[Quilt #2] Throwing myself into quilting, for a friend and for community

My first quilt was biting off more than I can chew since I had no idea how to make a quilt and I knew no person in real life who made quilts.  I knew how to sew, and my first one was on the small side, and I almost always have excellent Beginners' Luck, so it turned out just fine.

But the second time around... let's just say I tend to learn things the hard way.

I blame it on an online board called amitymama.  It's something that got started in the early days of online group communication - a message board for young moms who liked to do things the all-natural way.  It met a great need at a time in my life when I was home with two tiny boys and no car to go anywhere and no money to spend if I could.  I learned a lot from those women.  I began to see how I could find my place within a community, (even if it was an online community) and how I could both learn and contribute at the same time.  I longed for the way, as a community, they looked out for each other and took care of each other, shouldered burdens and wow those mamas knew exactly the right way to say "I'm sorry you're going through such a hard time" that made you feel so supported.   But technology is tricky, other sites came around, this one is still there but not quite what it used to be.  One thing they did sometimes was to send quilt blocks to the mama volunteering to make a quilt for someone who needed it.  That cooperation, that kind of giving, inspired my soul.

So when a friend of mine, a local police officer, was brutally attacked and stabbed multiple times by an insane thief, and came very close to dying, I knew I had to make a quilt.  This terrible attack was so horrifying to her family and many close friends, as well as the community at large.  So many people wanted to do whatever they could to support her in her very long recovery, so I told her sister if she would send the word out to get fabric to me, I would make her a quilt.

My, the fabric that made its way to my home!  Lots of it and lots of different colors and prints.  I had no idea how to pull all of it together.  My abilities at that time were nothing beyond piecing simple squares, and after hours of staring and arranging and rearranging, I had something.  Two somethings, actually - with that much fabric I had to piece the back.  I was so grateful to the ladies at our local quilt shop who helped me pick out border and binding fabric - I had no idea how to pull all those colors together.

Finally it came down to quilting it.  I had so little idea how to go about it, and it was so much work in my little machine, so many pin pricks as I learned how to work it all under the needle.  The fear of failure made me cry some nights, and the push to get it done caused me so much anxiety.  But I did get it done, and she loved it, and she felt from it not just the love from the individuals who contributed to it, but from her community as a whole.

I learned a lot about how to make a quilt through this - by doing things the wrong way and having to redo them.  I learned why often, quilting was historically done by a community of women coming together to do the work, and I longed for that kind of community in real life.  I met a few ladies at the quilt shop, but I still didn't know where to start talking or asking questions.  After this quilt though, I knew there would be another, and probably another, and maybe a few more after that.  I knew that although I would stare at my progress for too many hours and still have to take things apart and redo, and though I would cry to myself late nights wondering why I get myself into such projects - although it seemed like the most impossible thing for me to ever get good at - I knew I wanted to become a quilter!

Father's Day Stylin'

For my man's first Father's Day I made him a camp shirt, and made our 2 month old son a jumper out of the same fabric.  Then 2 years after that I made them matching camp shirts.  Now that 2 month old is  now 8 and he's got a 5 year old brother.  3 camp shirts seemed a bit daunting, but I was willing to give it a try.

Now, though I have boys and though they are young, they are surprisingly opinionated about fabric.  They wholeheartedly agreed that Parson Gray's Curious Nature was the winner, so we went to the website where my youngest son's eyes fell on the photo of the vest and tie set.  "MOM!  Can you make THAT?!"  Well, with a response like that I should at least try!  I got the other two men on board and bought Simplicity 4762, which has both men's and boy's vest and tie sizes.  And here's what we got, for church on Father's Day.  Love my boys!

Group Gifts: Seven Tote Bags

A friend asked me to make 7 tote bags for her to give to her daughter and her daughter's best friends as a high school graduation gift.  And since I love a good production line, I couldn't resist!

This is a simple reversible bag; back when I was in college a friend of mine gave me one like this, and I used it until it wore out.  It is SO easy to make!  Here is a pattern for one version of it.  

