It's About Time!

“Well, it’s about time,” I hear you muttering. “You’ve been taunting us with photos of that same red and green quilt since before Christmas!” Quite true… so with apologies for what may now be an anticlimactic reveal, let me tell you all about it.

This is the quilt I made at my first Gwen Marston Beaver Island Retreat. Gwen's topic that year (1997) was Four-Block Quilts. Much of what she taught us is outlined in her subsequent book, Classic Four-Block Applique Quilts: A Back-To-Basics Approach.

Gwen’s approach to design is rooted in the folk art tradition of artists who are self-taught rather than formally trained. She prefers to work organically, cutting shapes “by eye” directly from fabric, instead of using patterns or templates. She’s more likely to measure “by hand” (finger or knuckle) than she is to pick up a ruler. Gwen even designs her layouts right on the fabric, adding, subtracting, and moving pieces around until they look pleasing. That's what makes her quilts so free-spirited and charming!

For the retreat, I brought along four Oak Leaf & Reel blocks to use as the center of my quilt. By making them ahead of time, I was able to focus more on settings, borders, etc., during the workshop itself.

I framed my blocks with appliquéd dogtooth, vine, and berry borders. As Gwen instructed, rather than having the motifs elegantly turn the corners as they would in a traditional quilt, these march boldly off the edge in a far more casual manner.

I can’t tell you how challenging it was for me to work this way. My quilting style back then was stiff and fussy, and even though Gwen assured us there was historical precedence for her laid-back methods, it somehow felt like I was breaking the rules. 

Notice, for example, that the leaves and berries in my border are hand appliquéd, while the vine itself is top stitched by machine. What? Combining hand and machine appliqué in the same quilt? I kept looking over my shoulder for the quilt police!

Over time, I have loosened up and embraced Gwen’s relaxed, no-nonsense approach to quilt making. Her methods aren’t right or wrong, better or worse. They’re just another way of doing things!

Oak Leaf & Reel

30" x 30"

Diane Burdin, 2000

What Doesn't Kill You

This is more of a public service announcement/cautionary tale than it is a typical blog post.

 A telephone call in the middle of the night is seldom good news. When our phone started ringing early last Thursday morning, I had just enough time to utter a quick prayer before picking up. It’s amazing how much bargaining with God one can do between ring tones!

My husband answered to hear, “… police calling… small furnace fire… parents taken to the hospital… smoke inhalation… but they’re okay!”

During the night while my parents slept, their furnace caught fire, sending acrid black smoke throughout the house. What woke my mom was the carbon monoxide detector (GET ONE). Dad proved harder to rouse since he is hard of hearing. They managed to call 911 (on the portable phone we recently installed , so they’d always have one within reach). In spite of Mom’s physical disabilities and Dad’s disorientation, the firemen got them out of the house in record time.

We are blessed that they managed to escape with only smoke inhalation. Restoration of their home, their self confidence and their day to day routine will take time. For now, much of the coordination between insurance company and contractors is falling on us "kids." Let’s hope the adage is true, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Celebrate!

Celebrate the miracles of this season~

Blessed Christmas

and

Joyous Hanukkah!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

One Christmas, we created a special memory for our son, but in the end,  it was sheer happenstance that made it magical!

We’d borrowed my dad’s business car on Christmas Eve, for our traditional tour of Christmas lights. We’d arranged with Grandpa to call his car phone about 15 minutes into our drive. Of course, we had set the situation up by telling James to “be on the lookout for Santa! Watch the sky for signs of his sleigh and reindeer!”

When the car phone rang, we could hardly contain our laughter. Santa had his chat with James via speakerphone. Grandpa’s “Ho-ho-ho” was convincing and we were all giddy with pulling off the surprise.

And then we turned the corner. Standing at the curb was a magnificently dressed Santa, reaching inside his car trunk for a sack full of gifts (or finishing a cigarette. I can’t quite recall which). We adults were dumbstruck, but little James simply pointed and called out, “Santa.”

Once I caught my breath, I rolled down the car window and shouted like some lunatic Santa groupy, “Hey Santa, we’ve been driving all over town looking for you. We have a little boy here who’d love to say ‘hello.’”

Santa was nice enough to stick his head in the car window and say all the requisite things: “How old are you, James? Have you been a good boy this year? Now go home and get to bed so I can deliver your presents.” Meanwhile, the guy who was waiting for Santa’s grand entrance to his Christmas party, could do nothing but stand there holding his front door open.

It all happened so fast, there was barely time to thank him, let alone slip Santa a tip for his efforts. The party host may have been annoyed but we were ecstatic with our unforeseen Santa sighting. It was pure magic!

This is the quilt I always associate with that Christmas. I'd just finished it for James’ third birthday. 

On the back is a quote from Charles Dickens: “ ... it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” 

It was certainly good to be James that Christmas!

Scared of Santa

Tis a week before Christmas and the last thing you have time for is looking at other people’s Santa snaps. But bear with me; it’s worth it.

Here I am again (on the right), my 1961 self, waiting demurely for my turn to sit on Santa’s lap and reveal my innermost dreams and desires ~ eeewww, CREEPY! The two kids on the left look just as befuddled and clueless as they did at Halloween. And judging by the smiles and glances exchanged between Santa and the girl on his lap, I’m guessing he just might be her dad. My mischievous brother (second from right), is no doubt preparing to ask Santa for something of which our parents disapprove.

For the past couple years, the Chicago Tribune has run a holiday photo contest asking readers to submit their family’s bad Santa photos. Editors Denise Joyce and Nancy Watkins have compiled 250 snapshots of squirming, shrieking, traumatized tots into a new book, SCARED OF SANTA: Scenes of Terror in Toyland.
Take a few minutes to scroll through these pictures. Quick as a wink, you'll be laughing like the jolly old elf himself!

Never Too Old

You’re never too old to enjoy little trinkets stuffed inside a Christmas stocking. Santa usually leaves an orange, a few nuts and chocolates, a new toothbrush or pen, perhaps a lottery ticket or music cd. My boys keep looking for a set of car keys, but don’t let their disappointment show for long.
What does Santa leave in your Christmas stockings?

James' Baby Quilt

These blocks were made for the first quilt class I ever taught. Each block demonstrates a different hand sewing technique: piecing, curved piecing, set-in seams and appliqué. The blocks also illustrate particular quilting techniques: outline quilting, stitching in the ditch, cross hatching, hanging diamonds, echo quilting, stippling and all over designs like spider web and baptist fan.

Click to enlarge

I figured if I made each block from coordinating fabric, by the end of class, I'd have enough blocks for a quilt, rather than just a pile of random samples. Obviously, I chose fabrics with a baby in mind, covering both bases by including pink and blue.

When James was born, we hung the quilt on the wall above his crib. I continued to use it as a class sample, for years. It really was a good way to illustrate a variety of sewing techniques.

This picture? Just because.