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Finding Myself Within Patterns

I was lucky to go to middle school when they had classes like sewing, and wood shop. I wish I had been a book reader, but I wasn’t. I was maker. My mom and dad also stressed the importance of knowing how to make. The making process served as a way to entertain, and provide a basic means to take care of yourself.

My first sewing projects in school were a tote bag, and a skirt. I can remember shopping at the fabric store with my mom to get all the supplies. I was so excited. I remember wearing my skirt to school for the first time. I was at the bus stop waiting for the bus. One of my friends told me she could tell I had made my skirt. The fabric was an off white and blue gingham fabric. She pointed out that my lace hem was white. I should have used an off white lace. It hadn’t occurred to me. I was a little hurt, but tried to pretend I was fine with it.

Since then, I have embraced my flaws. I have never experienced perfection, and never will. The art of quilting has given me an outlet to celebrate all that is imperfect.

Cry, Cry, Cry

There are two kinds of tears that I cry. Crying can be sad, but better are the tears of joy. I made “Cry,Cry,Cry” for the needs of both. No matter what is happening in our country, there is no denying the beauty of our landscape. Nature is very important to me. This quilt sees, smells, and eats up all the beauty. Sometimes life can be difficult. Sad crying is best done under a nurturing quilt. This quilt is a crying quilt.

Babes in the Woods

I was visiting Mount Saint Helens, Wa. On the drive to the visitor center, we past tall evergreens planted by Warehouser. Because they were planted, they made a repeated pattern that made me dizzy. It was almost artificial. The majestic evergreens looked like giant, powerful soldiers marching in waves of green.

Back in Tennessee, I was driving through McMinnville. McMinnville is the nursery capital of the world. Tennessee’s beauty is softer than Washington’s. The rolling hills of McMinnville are covered with quiet rows of nursery trees. McMinnville, TN

There is an old song called Babes in the Woods. The song is about babies getting lost in the Woods. The song changed my vision off this quilt as I was working on it.

The Circus Trip

The Circus Trip is technically a collaboration between my husband and I, but I have a hard time think about it like that. So much of myself goes into making a quilt. He had a sketch that I worked from. I altered it, and the amount of work it takes to sew a quilt top, that does not follow a grid, far out ways his effort. I give Brady Haston 5-10% of the collaboration credit.

I learn from every quilt I make. The Elephant gallery had a call for a clown show. Due to a deadline, I learned pretty quick I would not be able to hand appliqué all the extra parts. I inherited a sewing machine from my mother that had a stitch that resembled my appliqué stitches. I used a combination of hand appliqué, and machine appliqué to get the quilt finished in time for the show. I still prefer working by hand, but excited about what the machine can do.

It’s fun for me to work on a quilt that focus on patterns, and then switch to one that has content. I feel the same way about making a quilt to fit someone’s personality, or vision, versus making a quilt that comes solely from my own aesthetic, conceptual. I don’t feel confined.

Rex Burned His Fancy Pants

I learn from every quilt I make. I think of this quilt as my breakthrough quilt. This started out as a star of Bethlehem quilt. It looked boring. I wasn’t happy with how it was going. I cut up the parts I had finished, sewed on new portions, and scraps. Diamonds came alive. I feel like this is the quilt that opened my world. Some people find this to hard to look at. I see is energy, and fearless freedom.

Rex was wearing his fancy pants he bought while traveling in Asia. We were sitting around the fire when a cinder caught his pants on fire. Beers, friends, fancy pants, and a backyard fire made for many laughs. I thought his pants were black and white striped. In the dark of the night I could not tell that they were navy blue.

Meow Meow

  • I had a vivid dream I was sewing a portrait of one of my cats. When I woke, I went to the sewing machine, and sewed a picture of Daisy Mae. I originally thought wall hanging, but soon figured out how to put her in a quilt.Daisy Mae and her brother Jasper.My first time using a mixed fabric binding. I was on a budget, and decided to use my fabric stash I already had. I was pleased how it turned out.img_9365

Practice my free motion quilting for this quilt. I’ve started keeping these. I kinda like the samples.

I’m Back.

Instagram has taken over, and my blog was put away in the clouded world of the internet. Other quilting blogs made me want to bring my blog space back to life.

White Wedding quilt never made it to the wedding. It took way to long. Once, I heard you have a year to give a wedding present. Seems like a year is a little late, but it doesn’t matter. It took longer. It’s also not my favorite. I felt like it was more like an exercise in working without color, and seeing how much free motion quilting I could do with my machine. Every quilt I do teaches me something new. That’s one of the reasons I love it so much. Practice for quilting. Process

Influence

Finished