Some quilting influences., inspiration ... and Life...

Its the middle of March and today is Pi day- so I thought you might want to enjoy a yummy piece of pie while you stopped by to visit. Mathematical equations and patterns are a particular interest of my husband's- So here is to a little PI today!

The middle of March always makes me stop and remember some loved ones who have passed from this life. Today would have been my grandfather's 101 birthday(it is also our nephew's birthday). My grandfather was born to Swedish immigrants in 1910. He saw many changes over his lifetime. I miss my grandfather's dry sense of humor, his deep voice that I am reminded of when I hear the character,Eeyore speak in the stories of Winnie the Pooh, and his love of farm, music and family. Most of all, I miss his stories..


Tomorrow is the Ides of March and a day of remembrance for my husband and his siblings. Their beloved brother David was taken from them in 1975 in a car accident. He was just 22 years old. I made this photo quilt for my in laws around 2003 to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and wanted to include David as part of the photo grouping. He is in the middle at the top of the wall hanging. I know that my in- laws loved that quilt and were glad that all their children were in it, including David. ( Mars the cat is sitting on our pictures).

I know that it has been awhile since I posted - Life at home has been busy. Our son, Kevin, his girlfriend Rose and their cats have been getting set up in our basement. They have made some wonderful changes to the space and everyone is getting used to our new arrangement. The main floor of the house still needs some work to find spaces for some things and the tossing of other things. I was remarking to a friend that my life has been full of de-junking spaces both at home and at school( last year with our school renovation). This is not without stress for me, as,I am by nature, a collector of things. However,one lesson that I have learned is to stop and think before I add more stuff to my spaces( except for fabric and childrens' books LOL) Now if I could only be more organized- I am working on it but it does not come naturally..

March is also the time of year when I complete the second term report cards and updating of my at risk kids programming. So now you know why I have disappeared from my blog writing for a short time...

I don't have much new quilty to show you. I did give away the other BQ quilt to a special lady - she has had some health issues and I wanted her to have a quilt to wrap herself in -just like a warm hug on the days she was feeling under the weather.

I also made some cafe type curtains for the basement windows. I have one more of them to make to complete the ones for the downstair's space, but I may make one for the laundry area and my husband's little office area too.

Did I tell you that we went to the art gallery to the opening of the Emily Carr and Haida show? The opening was so packed (there must have been over 1000 people)that we did not try to get into her exhibit but we are going back this week to hear a lecture about Haida art. We will go and look at her exhibit then as well. My dear friend Val and I went to see Carr's work in Calgary a few Christmases ago. It was fantastic and I am thrilled to get an opportunity to see some her works again.

A friend from work brought me a gift from a quilt store she had been in Jasper. It was a lovely bag with one of Ricky Tims Rhapsody quilts on it. I am a big fan of his work and did a week course one summer a few years ago that used his designs.
I have really enjoyed exploring his Convergence patterns and have made a number of them as throw quilts. The beginning convergence quilt I made was just a small wall hanging and I wondered why I couldn't turn it into a throw size quilt. As you can see from the photos below, that is exactly what I did.
I do like the way the colors meshed in this convergence- the owner is a big fan of green and purple and the fabrics are all batiks....


This " Kool Kaleidoscope pattern is now a book by Ricky. It is fairly large wall hanging or table topper and easier than some other Kaleidoscope designs. His book is well done and has some good visuals should you want to make one of your own Kaleidoscope quilts.

This Chantelle flower is a free form flower that was easy to do. We played with the borders to make it asymmetrical. I am not an art quilter - that is, I like making functional pieces for using in day to day life. Sometimes its fun just to play with the fabric- perhaps one day I will do something with some of the crazy quilting strips I have created. Or another snippet? or another Kaleidoscope?

Two other convergences for you - one that is red and white and black all over..

This one is more subtle- I don't think that the photo does this quilt justice- I loved the soothing color combination - Did you know that red can be soothing???

So who are your influences- do you like particular designers ? Kaffe Fassett? Valori Wells? Ricky Tims? Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston? The women of Gee Bend? These are a few of mine.. I am inspired by their use of color and lines...What inspires you???

And now for some blogging friends who are having giveaways:

Sherri of'A quilting Life" has a great book called Art Quilt Collection by Linda Seward. It is a very nice book and great to look at for inspiration..
the material girls are giving away some great fabric- go quickly they will draw on the 16th.
Liz of Quilterie is giving away a Kaffe Fassett book called Quilt Romance- Its a very nice book indeed.

Carolyn of Veggie Hunter- she's a local quilter that I am looking forward to meeting sometime soon) has a few more giveaways for you to check out as well as one of her own.

Susan
in Texas is having a wonderful fabric giveaway for her 3rd blog anniversary. She has a very nice blog that I am going to add to my blog list. So many blogs not enough time...

Thanks for staying with me ... I hope you will go and check out Tanya of Taniwa blog. She is a terrific lady(a fantastic quilter too) who lives in Nikko Japan. Her story is reflective and she shares what it is like living in Japan just now.. My heart goes out to all those areas who are struggling with the after effects of floods and earthquakes.

