Thankfulness

I make cuddle quilts for children who are ill. Most of them are made as my contribution to the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild's service project of providing quilts for all the children who come to the Ronald McDonald House in Knoxville, Tennessee. Occasionally, a friend or family member will tell me of a child in their lives who needs the comfort of one of my quilts. Such is the story of the latest one I donated.I make blocks from scrap fabrics when I'm between projects or am stuck in the process of creating one. These 6" scrappy blocks are sewn out of left-over fabrics and trimmings from my other projects and those of friends who've given me what they would normally discard. They're fun to make and I like to imagine a child exploring and discovering little treasures of color and pattern ... that this would be a distraction from their pain or circumstances.
The story of this quilt began with my making up a bunch of these blocks on a Sunday in late September ... just because. Later that day my sister telephoned and said, " I know of a young boy who needs one of your quilts. He's a student of my daughter out in California." I believe in serendipity ... that I had already begun making this quilt for that particular child.

I just received a thank you letter from my neice. She enclosed a photo of the quilt surrounded by the classmates of the little boy who got the quilt. The children sang spiritual songs and prayed for Daniel while holding hands around the quilt.His mother wrote, "Daniel was thrilled and amazed at the stitching that went into the blanket. It came at an opportune time as he was hit by a wave of nausea and was feeling quite lousy. The blanket gave him something to cuddle up with afterward."

His grandmother (and day companion) wrote: "Thank you so much for thinking of Daniel and for brightening his life with this beautiful quilt. He keeps it in the living room where he spends a great amount of time and enjoys snuggling under it."

Daniel wrote to my neice:
I love that picture he drew ...that big happy, toothy smile. I'm thankful that my creation has given Daniel some comfort and a bit of diversion from his illness and chemotherapy.

Each quilt I make for these children is a form of prayer for me. A prayer of thankfulness for my having had healthy children and gratefulness for the good health of my grandchildren.

Renwick Gallery Tour Group

The Renwick Gallery of Washington D.C. arranged an art and craft buying tour of the the Southeast. Knoxville was one of its destinations. Events were planned for them throughout the area. A group of ten artists and quilters from the Smoky Mountain Quilt guild set up a two hour show/sale to present work especially for the people on this tour.
We each had a table plus a bit of space behind it. This was my set up, complete with a running slide show of a whole lot of my quilts on an iBook. Sixteen pieces were in this display. Four of them were "crinkle quilts". The rest were wall quilts that I'd made through the years ... many of them award winners of those ribbons hanging in Studio South.

These are three of the five quilts on the back side of my display. The pink one sold. YEAH! I had printed up 4 description sheets for each of my creations. All the sheets for 3 pieces were taken for future consideration by the patrons. A future email or phone call purchase would be an even bigger YEAH.
"Coming Unstrung" 28"x24"

A major attraction for this event was a "bed turning" presented by Merikay Waldvogel. We had set up an old bedframe and rigged a foundation to hold a big stack of quilts. She had brought many old quilts from her collection plus several from other people as well.
However the "turning" began with "The Sunday Quilt" which is a newer quilt that has won numerous awards and appears on the cover of a book. It was designed and made by a group called the "Out of Towners". Each of the members is a Smoky Mountain guild member and all were represented in this two hour show. Merikay narrated stories, histories, and information as she peeled back each quilt in the stack.

This was a very short, but sweet event. Seven thousand dollars worth of quilts was purchased. YIPPEE YEAH!

Studio South

I'm back in Knoxville in the studio that's purely a working room. This 16'x12' space doesn't have to double for any other purpose. It's all mine! There are 8' patio doors on each end of the room. One looks into the courtyard with a 5' fountain and metal sculptures under a Maple tree. The other overlooks a landscaped grassy yard.



Just before we left for Michigan I finally got an additional sewing table so that both machines could be set up ... the Brother 1500s for free-motion quilting and my Pfaff Creative 7530 ... ohh, I'm glad to be back to my favorite machine. The chair swivels from one to the other. Previously it seemed that the machine I needed at the moment was NOT the one that was set up on the sewing desk. Whew! Glad that problem is solved. Every inch is planned for storage and particular tasks.



When I reorganized a year ago, I took the doors off the storage cabinets and way too many books out of the bookcases. My friends and the local library benefited from that task. Now most of my fabric stash is visible. My philosophy is, " If I can't see it, I don't have it". The silks, wools, etc. are in clear storage boxes stacked under the cutting table and sewing desk. I don't use those often, but I can still see and get at them.

The futon is my major "designing tool". I lay there studying whatever piece is on the design board. It's amazing what can be seen or realized in those moments of waking up or falling to sleep. Although, I'm thinking of replacing the futon with a stratalounger chair so there will be space to set up a table area just for fabric painting.



