Re-Post: Obsession with Quilts #4

I joined the Portland Modern Quilt Guild this month! To celebrate I am re-posting a series of posts about how I came to my love of quilts. If you are a long-time reader of this blog (hi, mom and mom-in-law) you have my permission to skip these posts.

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Originally posted 13 March 2007:

I posted earlier about the little crib quilt that I pieced for my baby sister when I was 8 years old. My mom read the post, and last week an unmarked package arrived in the mail with this inside. (Thanks, Mom!)

Although I probably wouldn't pick mint green and pale pink as my favorite colors today, I do still think the prints are sweet and appropriate for a baby girl. The quilt's held up remarkably well. It is (clears throat) 25 years old and still feels soft and snuggly. Sis, I made it all for you :)

I wonder if other people have a "first project" that they can think back to--a first photo taken, a drawing, a cake decorated, a story written.

What was your "first project" and how did it turn out?

Re-Post: Obsession with Quilts #3

I joined the Portland Modern Quilt Guild this month! To celebrate I am re-posting a series of posts about how I came to my love of quilts. If you are a long-time reader of this blog (hi, mom and mom-in-law) you have my permission to skip these posts.

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Originally posted 6 March 2007:

While I'm on a roll recording my obsession with quilts, I'd be remiss if I didn't spend a little time talking about my great-grandmother, Ida Ramer.

Most people don't have the priviledge of knowing their great-grandparents well, but I'm one of the lucky ones. When I was small, my parents and I lived in a mobile home on my Great-Gramma's property. She was already old--white haired and stoop-shouldered in her 80s. But she vigorously tended a vegetable garden and allowed old-time flowers like bachelor's buttons, "pinks" and hollyhocks to grow around its edges. She no longer had any farm animals except for a couple of mangy old cats to whom she fed milk and table scraps. She had an old, unsafe ringer washing machine in her basement and would wash her clothes and hang them on the line to dry.

In the winter, she'd close off the "parlor" of her house (I don't think she ever called it a parlor, but I imagine it that way) and would retreat to the half of the house she kept heated. She always had cookies in the cookie jar for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My favorite were the soft, sweet molasses cookies. In the evenings she sat in her rocking chair and sang old gospel songs with her grands. I remember she loved "The Old Rugged Cross". And during the days, she pieced and quilted.

Yes, she made quilts. Many quilts. Each of her grandchildren received a quilt when they got married (or when she gave up on them ever getting married and just gave them the quilt anyway). She also made quilts for the Relief Sale. One year, my grandpa went to the quilt auction and bought a quilt--one that Great-Grandma Ramer had made. I think my grandma thought this was a little ridiculous--to buy a quilt when Great-Grandma surely would have made one for him for free if he had asked. But my grandpa has a big heart and he wanted to make a donation to the Relief Sale. I think he also knew that my great-grandmother's quilting days were coming to an end. He gave the quilt to my mother.

And, yes, her quilting days did come to an end. She lived on into her 100s but her eyes began to fail her and she could no longer do the intricate work a quilt requires. But we have that quilt, the one she made and sold for charity and that my grandpa's big heart bought and gave away to his only daughter. And that is our treasure and our treasured memory.

Quilts remind us of those who have gone before.

P.S. The photo from the top is my first attempt at piecing something myself. I had a bunch of scraps left over from the bags I made at Christmas time so I just started to sew them together. They actually ended up looking more "planned" than they were.

Re-Post: Obsession with Quilts #2

I joined the Portland Modern Quilt Guild this month! To celebrate I am re-posting a series of posts about how I came to my love of quilts. If you are a long-time reader of this blog (hi, mom and mom-in-law) you have my permission to skip these posts.

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Originally posted 23 February 2007:

Growing up Mennonite in northern Indiana means that the "Relief Sale" is the highlight of each autumn. Some people dream all year long about the delicious apple dumplings, pulled pork sandwiches, headcheese & mush, haystacks, homemade applebutter, monster cookies, pluma moos, funnel cakes, peppernuts, half-moon pies, and other ethnically Amish-Mennonite food ("eat for the hungry" is the unofficial motto). Some people train for the Race for Relief. Still others volunteer their time and their talents to make this festival work so all of proceeds can go to relieve hunger and poverty around the world.