We have had a couple of beautiful days here in Alberta- Do I dare say that maybe we might have spring....

Thanks for stopping by- I promise to come back sooner. I hope you will too.
Regards,
Anna

Quilted Memories

When I first thought about creating a photo quilt, I was intimidated by the whole process- What would make a good design? what pictures should I use- should I turn them all into sepia or black and white or should I use the color pictures? On and on went the questions and there didn't seem to be any clear cut answers. After awhile,and with the time ticking away, I decided to just take the plunge. My in-laws quilt was the result- Mars the cat certainly approved of it - She would make us laugh, because, when I would lay it out on our loveseat, she would lay on our families' corner( and only on our corner) of the quilt.


The blue photo quilt is the second design that I came up with for my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. The original quilt design was one where we were all in coffee mugs. I thought it could hang in my parents new redesigned kitchen. A friend of my parents had even sent me a palette of colors so that it would fit with the new decor. I decided that I wanted to see the flimsie in their kitchen, before I finished it. It was a good decision- I hated it, when I saw it in their house. It was too large, and too cutsy, and when I think about it now, I realize that a wallhanging in the kitchen would have needed frequent washing. I am not sure how the photos would have withstood regular washing.

Have you ever got a quilt top together and decided that you hated it? What did you do? Did you finish it? Does it still sit abandoned because your idea didn't live up to the corresponding result?

Do you ever get stymied by a design and just can't get the rhythm of that quilt? I have a tumbling blocks quilt that is in a bag waiting for me to finish. The fabrics are beautiful batiks but I just haven't figured out the pattern so there it sits...hopefully one day because I think it would be really beautiful- right now it is just a bunch of triangles and flags....

In my parent's photo quilt,I really liked the original quilt fabrics that I chose, but the colors didn't work and the design didn't work, and I knew that everytime I looked at that quilt I would want to rip it off the wall. I didn't want anyone to see that I had created something that was that ugly!!!

I wanted to use the pictures so I took out the pictures and started all over again. My immediate family is in the top left hand side of the quilt. My son is the top left picture and my husband is the left center. I am between the two of them. My parents photo that was taken around their 50th wedding anniversary. The other pictures are of my nieces nephews and in laws. The four inner photos are of me, my two brothers and my sister. We are in the central square around our parents.

The photos were printed in a tight weave white cotton meant for photos. The lady who printed them knew lots about printing photos on fabric (much more than I) and did a fantastic job with the photos. The second version is much better. The quilt was based on a pattern(I think it was called Come Paris) from the Australian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine. It needed some adaptation, but was the perfect number of boxes for photos of all the members of the family. It looks very handsome with the bed quilt hanging on that beautiful quilt rack over the bed.

I am not sure when I will try my hand at photo quilts again. I have seen people use them for graduation gifts and memory quilts.. Perhaps there will be another occasion that warrants photo memories..but then again perhaps not...

Happy Quilting,
Regards,
Anna

To Honor Dad

Today is a day of Remembrance for our family- it is the anniversary of my father in law's passing. It does not seem possible that it is a year ago today. My father in law, Sherburne, was a wonderful man- a loving husband to my mother in law Betty for 63 years, a devoted father to five children, four in law children and 9 grandchildren and a passionate educator. He loved music,sports and politics and would have been glued to the television waiting with baited breath for the results, of the American election. He was like a second father to me for nearly 30 years of my life and I miss his zest for life. Only a few days before he died, he went to a Halloween party and dressed up in a grass skirt so that my mother in law would wear a Halloween Hat..

Dad made many contributions to make this world a better place. Among them, he helped develop a wonderful music program at a local college and spearheaded a festival for Bach's 300 anniversary called TriBach.

I love the photo of my inlaws together in front of the photo quilt that I made for them for their 60th anniversary. I used a pattern called "Delectable Log Cabin" from one of Evelyn Sloppy's books "Log Cabin Fever". In the center is a photo of my in laws at the time of their marriage and their four children with their families in each of the triangles. In the center block at the top, is a photo of their son David who died in a car accident in 1975. I had the quilt embroidered by another quilter, as I do not have an embroider machine. This quilt now hangs in my mother in laws room. I like to think it helps her remember her loved ones.



The second quilt was made for my inlaws for their 63rd anniversary. It is a Convergence quilt(a Ricky Timms technique) and has my father in laws favorite birds- Cardinals. He was a dedicated St.Louis Cardinal Fan since the early '40s when he watch Stan Musial play ball. The convergence quilt was intended to be a large cuddle quilt for an afternoon nap but they used it to cover the top of the double bed. I really like making the convergence designs and have used this pattern for a half a dozen cuddle quilts. One of them is in the picture on my profile.

One day I would like to make some of Ricky's more complicated designs- I love his medallion designs and have his Rhapsody Quilt book that I enjoy looking through from time to time. I have pieced a Kaleidoscope quilt using his technique - I just need to quilt it. It is a wall hanging size but somehow keeps getting put on the back burner- hopefully soon.

Today I celebrate the life of a man who contributed much to all who knew him. We miss you Dad.

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