection on display through Sept. 15.
Here are some of the highlights, in photos of course!

This red-and white quilt, Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, is from 1850 and looked to be in near-perfect condition. Really striking.

This Album Quilt, left, was also finished around 1850. The colors were so vivid that it looked like a contemporary quilt to me.

The quilt below, called "Baskets Quilt," dates to 1860. I was impressed by its condition, and by the terrific flowers that had been appliqued into each of the baskets.

The quilt to the left is called Touching Stars, also from 1850. Don't the colors look modern?

















The quilt below, called Star of Bethlehem Quilt, is from 1830. The flowers on the quilt were fussy-cut and appliqued onto the white background around the star.

The crazy quilt below, which was totally amazing, was made by an American, Mary Stinson, and finished in 1880. The photo below is from the museum website, but the detail photo below is mine. I wanted to remember some of the amazing embroidery she'd done....all of the flowers were different, and she'd used different colors of thread to create shading. It was really impressive.

  

This photo is from the museum website. The quilt is simply labled "Pictorial Quilt" and it's from 1795 and is made of linen. The photo doesn't do it justice: up close, the little figures are wonderful, full of detail and life.

East Street quilted and bound

I'm so happy to be able to report that I just finished binding my Easy Street quilt and gave it its first wash. Hurrah! There was nobody home to help me hold it so I could take a decent vertical photo of it, so I put it on the floor and stood on a table to take this photo. It give you the idea, anyway.

I think I'm going to give this quilt to my husband Mac, who'd a huge sports car fan, because he says it reminds him of the famous (according to him ) "hippie Porche." Here's a photo of the car----I guess I can see a resemblance:

So this quilt will stay in the family. Now I have to cross my fingers that Mac doesn't try to buy the car to go with it.

I got some great news today, that I am pretty sure is not an April fool's joke. I was one of the winners in the March Block Lotto drawing, and I've won a bunch of really handsome 3-color rectangular blocks. Hurrah again! I think these will make a perfect quilt for my father, who'd got Alzheimers disease and is living in a care facility. I can't wait to put it together and give it to him.

Vacation quilting---Utah edition

I've been in Park City, Utah, right outside Salt Lake City, for the past few days on a ski vacation with my husband and youngest son. We took one day off from skiing to go into Salt Lake City so my husband could visit a client, and I grabbed the chance to visit a quilt shop I found on the internet called Pipers Quilts & Comforts. It was adorable! Here's a photo of the shop:

One of the most charming things about it was that they'd hung quilts outside in front of the store, and inside the store's front porch. Here are photos of a couple of them that I really loved.


 I only had a few minutes to shop, as I had to drive back to pick up my husband from his meeting, but I spotted a fantastic book that I've already found really useful. It's called Tile Quilt Revival, by Carol Gilham Jones and Bobbi Finley. Here's a photo:

 I think I may try to make one of the quilts from this book during a quilting retreat I'm going on in May. It's all applique, which I'm struggling to get better at. I'm working on the Dear Jane quilt, which requires a fair amount of applique, and mine always looks pretty lame. (But I know, better done than perfect!)
Anyway, this book also had clear and good instructions on how to applique, so I've been studying it. I tried to use what I learned while making these two Dear Jane blocks when I was not out skiing. Here's a photo:

For you Dear Jane followers, these blocks are B8 and G1. These aren't perfect either, but they are a bit better than the earlier ones. They'll look better too when they're trimmed and well-pressed.
That's all for now. I'm heading home to Brooklyn tomorrow---I'll be glad to see my other son and my dog, but I'll miss having time to relax, ski and sew.