But for me, the greatest draw of the Relief Sale was always the Quilt Auction. Usually my parents were volunteering at one of the booths, and I would take off to find Grandma. I'd stand at the entrance to the auction barn and scan the backs of the heads until I'd find the head that was my grandma. Then I would have to figure out how to navigate a route through the 1,300 chairs set up for the quilt auction to get to her.

Grandma would have already been there for hours. She would have the Book with her--the one that describes each quilt: it's name, size, who quilted it and who donated it. In the margins Gram would have neatly written in the amount that each quilt had sold for. Sometimes Gram would let me take over the Book for a while so she could go to the restroom or the concessions stand. But mostly, we just sat there together and commented on each quilt. What designs and patterns appealed to us. Which color combinations were the most successful. What we thought the quilt should sell for.

Even as a college student and a young adult I would try to come home on Relief Sale weekend to watch the quilt auction with Grandma. Now I live too far away and each fall I miss it. I suppose I could go the west coast Relief Sale. I think they have one in Albany. But it just wouldn't be the same without my Grandma beside me.

Quilts are pieces of art to be enjoyed with those you love.

Re-Post: Obsession with Quilts #1

I joined the Portland Modern Quilt Guild this month! To celebrate I am re-posting a series of posts about how I came to my love of quilts. If you are a long-time reader of this blog (hi, mom and mom-in-law) you have my permission to skip these posts.

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Originally posted 8 February 2007:

I come from a large Mennonite family. My great-grandmother was a quilter. My great-aunts were quilters and one even owned a quilt shop. My grandmothers are quilters. Several of my aunts are quilters--some for pleasure, some for profit. My mom has pieced a few quilts to sell at the Christian school's fundraising auctions. Quilts are in my blood.

Some of my fondest childhood memories involve quilts and the act of quilting. I have a distinct memory of a sunny winter afternoon spent under the quilting frame at my great-aunt Grace's house. I lay on my back and admired the dappled patterns of light and color seen through each different block. I watched the needles of the women seated around the quilt frame flash in and out of the bottom of the quilt. The less confident ones kept their left hands under the quilt guiding the needle and thread. The hum of women exchanging small talk, gossip and family stories swirled around me. It's a gentle memory.

Even as a young child I can remember being allowed to stitch a few inches into a quilt. I'm sure that a more experienced quilter came along later and removed my scraggly stitches, but I felt like I was an active participant in their craft. When I was eight years old, my mom was pregnant with my little sister. Mom and grandma encouraged me to make a crib blanket for my sister. I remember it as being pale greens and pinks but my memory of the actual blanket is hazy. I am pretty sure that it was my first real project completed on a sewing machine and I remember helping my mom and grandma knot the blanket together in my grandma's kitchen. I wonder if that little old crib blanket still exists somewhere in my mom's closets?

Quilts are a practical objects made with those you love.

Quilts for Quake Survivors, Part 2

Here are a few (poor, Iphone) photos that I wanted to share from the Quilts for Quake Survivors sewing night at Cool Cottons this week. There were just six women sewing away, ironing, and laying out quilt designs. The generous ladies from Cool Cottons donated their demonstration squares from their Block of the Month patchwork classes. Linda and Denise sewed white sashing to join those together to make two gorgeous full-size quilt tops.



Denise must be a serious quilter because she brought in a bunch of pre-made squares that I got to sew together into a charming crib quilt. Another sewist brought in a half-completed kids quilt top and finished stitching it up. And there was a fifth quilt top in progress when we quit.



Four quilt tops in two hours is good progress in my book! There are additional quilting parties coming up so if you're a local sewer, please come on down. Really you only have to sew a straight line.



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The hum of sewing machines running and the murmur of women chatting makes me happy. I think it's nostalgia for all the women's church sewing circles and my great-aunt's quiltings that I remember from childhood. Mostly I remember running around with my friends and cousins and then collapsing on the floor under the middle of the quilt when I was tired. I loved looking up through a quilt in frame.

Does anyone else have memories of women gathering together to craft that you experienced as a child? Do you think that influences your interests in art/craft today?

