While I Was Waiting: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

fringe boxes

This is the largest of a series of little quilt experiments with colorful contrasting squares set on angles and intentionally left with raw edges.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

Still making sleeves and labels and trying to remember exactly when some of these were completed. Since most of my quilts were made while I was waiting usually I remember exactly where and why I was waiting. This little quilt is made from new and vintage fabric, and also includes a bit from a dress I used to wear. Many of the pieces are made from fabric from Mrs. H. and the plaid is from a collection of fabric I received from my grandmother.

Friday, July 24, 2009

fabric of tradition

Today's Philly Inquirer features a story "Quilting is Not Just for Girls." It's basically about three generations of quilters, including grandsons. It's also about the appeal of the machinery of high-tech sewing machines to boys. But some of the most interesting points are those made by Kathleen Jones, a quilt store owner, who says that "Beyond any gadgets or new technology, it is the influence of other quilters, and the inspiration that one takes from viewing others' works that is most instrumental in moving the craft forward."
According to Nayeli Rodriguex, author of the article, "And while the process of quilting will inevitably continue to progress, its pracice is still at its core a way of remembering the past. Jones points out that the creative recycling of old family mementos is one of the reasons that quilting remains such a lasting tradition."
Kathleen Jones concludes "There's a lot of symbolism because you pull it from your heart."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

sleeves and corners

Busy making sleeves for an upcoming art show. I've been going through quilts I made some time ago and am noticing that I used to be able to make better mitred corners than I am making now. Have I forgotten how? What happened? Now I'm trying to think of ways to avoid binding/mitred corners all together.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

birds on flowers

If I had been faster with my camera, I could have recorded both birds, each sitting on a flower, as if having a conversation with each other.

sharing stories, trading feathers

One of the programs at a storytelling workshop last year involved movement and dance, and at the end when we were all in a circle, the leader handed us a bag of feathers and we were to select one. There were a variety of feathers, some white, some brown, different sizes. We each selected carefully, I suppose using whatever criteria appealed to us. Then, after we had all made our selections, we were instructed to trade feathers with the person next to us. Everyone complied and nobody complained, but inside I was disappointed not to be able to keep the feather I had carefully selected (silly, I know) but instead had relinquished it to someone I had no connection with. Maybe it would have felt differently if we had bonded as a group longer than about an hour and a half or had actually been involved in group exercises rather than individual interpretations. I felt bad about feeling bad until later, the one person I knew from the group expressed disappointment that she didn't get to keep the feather she selected. Unfortunately we weren't next to each other so we didn't have each others' feathers.

I don't know what she did with her feather but I kept mine on my desk by my computer for about a year until one day I decided to make this little quilt with it.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A Different Slant

It's interesting how things look different depending upon your perspective. Often when designing and creating quilts I try to look at them from different angles and sometimes hold them up in front of mirrors to get a different view. Now I'm noticing how different they look to me as I'm trying to figure out how best to photograph them.