Tucked in for the Week

I heard the weather report last Sunday and decided it was time for Christmas to be over. I came home from the retreat and took down our Christmas tree (sigh, it was so lovely with all it's twinkles and bright lights). You see, we store many of our decorations in an out building and the temperature was due to drop drastically. By Monday morning my husband had them stowed away before he left for town. Jack and I waited and watched for the high winds and blowing snow expected later that day.

The removal of the tree made room for the return of my sewing machine. We live in an old farm house with very low ceilings. The Christmas tree either fits in my studio or our bedroom. I had my sewing area set up again by Sunday night. I have been continuing work on my "Mod" quilt in the evenings after work. I hope to have it all pieced by the end of the weekend. I am using my Grandmother's sewing machine. It was purchased the year my mother was born. I love the quiet whirring sound the old motor makes as it sews.

At 9:00 am today the thermometer read -35 degrees Fahrenheit. The house is creaking and groaning with noises I have never heard before. The radio announcer said the pub down the road had a reading of minus 40 degrees which was as low as their thermometer will measure. This is certainly the coldest daytime weather I have experienced in years. Tomorrow I venture out. The weather is due to increase by 50 degrees to 20 above. I am working at Jeanne's fabric sale from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. I'm hoping the heatwave will bring lots of people out for the sale. I have a newer sewing machine table I am donating to cause which still needs to be loaded in the van today. I sure hope it warms up soon! Warm wishes from the Sunny Grove.

Building an Improvised Quilt

Last month, when I finally got to see the quilts of Gee's Bend up close and in person, I was most delighted and energized to see how freely the quilts had been built. The Gee's Bend Ladies sometimes compare constructing a quilt to building a house. Lots of the quilts began with a square or rectangular piece of fabric. This would be the base, or foundation of the house. Strips, (like walls) are added to all of the sides. And from there more is added... a bit of this and a bit of that... building the quilt up... no pattern... everything improvised.


This made perfect sense to me, because I never work from a pattern, they completely confuse, and I admit, bore me! (At times, when working with different publishers, I have had to create patterns for pieces that I have already made, drawing up diagrams and writing step by step directions on how to make one of my pieces. This always makes me feel a bit awkward because it is so contrary to how my mind actually works.)


Keeping those Gee's Bend quilts in mind, (specifically the one's which started with a basic squarish shape) I began to construct this Flower Garden Art Quilt. I decided to only use scraps of fabric which were left over from some previous projects, and made a pact with myself that once the scraps were used up, I would stop... and that's just what I did!


I started with the center square, next added on the strips, and just kept building and adding until my scraps were used up.


I also noticed upon observing the Gee's Bend quilts, that the hand quilting on the pieces were often done in arcs. I decided to also quilt this piece in arc shapes, but used machine quilting, as that's what I perfer.


This is the back of the quilt. You can really see the quilting here. I just use my regular sewing machine and a walking foot, (a special foot that helps all of the layers feed evenly through the feed dogs.)

*********************************************

I would absolutely love to see the creativity that could come from every sewer if patterns were thrown out! Just imagine the wonderful array of originality in design and construction that would be unleashed on the world!

*********************************************

NOTE: As I was writing up this blog post, Jacquie over at TallGrass Prairie Studio was on a similar train of thought and had already posted the day before about her great idea Project Improv, a quilting collaboration that shares in and supports the efforts, process and results of those wanting to make improvised quilts of any size! Each participant is encouraged to make a project for themselves and to also make and send in a 12.5" improvised log cabin block from one of 3 selected color combos. The individual blocks are to be sewn into quilts and donated to charity. I think this project is a great idea, and I will be participating in the challenge and donating a block in Orange and Pink. I encourage anyone else who is interested to go to Jacquie's blog and join in on the fun! (Last I checked I believe she already had over 70 people respond to her post!)

Getting Re-Organized

Here is my latest find in the long battle to get organized. I found this metal bucket in the picnic section of the local discount store. The pail is split into four sections. The largest section made for napkins fits my treasured box of colored pencils. The pin cushions pictured are gifts from quilting friends and family. My latest came from Alaska when my mom and stepfather traveled there in June. The pin cushion is called a spice baby and boy does it smell good!

I live in an old farmhouse. The age is unknown but local county records show a building at this location as far back as 1876. The house had no closets until the late 1990's when the last homeowner added an addition of two large rooms and two measly closets. We have added a walk-in closet and many other storage ideas over the last few years. I use lots of storage boxes for my projects. My girlfriends have even started to give me boxes as birthday gifts. Another gift was the beautiful metal pail. I use it as the trash can next to my sewing machine. I love those gals.

Have I ever mentioned my love affair with Ikea? Let's just say I'm just glad the closest store is four hours away. Every time I travel to Chicago I find a reason to stop in either to browse or purchase something. Last time it was curtains, storage boxes (almost always on my list) and a fabulous colander that hangs from the edges of the sink.

One of my favorite items from Ikea is my cheese grater. If you have one of these I'm sure you agree with me. It has a rubber foot at the bottom of the bowl and a lid to seal up the leftovers. I live in Wisconsin and we eat a lot of cheese to support our local industries.

My other favorite buy is this group of shelving units. They were sold as modular units with a choice of doors or drawer inserts. They do a great job of hiding my clutter. Ikea marketed these as entertainment units. I think they totally missed the mark and should have sold these as storage units. I'm sad to say these were discontinued a month after I purchased them. I spent yesterday moving all of my inventory and shipping supplies to one location. I hope this will stop me from walking circles around the house trying to find what I'm looking for now. Wish me luck. Ever since I hit 40 I can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago. I hear it gets worse at 50. Yikes!