Saturday, November 1, 2008

Lone Star Baby



I love Lone Star quilts and this one belongs to my parents. The baby is a lovely little girl who happens to be my folks second great granddaughter. J. is now 14 months old and has begun to walk around. She is too cute for words but here she was a wee one- only a few weeks old.

I made this quilt for my parents to honor their 50th wedding anniversary, which was three years ago last July. My mother is of Swedish descent so the blue and yellow combination was in tribute to her Swedish heritage. It is a soft looking quilt that has a small diamond border with the main star floating on a sea of flowers. My parents have other quilts that I have made but this was the first large one I created just for them. My Folk's quilt was my second Lonestar.

The original Lonestar quilt is a pink and green one- that we happen to own.It has small stars at each end of the quilt as I wanted it to be extra long. I will try and take a picture of it some day soon- the only pictures I have of the original lonestar(made in 1997) are on film and I have no idea how to transfer them to digital format.(My guess is that it involves a scanner and we don't own one). There are so many beautiful Lonestar variations now but I think I am a traditionist- I like the simplicity of the big star and I love them with graduated shading of colors.



Here is another view of it with its mate- a photo quilt that has pictures of all my family at the time of my parent's 50th anniversary. The photo quilt is truly a snapshot in time -since its creation, my parents have added two new grandson inlaws and a baby to their brood. Making photo quilts often pose some interesting dilemmas about who is included and the arrangement of the pictures. That is a topic for another day...

Isn't the quilt rack that the photo quilt hangs on beautiful? My parents are good friends of a couple who are talented artists. S. is a fabulous painter who paints wonderful pictures on almost any surface you can imagine. Her husband B. is a fantastic carpenter who designed and built the quilt rack to display the photo quilts. I love how the two quilts look together..

I have been busy trying to keep up with my schoolwork -lots of paperwork related to November report card writing. I can not believe that we are already at the beginning of November. Where has the fall flown?

Yesterday, my school students were dressed so cute for Halloween- there was a crocodile, giraffe,fairies, princesses and Hulks,Spiderman, knights and Batman. Halloween is always so exciting for my little ones. They were so ready to get to go out trick or treating.

This week I will introduce some new concepts about Peace to prepare for our Remembrance Day Assembly ( November 10). We will honor our veterans and service men who help us live in a more peaceful world. Peace is such a difficult concept to make meaningful for them- maybe that is true for us all...

I plan to get a little quilting done this week too. I had my sewing machine into the shop last week - it had stopped working but fortunately it only needed a tune up. I am getting behind on my Winding Ways Quilt and need to get moving on it. It is hard for me to find the balance between work and play.. Everyone needs to play to relax and rest so that you can be productive and efficient at work ...yet it is a struggle for me- Perhaps for you too?

Hope you are having a nice weekend and get a chance to enjoy time with your family.
Happy quilting!

Regards,
Anna

9 comments:

Barbara C said...

The two blue quilts do look nice together. Your Lone Star is lovely. That pattern is on my "someday" list.

I always struggle to balance work and play. It seems like something that takes constant vigilance and adjustment. It's seldom perfect, but I keep trying to make it work.

Birdydownunder said...

thank you for visiting. I do love your blue Lone Star what a marvellous present.
Pink and green in oldie colours what a marvellous choice, thats the sort of effect I am aiming for in my NPNT quilt, of with a little blue thrown in.

Joyce said...

The blue Lone Star is beautiful. I have often thought of doing one but am probably too much of a wonky quilter to be very successful at it.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful 50th anniversary gift! My parents had there 50th last year and I had such great intentions of doing the same thing, making a beautiful quilt. I even started it, but alas, it still is not complete. I hope to finish it soon. It will be king size and is paper pieced. The task is a little daunting but it need to be completed.

meggie said...

Both those quilts are just lovely, Anna.
Your parents must love them.

I love the way families grow, & wish I had a few more grandchildren, but am lucky to have any.

loulee said...

You make the most beautiful quilts.
(Try taking a digital picture, of your old pictures?)

Anonymous said...

How absoloutley gorgeous, you are so incredibly taented.

molly said...

Love your quilts! I made a "Star of Bethlehem" quilt for one of my little grandsons. Is that the same as a lone star? I was very happy with how it turned out. There's a picture back in the earlier part of this year, June? July? on my blog. All three of my sons were born in Montana. The nearest Byzantine Catholic church we could find to have them baptised in was in Edmonton!Thanks for coming to visit!

Micki said...

I love the Lone Star Quilt, and will have to make one some day. Great Job!
Micki