Quilts for Quake Survivors

I have been sewing a TON the last couple of days. I have so much that I want to blog about but we're really busy LIVING over here and so the blogging will wait for another night.

I just wanted to take a moment to plug the Quilts for Quake Survivors project that has been started by two Portland sewists that I admire. Daniella taught the Japanese Sewing class I took last summer and is a sportswear designer by profession. Susan is a prolific crafter and the author of West Coast Crafty and several books including the beautiful Modern Log Cabin Quilting book that I just started diving into.

Anyhow, the concept is simple, sewers and quilters are invited to contribute log cabin blocks to the project or to come to any of the sew-alongs here in Portland (I hear they're cropping up in other towns too). The plan is to sell some of the quilts at auction to raise money for quake survivors and to send some of the quilts directly to Japan to be shared with needy children and families. There's a lot of information available over here on their website.

If you are here in Stumptown, I plan to be at the Cool Cottons event Tuesday night and hope to help sew together blocks or do whatever is needed in the next several weeks. Drop me a comment if you're interested in joining up with me.

Here are upcoming Portland events:

T 4/5/11 – 6:30 – 8:30 pm, host: Susan, Cool Cottons – please bring machine and fabrics if you have them

F 4/8/11 – 6:30 – 8:30 pm, host: Susan, Cool Cottons – please bring machine and fabrics if you have them

Th 4/14 – 12 noon – 4 pm, Sew On Studio, 6635 North Baltimore Ave, Portland OR 97203

F 4/15 – 2pm – evening, Sew On Studio

T 4/19/11 – 6:30 – 8:30 pm, host: Susan, Cool Cottons – please bring machine and fabrics if you have them

T 4/26/11 – 7-9pm, Host: Daniela, Modern Domestic – machines provided, please bring fabric if you have it

T 5/4/11 – 7-9pm, Host: Daniela, Modern Domestic – machines provided, please bring fabric if you have it

P.S. Needless to say, this project makes my little Mennonite heart proud. If you haven't been reading this blog very long this comment may not make sense. Read this post.

The Project I Forgot to Blog

I was looking back through the year's worth of photos and I realized with chagrin that sometimes I do a project, take photos intending to blog about the project and then never actually write the blog entry. Some sorry sort of craft blogger I am!



My favorite completed project this year was this quilt. I blogged about it multiple times from its inception to completion. But I intended to blog about the Sprout's nursery in it's completed form with the quilt in place and that never happened. Perhaps I was waiting for a chance to take better photos. Perhaps I wasn't entirely happy with it and wanted to tweak it some more so I could enter it on some fancy-schmancy parenting website. Perhaps I just was tired and went to bed. I don't remember. But here it is now, sneaking in before the end of the year.



For the Sprout's nursery we took over half of the large, sunny south bedroom in our upstairs. Several years back I painted the walls a pale blue-green and all the old paneling a bright white, and we put random odds and ends of furniture up there and used it as our guest room. When I was pregnant with the Sprout I had no energy or motivation to repaint the room so it is still a blue room. Ideally, I would love to paint it all bright white. I feel like children's toys bring so much color and life to a room that I need to remove as much extraneous color as possible.

Color comes in through accessories too. Check out the lamp shade over the rocker. I scored it at this funky thrift store/junk store. It is covered in red postage stamps and black rick-rack. I sort of love it.



This chair was the only brand-new non-IKEA purchase in the room. It was not supposed to be pink. I ordered the "Lamb" colored rocking chair on an impulse from a website. Who would have known that "lamb" didn't mean soft white-grey-wool but pink fleshy leg-of-lamb?! Ugh. I got it on a major sale so I couldn't return it. Hence, we are stuck with a pink rocker. And have I mentioned here that I really hate pink?! The pale yellow afghan that my sister crocheted and the Heather Bailey Pop Garden pillow really help cut the pink for me.

I love the simple (and cheap!) crib from IKEA and I have a long-term love affair with the Expedit cube shelving units. They occur repeatedly in our house. To keep it all from looking too IKEA we brought in some original art, a few vintage toys, an old flokati rug from another room, and an ugly bedside table/drawer unit that I intended to paint a poppy bright color when I got around to it. Still hasn't happened.

