Less Is More

One of my favorite radio programs, “The Story,” recently featured a fellow named Chris McNaught, who is determined to pare down his personal possessions to a mere 500. Can you imagine? 

Much like the popular organizing guru, Marie Kondo or renowned Victorian designer, William Morris, it’s about making intentional choices to live with less rather than mindlessly accumulating more. Comedian George Carlin also has a great take on "Stuff"

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”  William Morris

Mr. McNaught includes items like kitchenware, clothing, books, and music CDs in his tally, whereas food, toiletries, or other personal products that get used up, are not counted. He’ll sometimes take photos of sentimental items for posterity, before selling or giving things away.

Could you live like that? I know I couldn't. I’m way too fond of my stuff! Nevertheless, an occasional exercise in restraint is a good reminder that less is often more than we actually need.

On one of my first Mother’s Days, I asked my husband to skip the gift. What I really wanted was some uninterrupted time to sew. This little quilt is what I started that day. It's made of Roberta Horton's "Mood Indigo" fabric, just a few sample squares that I had of the black plaids. It reminds me that it doesn’t take much money, fabric, or time to satisfy a creative urge--just the bare essentials.

Sawtooth Sampler
16” x 18”
machine pieced, hand quilted

Diane Burdin, 1990

Small Change

I don't know if it's the cooler temperature today (a glorious 68 degrees) or the little nap I took, but I'm feeling better than I have in quite some time. These "good days" are infrequent and I revel in the small victories they allow.

I was inspired to share this Chinese Coins doll quilt today by Libby, who recently stitched one of her own. In true scrap quilt fashion, this was made with cast-off trimmings from another quilt. Do you find it as hard as I do to throw those little bits away? It may be hard to see the cable quilting in that blue fabric.

Small Change

18” x 27”
© Diane Burdin,1995

Quilt Journals

Forgive me for borrowing a blog topic from Lazy Gal Quilting. A reader asked Tonya if she kept a record of all the quilts she’s made and what kind of information she saved. So, I thought I’d share my method of documenting quilts.


I keep albums for all the quilts I’ve made. There’s one for first quilts, large quilts, doll quilts, and challenges, exchanges and collaborations. I even keep one for family quilts and antiques, including appraisals.


My quilts have been exhibited in guild shows, so over the years I've accumulated a detailed record. Most shows require the name of the quilt, the pattern name, measurements, techniques used to construct the piece, and the date of completion. In addition, they often ask for a blurb telling the story of the quilt, what inspired it, who it was made for, etc. This information is usually compiled in a show program or printed on a card that is displayed with the quilt.


From my very first project, I’ve taken pictures of my work. When the piece is a gift, I also try to get a photo of the recipient. If I have a few fabric scraps left, I’ll save them too.

This may all seem a bit anal retentive, especially when it’s typed up and put in plastic sleeves. But it sure saves time when you have to retrieve the information for a quilt show or blog post.

It’s been fun sharing my albums with family and friends but it will also be of value to my kids someday when I’m not around to tell the story of each quilt.

Logophilia*

I’m happy when my kids ask me for help with homework. It makes me feel useful and proud that they actually think I know a thing or two. Yep, as long as it’s not math or science, I’m willing to share my sage advice and vast wisdom. When William asked me for help with his English homework, I thought, “Great! This is right up my alley.”

He explained that he had to match vocabulary words with their definitions, using the words’ roots as clues.
“O.K., what’s the first word?”
“Parvenu““Uh, what’s the next word?”
“Legerdemain“
“Let’s try the next one.”
“Abstruse““Where the heck did they get these words?”

I did the best I could, helping him dissect words root by root, resorting to the dictionary when all else failed. Hey, if I didn’t know the answers, at least I modeled good learning behavior. Knowing the importance of reinforcing newly learned concepts, I subtly inserted the vocabulary words into dinnertime conversation by saying, “Tell Dad the goofy new words you learned.” I thought my husband would look as dumbfounded as I had upon hearing words like “interlocution” but damn, he even knew what they meant!

The next morning at breakfast, I thought I’d give Will another chance to review. This time I’d work from the other direction, giving him the definition and seeing if he remembered the word. “Hey Will, what was that word that meant “sleight of hand?” “Mom, I don’t need to know the word--just the root.”

He’d hit upon my personal bugaboo--doing what’s required and no more. How do you teach a kid the value of learning for its own sake? How do you foster the curiosity that will make him a life-long learner? It was early in the morning and all I could muster was, “You’ll get to my age and not know cool words like “abstruse” and your life will be poorer for it!” Enriching language indeed!

*Logophilia: Love of words

Red Stars

Red Stars
21” x 28”

© Diane Burdin, 1995

Most of these doll quilts haven’t seen the light of day in years. I'm pulling them out to photograph for their blog debut, but then it's back to the cradle where they're stored. It’s a shame really. I just don't have a good way to display them. No matter, it's the making that I enjoy most.

In any new project, the fabrics are what get my creative juices flowing. That windowpane plaid in the border isn't much to look at on its own, but it sent me digging through my fabric stash for every rich red I could find. Pushing the value range from medium to really dark reds, and adding one or two bright ones for sparkle, kept the color scheme from becoming too matchy. 

quilt back

Moda Fabrics came out with beautiful woven plaids and solids in the mid 1990's. The border plaid and drab colored back ground fabric in this quilt may have been my first foray into the homespun collecting craze of that era. Did you collect plaids too?

Medallion Progress

Here's a peek at the final border for my Columbus Medallion quilt. 

The block is called Corn and Beans. When set block to block, it resembles undulating waves. I will only put it on the top and bottom of the quilt, in order to increase length.

A great way to keep all those triangles organized is to arrange each block on a paper plate. I make notes, like measurements and cutting numbers, right on the plate. Then, I stack them. The pieces stay in place, the stacks take up very little room, and they’re easy to carry to the machine, once I’m ready to sew. 

When I’m finished with one project, I reuse the plates for the next one. Give it a try!

Got Milk?

All I Did Was…

All I did was ask for a gallon of milk--
not for something frivolous, like rain-scented air freshener,
or self indulgent, like chocolate truffles and a dozen roses,
or expensive, like filet mignon when it’s not on sale,
or embarrassing and personal, like panty shields and douche,
or unreasonable, like fresh blueberries in February!

When I saw you reading the flyer from the grocery store,
I didn’t ask you to stock the pantry,
or fill the freezer with meat,
or carry home 50 pound salt blocks for the water softener,
or find the best deal on plastic trash bags,
or search all over town for cardamom spice!

All I did was ask for a gallon of milk,
so the boys could eat cereal for breakfast!
What was it about my request that so annoyed you?
Was it something in my tone of voice,
or that we needed the milk today rather than tomorrow,
or that it was a task I couldn’t do myself,
or maybe it was just that I did the asking?

At any rate, we still need the milk!

© Diane Burdin, 2005