And Another Stuffed Owl

My friend who needed a shower gift also needed a gift to take to a one-year-old-girl's birthday party, themed "Look Whoooo's Turning One!"  And with a stack of leftover Joel Dewberry, Modern Meadow lying right there on the ironing board, I just had some fun all over again!  It's a fun little challenge to find eyes and beak out of the fabric prints, and I think this little guy turned out to be just plain adorable.  So do my kids.  They've put in their orders.  As well as the husband of the friend who needed the gift.  Might be ordering some Parson Gray rather soon!

[Quilt #13] Baby Quilt Request

A great friend asked me if I had anything laying around that she could buy from me for a shower gift.  She didn't want to "just do the registry thing," she wanted something hand made!  I told her I didn't and we talked over a few ideas of what I could do quickly (she needed it in 4 days).  It's funny how these days, the thing that comes together most quickly for me is a quilt.

I took a look at the baby registry to get ideas of what they were after - pale green, purple, and yellow, and they'd registered for things with jungle animals on them, and in another case, an owl.  As I glanced through my fabric, the quilt suddenly became quite clear: the soft greens, grays, and periwinkle in my collection of Jane Dixon's Primitiva were absolutely perfect.

I told my friend that this would be a very simple quilt, and she was fine with that.  I bordered two cuts of fabric - one for the front and one for the back, and then for the first time ever, attempted to applique' something onto a quilt top.  I've applique'd a couple of times, just for kicks, but this was the first time I did it onto something that really mattered.

Notice how I didn't have to piece the eyes for the owl - I cut them right out of the fabric and sewed them on!    The owl came together more easily than I expected, and the wavy lines in the fabric were so beautiful to quilt by.  I was pleased with how adorable it turned out.  So adorable, in fact, that I simple had to take it one step further.  My very first stuffed animal:

Landscape Architect Quilter

Photo Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

This is where the Quilter and the Landscape Architect in me collide.  The quilter sees this image and immediately responds: "What a beautiful quilt!"  The Landscape Architect immediately thinks: "Irrigation!"  The Landscape Architect wins, but the quilter wants to sew it up.

It's a photo of Finney County, Kansas, and was part of an Earth Day slide show on Space.com that included beautiful images of earth from space. This land that was once prairie and dry much of the time is now a beautiful patchwork of green due to the conversion to farmland made possible by irrigation systems, mostly center-pivot systems.

Wouldn't this make a beautiful quilt?!  I really like the offset angle at which the land was captured.  The consistent same-sized squares are quilt-ready, and the simple variety of colors of green and shape and size and configuration of the circles makes it dance.

I long to make quilts like this - from aerial photos:  photos taken from space of cities full of blocks ready to be expressed in fabric (Chicago is to me one of the most beautiful), rivers winding through still-empty lands, the textures of mountains in the deep shadows of sunrise.  I suppose this is where the quilter, Landscape Architect, and lover of all things space collide.

[Quilt #12] Baby Girl Crib Quilt

All fabric is from Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, and I wish I could buy more and more of that line and makes lots of these!  I also wish it was as easy to quilt a throw-size quilt as it is to quilt a crib quilt; it was very satisfying to sit at the machine for just an hour and have this all quilted up!

While designing this quilt I learned to measure/calculate and work with the triangles to piece the 45-degree squares into a square block.  I also learned how great a trick it is to quilt in an "x" across such blocks instead of around the edges.  In using the kaleidoscope blocks I learned that you've really got to get those corners where the kits meet the diamonds super tight and secure - without tight seams these will wear quickly and need repair.  I had to go back over this quilt after I was finished and tack those down just to make sure.

Ahhh... I could stare at this quilt for hours.  Well, the pictures of it anyways, even though I hung it upside down when I photographed it!  It has been safely delivered and opened with joy at a most beautiful baby shower.  I know it brought the new mama joy and I hope this little baby girl loves it for a very long time!