The room has a vague bird theme. Um, so vague, that it probably only exists as a theme in my head. I love this little vignette--a Rachel Austin original painting, the Pigeon from Moe Willem's series of children's books, and this little owl from Chet and Dot that I picked up at Crafty Wonderland.



The weird part about blogging this nursery is that it does not currently exist. When we invited the Housemates to move in this fall, the guest room/nursery was the obvious room to give to them. So the Sprout moved out and is currently sleeping in our other upstairs bedroom that was our office/studio space but is in the works to become the master bedroom. And then we're going to play musical chairs trading rooms around the house and do a basement reno and eventually, someday, the plan is that the Sprout will get this room back as her own. Based on the rate in which we move around here, it could be a while.

I think that's why I wanted to blog this little nursery--it was a sweet corner of our world for a few months this year.

Here's to creating more sweet corners in our home in 2011.

Happy New Year!

Deb

Crib Quilt, Part IV (Finished)

Ok, so this quilt has now been finished for well over a month, but I kept waiting for a sunny day to take a good picture of it outside. And I am now going to admit that I am never going to remember to take my quilt out and photograph it in the sunlight because: a.) sunny days are rare, b.) sunny days that I have off from work are even more rare and c.) if it's sunny and I'm not at work, you can be sure that we are out playing and gardening and enjoying Portland. But not blogging this crib quilt was blocking my blogging mojo...how can I go on to blog other creative endeavors and leave this one unfinished?!

So, here's my poorly lit photo of my crib quilt. It did turn out rather well I think, and I am quite pleased.

There! I did it! I hope that unblocks both my creative block and my blogging block.

P.S. If you read this, please say hello in the comments. I like to know you're here!

Crib Quilt, Part III (Stalled)

Since my last post I have travelled half way across the country and back, worked several busy weeks in the Highly Litigious School District, spent time with some of my best friends in the entire world, thoroughly enjoyed time with the Sprout, and had a nasty head cold that put me to bed early several nights in a row. Needless to say, Life is happening and not a lot of Making.

So here is the crib quilt in it's current state--half quilted on the sewing machine. And there it shall remain for at least a few more days.

I hope you are busy Living too!

Crib Quilt, part II

I didn't get a good shot of the quilt back so you'll have to wait to see that later, but here's my "quilt sandwich". Don't ask me to really explain what I'm doing in these pictures or to defend my technique in any way because, frankly, I don't really know what I'm doing. I only know the slightest thing about quilting through a) growing up underneath quilts being stitched by industrious Mennonite women and b) reading lots of craft blogs.

If you want good blogs on quilting skewed toward the modern interpretation of quilts, so far my favorites are Tallgrass Prairie Studio, and Oh, Fransson. Both of these bloggers are generous with their sharing of techniques, tips and tutorials.

Basically my only thoughts on laying out a quilt are: Wood floors are very helpful. Cleaning the wood floors before putting a white quilt down on them would also be very helpful. Curious ten-month-olds and large brown dogs with dirty feet are not very helpful at all.

Crib Quilt, part I

Almost one year ago, I started piecing wonky log cabin blocks for a crib quilt for the Sprout. In the evenings after a long day in the schools, I would drag my pregnant body to the sewing machine and put together a block. I intended for the finished quilt to have 12 blocks and I worked slowly and steadily up until block 9. And then two things happened: 1) block 9 was really ugly and I got stuck on it, and 2) I had a baby.

Fast forward to January 2010. I am determined to finish this crib quilt while she is still in a CRIB for goodness' sake! I still had the first 9 blocks hanging on the wall in my studio/office (also known as Craft Hell because I am tormented by it's disorder). I finally decided to just throw out block 9 and piece a new block. And I did. And then I didn't feel like piecing any more wonky log cabin blocks. So I didn't.

Here's the top to the crib quilt. All 9 blocks of it. The light situation these days in the Pacific Northwest is just pathetic, so let's pretend that this quilt top is perfectly pressed and that the sunlight is streaming in from the window on the left, ok? Squint your eyes a little bit, it helps. There you go.



More coming soon, peeps.

Umm...Yeah...I'm a Little Slow

Ummm....so.....I'm about to post about a project that I started long ago. So very, very long ago. Let's jog your memory.

