June’s Journal/blogs

Crafts, Quilting, Uncategorized

Quilting Inspiration

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With creative activities , there’s always something that sparks the imagination to get the ball rolling. First, let me tell you that I find quilting to be a very creative activity. There are so many decisions to make during the process: how wide should the border be, what colors to put next to each other, how to bind or edge the quilt, and on and on. Second, since it’s creative, I need some inspiration and that’s where The Patchwork Girl of Oz came in. At a very young age, my parents read The Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum to me. The Patchwork Girl herself was rather spoiled, maybe even narcissistic. However, since she was made from a crazy quilt, it peeked my interest in quilts and quilting. So I started to badger, yes that’s right, badger my grandmother to make a crazy quilt for me. I had no idea what a crazy quilt was, but I wanted one! So, unbeknown to me she started a quilt. At the time, she was getting on in years and had moved into a ‘home’. This was around 1950. Her hands were old and stiff with arthritis and resources were limited. She had never made a crazy quilt, so she did the only pattern she knew well, a basic nine patch. She gathered old shirts from other residents, cut them into tiny pieces (no pattern here, just years of practice), and pulled out seams. Then slowly she began to assemble them into a work of art.

Years later, after she was gone, I would discover her work of love, carefully tucked away, and begin my own journey, finishing what she had started so long ago. It took me quite a while to research how to work with a vintage quilt top. Then it took me much longer to determine how to add a border, what fabric to use, how to quilt it (I did it all by hand as she had pieced it), and finally what fabric to use for the binding. What you see in these photos is coming down to the final stretch. I used quilt clips to hold the binding in place as I stitched. They made that task a snap. 

In my next blog post, I’ll share some great tips I picked up and images of the finished quilt!

 

Crafts, Uncategorized

Saved by an Apron …

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Yes, I know it’s been a while since I’ve communicated, but here I am. In the intervening time, I’ve traveled/visited Mesa Verde, friends in Edmonds, Colorado, sold our home of 19 years, bought a condo (downsizing from 4400 square feet to 1400!), packed, packed, donated, sold, packed, packed, gave away, found a temporary home (for some of our belongings), had an amazing party for our friends in Normal, IL, had lots of lunches with friends, packed, packed, organized, organized, took one load of ‘precious stuff’ to our daughter’s in Minneapolis, gave away more, packed more, organized more, (you get the picture).

Now I just want to share what we did this last week. Our daughter, Ellie from Duluth, visited and we had a little sewing spree distracting me from my unpacking and reorganizing activities. Needless to say it was needed. Our move date was June 2nd and I was feeling the strain. We started out on a lovely tote bag pattern. Her sister, Anna, had bought the fabric as a present for her some time ago. We all thought this would be a great project. So, we’re merrily cutting and trimming along and down to the last pieces when I cut the lining wrong making it so there was not enough fabric to finish the job and no JoAnne Fabric stores in sight.

Ellie saved the day! She had a simpler project we could finish quickly, making an apron from a kitchen towel. There’s a million free patterns on the internet, but here’s what we did:

1. pressed the towel, then added 2 darts to the top, outer sides to give it some shape

2. used scrap fabric to make a wide neck band

3. sewed vintage buttons on to give it some pizazz

4. added a ribbon around the waist long enough so she could wrap it around and tie it in the front…

Voila!

The more creative you get, the more fun these are to make. You could add pockets, or a different tie. I guess the tote bag will happen during the next visit.

Retirement, Travel, Uncategorized

Arizona Week #6 Highlights: March 21 – 27

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We had a little change this week and took a break from Mesa and headed South to Tucson to visit friends, Linda and Harry, and take in the sights. It takes a special kind of person to host out of town visitors and provide amazing entertainment. So our hats are off to you.

  • Tour around Tucson: we got the 50 cent tour of Tucson. Featured were the barrios that have been undergoing revitalization. My favorite part – the colors! Second favorite part – the small intimate settings. Everything is on a much smaller scale than we are used to today. Third favorite part – that they cared enough to make it happen.

  • The Desert Museum: majorly windy but still amazing. Loved seeing desert animals in natural settings ( I even have a photo on Flickr of a Javelina), loved to reinforce my knowledge of desert plants and learn about new ones, great walk around the grounds, and lots of information on the geological evolution of the Sonoran Desert. Check it out! www.desertmuseum.org
  • The Medicine Man Gallery: The MM Gallery was very friendly and open to non-buying visitors. They had a combination of vintage cowboy art and contemporary. Vintage primarily included a large collection of work by Maynard Dixon, Indian hand woven rugs, jewelry and pottery. In the contemporary works, what blew my socks off was the sculpture. I couldn’t photograph any of it, but artists included Shirley Thomson-Smith, Deborah Copenhaver-Fellows, Star Liana York, and painter Josh Elliott. Check it out! http://www.medicinemangallery.com/
  • Lunch at the Arizona Inn (above): this is a beautiful oasis in a busy city. The Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1930 by Arizona Congresswoman Isabella Greenway. The Inn is still owned and maintained by members of the family. Originally surrounded by desert, there was even a rodeo across the ‘street’. Isabella was as colorful as the amenities. She had two husbands both of which were members of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. To add to the mystic of the inn, past guests have included presidents and movie stars. But it doesn’t stop there. Isabella also started a cabinet-making shop, “The Arizona Hut”  and hired returning WWI veterans to run and work in it. Check it out! www.arizonainn.com
  • University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography: next on our ‘must do’ list in Tucson was a visit to UA’s photography galleries where we saw 40 works by Ansel Adams along with other contemporaries of his (Edward Weston, Diane Arbus, Alfred Stieglitz, etc.). Ansel Adams holds a special place in my heart since I based several of my photography lessons that I taught at the McLean County Art Center on his work. Can’t beat his dynamic landscapes of Yosemite. Check it out!  www.creativephotography.org  

Back in Mesa we went on a hike to Tonto National Monument! I’ll save this for another posting. I took way too many photos and have to have time to go through them. But first I have to say thank you again to Linda and Harry. It was fun to share time with you and see Linda’s ‘castle in the mountains’ and Harry’s artwork (loved the balancing circus mice and mountain lions).