Month: March 2020

Staying in Place

I’ve been busy in recent days, but at first it seemed self-serving somehow to share my fun.  You see, I love staying home and creating; so doing that is not much of a sacrifice to me.  But at a time when others are compelled to stay put, whether for their own health or for the common good, and find it stressful, I thought it might be impolite to seem happy about it.

Social media tells me that the ones I know who are getting though this time of uncertainty most peacefully are those who stitch.  That’s not news to me – that stitching soothes the soul.  Others who sew (or knit, or paint, or draw, or build things) know the peace that comes with using your hands.  

One of my favorite haunts is this booth at The Cotton Depot in Monroe, GA

Yes, I do miss going to antique stores and other venues where I get inspiration (and I miss eating the occasional meal without cooking, too). But, since I can’t do those things, I will enjoy the time to do what I can.

So here’s a summary of my recent days.

I first cleaned my sewing closet.  The last big group meeting I attended was March 3 when I gave a program at a nearby quilt guild and taught a Stitch a Story class (techniques for textile collage).  All those samples and supplies had to be put away and the suitcase refreshed for the next class.  That next class has been postponed, but I am prepared.

Preparing for a class like that means pulling out elements from my stash, and I do that with abandon.  So afterwards, the bonus room in our house (my sewing closet, I call it) over the garage, needs a lot of straightening.  I did that with joy.  Re-organizing and neatly placing fabrics and trims is a labor of love.  Discovering forgotten treasures is part of the process.  

I continue working on art quilts, and I’ve added a new passion: fabric flowers.  The techiques and combinations of embellishments make for seemingly infinite possibilities.  I keep a basket of supplies on hand when an idea strikes for a new approach.

I usually like to “do my own thing” these days, but a kit from Maggie Bonanomi was the perfect project for a few nights in front of tv.  The bunny is now ready for gardening at our house.

And, speaking of gardening, Jim and I had created a new path through our woods in the past winter.  Warmer temperatures inspired us to burn collected sticks and debris in evening fires in our firepit.  Every day the walk on the trail leads us to new discoveries – most notably trilliums – on our property.

We delight in “surveying the plantation,” checking to see which plants have leafed out, which are still waiting to be sure frost is gone.  It’s a thrill to see the first bloom on the Spiderwort (Tradescantia), the geranium that was protected all winter showing its color.

Quiet days now are spent reading and sewing.  We watch little tv, but love old westerns.  We watched an old episode of Gunsmoke yesterday where Doc had a couple of cholera patients.  At the end of the episode, we remarked that “they didn’t mention quarantining Miss Kitty or anyone else.”  We probably would not have noticed that in the past.

Tawanda is my outdoor spirit doll. She reminds me to be happy year round – but she is especially right about the garden these days as plants are coming to life (including the indigo).

So I guess you could say my quarantine days are spent in art therapy and dirt therapy.  I hope yours are, too.  And, I hope at the end of this we have all learned something about a kinder and gentler way to live, without so much hustle and bustle.  May we all be safe.

Cousins

Jane and Susie were not just cousins.  They were first cousins.  They were not just first cousins, they were double-first cousins.  

Their mothers were sisters, their daddies were brothers.  They were two years apart in age, and shared not only all their relatives, more than the average common DNA, but many experiences.  This early photo (about 1940) conveys the closeness they shared.

This photo was taken at the home of their paternal grandparents.  Many family photos were set on this porch, on these steps, actually.  Imagine a Sunday afternoon after church, adults visiting on the porch; maybe other cousins playing in the yard, neighbors dropping by.  These two almost sisters (later, they would have other siblings, but not yet), forging a lifelong bond.

I printed the photo on vintage linen, and added red French knots as buttons on Jane’s dress.  The bow in her hair is a found earring.  

Layering the photo on wool batting before densely quilting the background adds dimension to the girls. The oval “mat” is a vintage linen embroidered placemat layered on commercial quilting fabric. Beneath all this assembly is a layer of thin cotton batting. Shells (repurposed from an old necklace found in a thrift store) were attached using red seed beads to anchor them.  I hand quilted all the layers together using a seed stitch with tatting thread.  This thread is a new discovery for me (found in a bag of sewing supplies from an estate sale).  I’ve never tatted nor made lace, but the size 80 cotton thread created for these crafts is perfect for a lot of the hand stitching I do. 

Note to quilters:  that seed stitch leaves a messy backside, so when I use it, I don’t have the final backing on the quilt.  I attached another layer, the piece with red cross stitch on it, using the invisible baste stitch I learned from Jude Hill.  That’s really a seed stitch, too, with just a dot of thread showing on the top, the longer stitch on the “back” nestled in the batting, not coming through to the other side. 

That backing with red stitching is a section of an old tablecloth.  I found it on an antiquing plunder and was drawn to the cross stitch, of course.  The tablecloth has some stains and had a hole in it – making it less than desirable as a tablecloth.    But I rescued it and put it to work.  It’s very desirable as a component of art quilts!

The final quilt measures 16″ x 23″.

Ben’s Cow

Ben and friends went on a birding adventure.  As is often the case, they ended up in the countryside.  Ben is not a stranger to pastures and their inhabitants, but he was glad he had his camera to take this photo – this cow was not a breed he recognized.

When I saw the photo, I was entranced, too.  Ben gave me permission to play with his image on fabric.  At my request, he sent me a current self portrait to use, too.

When I’m working on art quilts, I try to channel my inner child – to remember that “it’s supposed to be fun.”  I think I nailed it this time!

I printed the photo on fabric and added batting and stitching to give the cow dimension.  I  pieced sky (a bit of some old linen I had overdyed with indigo) and ground fabric.  On a recent antiquing tirp (probably the day Ben was finding the cow) I had found an old pin shaped like a windmill.  So I added a windmill, quilted some clouds, and had an art quilt.

I ended up with a new quilt attached to a bit of an old quilt.  That’s not new for me.  But this time I added pages between those two layers.  This little girl had a blast!

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, but Ben uses words to tell really fun stories; so I thought words were important, too.  The cow’s quote is from Ben.

The piece is layered in more ways than just the physical, which is obvious.  Ben and I first met as math colleagues.  When I needed a back for the cow in pasture layer, the numbers fabric jumped off the shelf and said, “use me!”.  

The outer dimensions of the whole assembly are 14” x 20” .

To read about another cow quilt, check out Government Bird Going for a Ride.  Or Walker’s Pasture.