And yes, that's a lot of ribbons. Most all of them were awarded to entries in Knoxville's Dogwood Arts Quilt Show. That's the one competition I've entered yearly since I began quilting in 1994 as a measuring stick of my work. It's a judged show and doesn't require slides ... a big plus in my book. There are many entries from around the USA and a few from foreign countries as well. I figure if I can compete well in this show, I've "still got it".



The design wall is 1/2" fiber board from building supplies at Home Depot. It's covered with felt-like material especially designed for this purpose ... fabric clings to it. If I ever recover it, a medium value gray felt will be my choice. The long cabinet/counter beneath it is a bookcase laid on its side. It had been upright across the room and full of books. The dividers are closet organizers I bought from Target. Don't know where I'd put that printer if the narrow counter top weren't there.

This set-up cut down on the area of the design wall, but the counter sure is handy. I use the step-ladder often to work at the wall. There's another tower of shelves that stores threads of all kinds on the right side of the design wall to complete the room.

Now, to get back to work.

Studio North

Summer is definitely over. It's time to close up my studio here at the cottage in Michigan and move to Studio South in Tennessee. This summer studio is small (11'x10'). When I'm not here it needs to look like a general project/office/reading room.


I had spent quite a bit of time reorganizing it at the beginning of the summer. In August my friend, Alicia, helped me paint the desk and storage cabinet.




I love the big pink formica top on top of the desk. It accomodates both of my sewing machines very nicely. I use my old Pfaff 360 for piecing, sewing on bindings and any zig-zag stitching (usually couching yarns). The Brother 1500s is mainly used for free-motion quilting.

I share this studio with anyone who comes to the cottage. In the above photo Diane Durand is applying a binding to one of her creations. Even my grandsons get to sew. Winston is waiting his turn while Jackson is making a "super cape" for his stuffed dolphin. Jennings was waiting out of the picture.


The view out the huge picture window can't be beat. Plus there's the wall of windows to the left of the supply cabinet.


The rolling storage table serves as an extra surface. There is another one under the cutting table. Both contain most of the fabrics I keep at the cottage. The turquoise rolling cabinet stored under the sewing table contains my daughter-in-law Jeanette's sewing supplies.

Well, it's time to dismantle my design wall. The covered fiber board panels hang on hooks over the photos on the wall and on the back of the door. I have a large piece of suede upholstery fabric that can be pinned across both boards when a large piece is being worked on.


My next posting will come from Studio South.

Last Flowers of Summer

Daisies are one of last flowers blooming in our cottage garden. I was inspired to make a small wall quilt featuring this flower by an annecdote related to me by the woman who was treating me to a reflexology massage and a gift of fabric remnants from an interior decorator friend.

I Really Wanted Daisies 13"x10"

In the middle of a massage session the image of daisies popped into my head. So I asked Carol, the reflexologist, "What is your favorite flower?" Her reply was, "Daisies." She went on to tell me the story of her wedding. "I had wanted to carry them at my wedding, but my family who owns a greenhouse and nursery said I could not carry daisies ... to leave the flower decision to them. So, I carried a bouquet of gardenias and I hated them. I really wanted daisies."

This converstaion had happened the day before another friend, Ebbie, gave me a big bag of decorator fabric remnants. When I unpacked it and saw the one with flowers that could pass as gardenias (though they're most likely magnolias), I knew I had to make this quilted wall hanging for Carol. I have my last session with her this week and will give it to her then.
Back of quilt

Gallery

Yeah! My crinkle quilts have found a gallery. Good Goods is located in Saugatuck, Michigan. It's Lee's and my favorite shop and gallery in this part of the country. Check out their website and you'll see why. There are sculptures and many art pieces here at our cottage and our condo in Tennessee that come from place filled with wonderful art and objects.

Here are the two pieces that are in the gallery:


"Faceted Spectrum" - 34"x34"
Mixed Medium - fiber, paint, oil pastels
$850.00

The foundation is patchwork pieced with a nod to the traditional "log cabin" quilt pattern.




"Wild By Design" - 21"x 23"
Mixed Medium - fiber, paint, oil pastels
$520.00


The foundation is patchwork squares of commercial and hand-painted fabrics.


"Crinkle quilting" is a technique I developed. It involves setting wrinkles into the surface fabric. This wrinkled fabric is layered with batting and a flat backing fabric. Hand-quilting between the wrinkles with two-ply strands of cotton floss creates the "crinkled" texture. The threads that frame the piece are the beginning and ends of my stitching lines. Paint and pastels are applied to emphasis, mask, or accent elements within the compostion. An acrylic matt medium is applied as a finish to protect the quilted surface.

More Sunsets

As I had previously written, I wasn't finished with sunsets. I had fun making two more. Just had to make a "big red ball" one. It is 12"x 8". We've been seeing quite a few of these lately.

"Contrails at Sunset"- 81/2"x16"


I just had to make one that didn't have a big ball of a sun setting into Lake Michigan. Also there are times that we see many contrails from jet traffic. I was inspired to take this direction by a photo taken by my nephew, Peter Durand, when he visited with his family (Diane and Lilli) in August.