Remember these inspiration quilts?



And remember this stack of fabric?



You say you don't remember them!? Well, maybe that's because I started talking about this project in NOVEMBER 2008! And, yes, I've had a baby between then and now, but really that is NO EXCUSE for taking this long on a project.

Now that I've jogged your memory, stay tuned for updates on this work in progress later this week.

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Note to self: You blogged about it. Now you'd better go work on it. People are watching. Come on now! Scat!

Gee's Bend Quilt Kits and Fabrics

Can I just say, "Yes, please."

I have blogged before of my love for the quilts of Gee's Bend and someday I will make one for myself. Someday.

Work in Progress: Crib Quilt

Remember these inspiration quilts? Remember this fabric? No? That's ok. I posted them a long time ago. Anyhow, I thought you'd like to see that I haven't totally forgotten about them. I have slowly been sewing a wanky log cabin square every so often. I'm in no hurries. The Sprout has a few swaddle blankets and won't need the crib or the crib quilt for a long time. Just thought you might like to see what's going on in the studio.

P.S. Thanks to Tallgrass Prairie Studio for the tutorial!

Inspiration: Leah Evans' Map Quilts

These map quilts by Leah Evans are A M A Z I N G. I want to make something like this when I grow up. I have a little obsession with maps and with aerial photography. I like the collision between nature/organic and human intervention---like where creeks and rivers cross jaggedly through the grid of farm land. I've even been collecting some aerial photographs as inspiration. Maybe once I get through the baby projects on my plate I can tackle an adult project like a map quilt of my own.

P.S. If you love maps, you should check out my friend Rachel Austin's work too.

Crib Quilt Fabric

IMG_0405
Originally uploaded by ndmiller

A trip to Bolt provided the perfect fabric for the crib quilt that is developing my bee's nest of a brain--Heather Bailey's Pop Garden Fabric with some cheerful solids in red, green, turquoise and yellow.

It's so pretty I don't even want to cut it.

Crib Quilt Inspiration

Since I have this long-term Obsession with Quilts it should come as no surprise that lately my mind has been thinking about making a crib quilt for the Sprout (due in February).

Here are some of my favorites from Flickr.

Commonalities:
-I do love them squares
-Vibrant colors
-White space to rest the eyes
-An element of random/organic
-Continued love of Denyse Schmidt, Nancy Crow and the Gees Bend quilters

Summer Baby Blanket

So here's the project that's been occupying my few spare crafty hours lately. The sewing itself did not take that much time but the chances that I had to work on it were few and far between.

I'd been wanting to make a bigger patchwork piece, so when I heard my best-friend-from-childhood was having a baby this summer I knew this baby would be the motivation I needed to tackle a larger project.

I based the design off the Stacked Coins crib quilt in Joelle Hoverson's Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts book. I wanted to play with the organic/random versus the logical/planned, so I cut all the colorful strips free hand and forced myself to sew them together in a random order. Basically I threw all the strips on a pile and picked the next strip to add in random order (I did put back strips that repeated the same color/pattern, so I guess I wasn't totally random). Then I carefully sliced the stripy strips into 4 1/2 inch columns and pieced them together with the yellow border.

I was originally planning to do the border fabric in white but that didn't seem practical for a baby blanket plus I didn't want all the other bright colors to show through the white. I'm not entirely happy with the yellow....but, at least it's not pink and it is a cheery summer blanket for a summer baby. May sunshine follow her wherever she goes!

P.S. You wanna know the silly little thing that makes me ridiculously happy on this quilt? The puppy dog print from Heather Ross.

Dolly Blanket #2

P1030354
Originally uploaded by ndmiller

Close up picture with puckers. Blast it all! I pinned it really well and everything. I think I'm going to sign up to take a machine quilting class....someday......

Dolly Blankets

P1030360
Originally uploaded by ndmiller

I have a new nephew so, of course, I have to make some gifts. Except these are for his two older sisters, my darling nieces. I was just using up scraps from other projects and practicing my machine quilting. I really stink at the whole machine quilting thing. I'm sure part of it is my inexperience, but I'm also ready to blame some of the problems on my forty-dollar garage sale sewing machine.