Funny What Makes a Quilt a Favorite

I just love it when hunting season arrives, don't you?

This is quite possibly my favorite quilt and it completely amuses me that my husband would mis-abuse it so badly when he knows how much I cherish it.*snort  It's just one of many to him!  I started this quilt in November of 2006 when all my sisters and I took my mom to Bandon, Oregon for her 60th birthday.  Including one sister-in-law, we were a party of 8 women (and 3 babies who were deemed too young to be left with daddy).  I asked everyone to please write something about our weekend on a small cream piece of fabric.  No big, right?  It was a special weekend, we were having fun, etc. etc.  NO, not my sisters.  Grumbles, moans and sniveling, and in some cases outright rebellion.  Too cheesy, mushy and too much opportunity for embarrassment!  In the end I resorted to begging them to please, PLEase at the very least sign their name and write in 'Bandon, OR' and the date.  So, my little keepsake quilt idea had been blown to pieces.  Arrghhh!  It took me another year or so before I came up with another plan, which cracked me up the entire time I was working on it, because I knew my sisters would not be happy with me for forging ahead.  I carefully cut up each of the cream squares that I had to work with and incorporated them into a new and (quite by chance, although I'd never admit that to them) better plan.  If you look closely, you'll see that the little cream berries are filled with handwritten names, dates and other words.  I laugh every time I think about taking their stingily given words and cutting them up! I love my mom and sisters to pieces and this just adds an extra dollop of sentiment to the quilt for me of course.

Thanks for being so stubborn girls!  You're the best.:)

*By the way, this quilt pattern is actually two 'Whimsical' patterns (one for layout design and the other had an applique pattern I liked better) plus an extra border I thought the quilt needed at the last minute.

Give It Away Fast

Terrible picture I know. This is a lap quilt I made for my brother about 5? years ago, well, sewed the top together at least. I made it out of fabric that family/friends had given away and a very little bit of my stash--no new fabrics at all so a bit of a challenge to myself. I even played around with some green Toile, a popular fabric choice at the time--don't ask me what I was thinking. My intention was to give each one of my (nine in all!) siblings a quilt I have made before I die.:) I'm doing pretty good too, because after this one I only have one sibling left to make a quilt for. Soooo, back to THIS mediocre quilt. It's to be a Christmas present and all I have left to do is pick threads and sew on a label, if I even want to do that.lol! I will quickly admit that this is not my best work. Pinwheels seem to be always and forever beyond my control when it comes to getting points to match up. AND, to be honest, time and experience are not really helping me out in that area to date.blerk! Also, I hand quilt virtually everything now and I just could not bring myself to expend the massive amount of time and energy required to hand quilt this particular quilt. It is what it is. A fast and easy lap quilt in nice, cozy colors--nothing extra special or 'heirloom' quality about it at all.:) Should I be embarrassed about even giving it away as a gift? My pride says yes! absolutely!! My practical side wants me to put on my game face and give it away fast, no qualifiers or justifications included.*wink That's the problem with UFO's. They always have to come out of the closet and haunt you....

My Quilt Room

Have you ever read about Jane Sassaman and how she quilted at her dining room table I think it was? I think about that sometimes and it just amazes me. How many kids does she have and how big was her house? My quilt room is hiding out in the corner of my boys' room (mostly because it's a really, really big bedroom and the light is incredible in front of the french doors to the deck--MY SPOT). My husband dragged some cabinets home from a demo one day and proudly brought them into the house. I admit I was dubious at first. I'm not a big one for change, but they have been so cool to have. I have storage, a cutting table, drawers for the little junk and they are not nailed to anything, so when we have moved, I've been able to haul them with me and arrange them as I liked. Voila! Instant quilt room. Anyway, that's where I hang out sometimes just to have some peace and quiet, although there isn't a dividing wall or anything so sometimes the X-box and teenagey music drives me far, far away instead. I try to respect my kids privacy and do most of my quilting during the day, but every now and then our time to relax kind of collides. That's why I try to always have hand quilting and/or hand applique ready to work on--so I can gracefully leave their "space". I don't want to ever wish their youth away. Besides, there's always some tedious hand work I'm putting off once again.*wink

Binding a Quilt For My Mom

This is one of the two quilts I agreed to bind for my mom. It's so interesting finishing up a part of someone Else's quilt. For one thing, this quilt is made in colors that I personally, have never put together before. That makes for very intriguing ideas flowing through my brain while I'm doing the somewhat tedious hand work of binding. On one hand, I'm anxious and impatient to be done with it and be working on my own projects. But on the other hand? I'm thinking about how wonderful the orange looks with the pink, how I would have used a black binding, what a beautifully simple pattern that was used and would I have made it too complicated? etc. etc. etc. I should never underestimate the power of working outside my box.:)

Not A Quilty Weekend

I was gone for a long weekend and deliberately did not take my quilting with me. It was a 'family' weekend, not a quilty weekend. I missed it dreadfully. Even 15 minutes a day revives me like nothing else can. I'm hoping that I'll have a clearer mind now and make some headway with some quilty decisions I've been struggling with, like: What to do with the next border on quilt #1? How to cut out one of my gorgeous stacks of fabric for quilt #2? Do I want quilt #3 to be the next quilt I sandwich and get ready to hand quilt? etc. etc. I always have several quilts in various stages of completion because I don't have the staying power to make any quilt from start to finish in one big fell swoop. Plus, most of my quilts need time to simmer and develop some character. lol

The Craze Is So Over

I come from a rather large family, lots of sisters, a few brothers, aunts, uncles, tons of cousins plus the obligatory set of parents. At one time almost ALL the females were doing the quilty thing and even a few of the men participated, hard as that is to believe. We had cool family quilt challenges and block exchanges, even though we didn't have a clue what we were doing. We were confident and inspired in spite of our ignorance.:) But now? Quilting has been dropped like a hot rock. Everyone has moved on to something better like: couponing, craigs listing, photography, the care and feeding of infants, hunting, hiking, genealogy, blah, blah, blah.... Lame stuff like that.:) I'm one of the few and the proud still obsessing over quilty stuff. Ergghhhh!! It's really frustrating at times. My mom still quilts and one of my sisters will quilt in moments of deep depression or intense boredom?, but other than that? The craze is so over, over, over....

My Grandma's Quilts

My Grandma made quilts. We fought over them--who got to sleep under which one and when. After she died, I inherited one of my favorite quilts from her! Well, my sister got my very best favorite quilt and I was bitter. But not for long. Hers had rust stains and mine is perfect; therefore, it is now my new very best favorite quilt and I display it proudly. It smells just like her house always did and takes me back instantly--musty, slightly mildewy, stuffy and sweet. I loved visiting at my Grandma's house and it's possible I may never wash this quilt just so I can remember how things really were.