The winter is long and the going is slow

So today was going to be the day to get this little quilt done. And I did work on it for several hours this morning. First, I had to cut the basket fabric into strips (cut on both the crosswise and lengthwise grain) and piece them together again to give the basket more dimension. That turned out to be a good idea. The simple diagonally printed fabric looks much more basket-like after being pieced with its pattern in alternating directions.

Then, there was the bird. My first bird effort looked like the poor thing had wrung its little neck. Back to the book (Bird in Hand by Ginger Cookie Company) for reference. Seems I had reversed the bird. Re-cut bird. The only pieces of the pattern I'm using are the bird and basket and the basket is pretty hard to mess up. Good thing all those fruits and berries were already printed for me. All I had to do was cut out the design.

Here all is arranged pretty darned close to how I envision the finished applique. Truly, I did think I could get this all done today.


This is how far I got. I am doing a straight stitch raw-edge applique on some insanely little stems and leaves. Seriously. Check out the size of those berries. I thought this would be quick?
I can't blame the delay entirely on the size of the pieces I chose to work with. Since I'm really winging (no pun intended) this one (other than the bird and basket), my mind is reeling with border possibilities. The piece is currently 21x27 and can be no larger than 30x36, so I don't have a lot of room to play with, but I do want a nice frame around this little fruit basket (or is it a corduroy purse?). I have a very small amount of fabric that would make a great scallop on a border and I spent a good deal of time playing with that. Then again, if I refer back to the book and the original design inspiration, there is a dog-tooth border that is pretty darned attractive, but I'm liking the way the design is looking to the right (despite my personal leanings toward the left) and think maybe just the right and lower edge would have a pieced border. What to do, what to do...

Happy Birthday Dad

My dad was a hummer. He hummed along to almost any music playing in the background. And, sometimes, if it was a particularly good song, he'd sing along. And of those times, there were a few songs that he could really belt out. "Some Enchanted Evening" was one of those songs.

Dad would have been 88 on January 16. To honor his memory on his birthday I listened to the soundtrack of South Pacific, just as I do every year. Bloody Mary and Some Enchanted Evening stand out most clearly in my memory as songs he particularly enjoyed. I was at work (no one else was in the building) and hummed along as I sorted and copied and pasted and tabled and charted and calculated and then belted out a line here and there just like Dad would have done. Give it a listen and remember (or meet) my dad. Don't forget to hum along.

Working on a work quilt

The best quilt I ever made is this Hollyhocks wall hanging. It took me a long time to hand applique. The original intent was to hand quilt it. By the time I actually finished the applique, hand quilting was clearly not an "in my lifetime" option. The machine quilting is some of the best I've ever done, which helps this quilt maintain its status as all-time favorite. It's been hanging behind me in my office for the past six years. Every time I turn around, it makes me smile (well, nearly every time) and my friend down the hall has promised to save the quilt on the day my brain really does explode and spew data in a spatter pattern that will baffle CSI enough to warrant a cliffhanger episode.
But, things change. A new file cabinet moved in last week and the only available space for it places it right in front of my quilt. I really need that file cabinet and now I really need a different office quilt. Nothing I have seems the right fit. That's right, I need a new quilt.

I spent a good deal of time today mulling over my options. It can be no larger than a 36" square. But I think a rectangle will be more attractive. After paging through several books and magazines, it became obvious that I want another appliqued quilt. I chose the perfect pattern of a basket filled with flowers. I chose all the fabrics and pieced the background and began to feel overwhelmed when this fabric tickled my memory.

I've had this beautiful fabric for years. You'll notice that this 9" square has corner pieces added. Unfortunately, when I put these alternate squares with the ones I had planned to use them with, the entire quilt was, well, ugly. So, the black squares went back into the stash waiting for some other purpose. I found that purpose today.

So, yes, I want an appliqued quilt, but no, I don't really feel that I have the time or energy or dedication to complete a hand appliqued quilt at the moment. Voila! Enter Broderie Perse: Cutting designs from one fabric and appliqueing them to another. I will do a basket of flowers and fruit using this lovely fabric for the majority of the applique pieces in a raw-edge treatment.
And a bit of ripping and re-sewing will put those 9" blocks to good use as borders. It will be soft and lovely and exactly what I need behind me all day.

I can't wait to get back to work on it.

Look Jane Look

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative sells little quilts and donates all profits to Alzheimer's research. Since this devastating disease affects more than one person near and dear to me, I decided to stop thinking about it and actually make the donation of a quilt. The guidelines for submitting quilts are quite strict: the quilt can be no larger than 9" x 12". That's not a lot of room to work with, but judging by the quilts that are for sale and auctioned every month, there are a lot of quilters who tap into their creativity to accept this little quilt challenge.

I've had a half-yard piece of Dick and Jane fabric for several years. In fact, I bought it at a shop in Racine while on a little excursion with my sisters, Jeannine and Jane. It seemed most appropriate that I use that fabric for this project. Jane, the youngest of us, has Early-onset Alzheimer's. This is the first quilt I will donate in the hope that someday soon there will be a research breakthrough that will keep someone else's sister - and her family - safe from the heartbreak of Alzheimer's.

I started with a stack of 2" squares cut from the print and several solids.


The squares were sewn into six random 9-patch blocks.

Each block was then divided
What were nine-patch blocks were then reassembled into new blocks to make the little quilt.
After layering with batting and backing, free motion quilting was added. My freehand quilt-writing echoes the script from the black and white Dick and Jane fabric. Finally, a little black and white pin dot binding does the finishing. My little quilt is now ready to send off. From what I've seen on the website, it may take a bit before "Look Jane Look" is actually available for sale. In the meantime, I've got more Dick and Jane fabric. Every inch of it will go to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative in honor of my sister, Jane.