Material Obsession

Decorating with Quilts

Every one has a haunting memory of a moment when life could have been different. A story I tell a lot in this category revolves around my life long friend Kathy (Ford) Krifka.  We have been best friends forever despite years of living in different cities and countries and being completely different in orientation.  Kathy was the friend that could do anything from cooking to cheerleading.  She is smart, focused and kind which is why I have admired her since we became neighbors and best friends in 1968. 
Yesterday Anna Maria Horner did a terrific post about starting sewing at a young age and other things.  It was most thought provoking and it reminded me of Kathy and how she was a brilliant sewer when we were kids.  She would spend Saturdays making clothes (that I can still remember!) while I watched and wondered.  Anyway, the story I started to tell was about when we were living together in 1980 in a very small flat in NYC.  One night I went into her room and she had a stack of fabric scraps and some drawings on her drafting table.  I stood there tapping my foot waiting for her to stop whatever boring activity that was and go to the Sugarmill with me, which was our favorite Friday night...bar, for lack of a better word.
What she was doing of course was drafting a block for a quilt and I thought she just might be insane.  I never saw the block completed as she went off to Harvard to become an architect.  Many years later, like 20, she sent me a photo of that quilt  finished.  By then I had become a quilter myself and all I could do was marvel at the intricacy of the blocks she had drafted and pieced all by hand.  She has an incredible, individual style that comes completely from within.  Anyway, this morning I got the following photos from her of her dining room with newly hung quilts.  I have to share them with all of you.


 
Even today our styles and approaches to quilting are very different but it is easy to appreciate the composition and imagination present in these quilts.  Sorry I don't have close up images! 
This is what is wonderful about quilting.  We all share the common thread but express it differently.  It doesn't matter what color, pattern or idea we choose to express it is the point that we put what is on the inside...out and by doing so we let everyone in.  Kate, I think your quilts are stunning, as are you!
I am off to find some space to hang a quilt somewhere. If you are in Sydney, enjoy the rainy sewing day! kathy.

Seeking Order

Ok.  So the secret is out that I don't have nimble fingers! And while I am revealing...creative minds (if I may be so bold as to say I have one) are often not heavy on order which can be a worry.  In addition to applique this year I have started a bit of hand piecing.  In a very tidy fashion I cut out and identified all of the tiny pieces for the Pickle Dish block above and proceeded to happily sew them all together... in the wrong order. 
It was frustrating to say the least as I like things fast and I hate wasting time.  But then, in a Working Woman moment, the incorrectly patched pieces and the contact paper were sitting in the same spot and Kaboom!  Order was found. 
Since everyone has been so appreciative and nice about the applique circle tips from yesterday here's another one.  (sorry, I only have two!)
Cut out all the pieces for the block and lay them on the sticky side of the contact paper face up.

When the main pieces are all down it's easy to audition the alternating fabric and if you get some lucky advice from quilting friends like I did yesterday at quilt group, you can change the fabric options until they are right.

When the pieces are all together just slide the non sticky paper back on top and you have a handy little portable project!  (Great for cricket or swimming lessons or quilt group.)
To sew, simply lift the pieces off in order and sew them together.  It's still possible to sew them back to front or upside down but I am working on that with a bit of concentration!
Possible hazards...elbows, bits of thread and scraps can also stick to the contact paper!
And for balance, here are a couple of photos I found on my camera this morning...

Sam, the one that fancies himself a professional bmx rider...

and Noah wearing his special black jeans to skate down the road.  Moral of the story...when we were kids we tried all kinds of stuff that looked challenging.  Now off you go to find the trickiest most challenging block, one you thought you could never make with either applique circles or small hand piecing and have a go!  Let us know how you go!  kathy

Holiday Mornings

Those of you that know me know that I am not a quilter that started sewing early at my mom's knee but rather as someone who came to quilting a bit later in life. As a result, I struggle a bit with my thumbs while doing the fiddly bits.  This er, problem, meant I watched admiringly while Sarah did gorgeous applique projects and thought they would never be my thing.  However, the foil method described on Anna Maria's blog today fixed all that.  Sharing these little tricks is what makes the world go round (no pun intended!!!) and I learned it from the gorgeous Needle Woman, Karen Cunningham, who probably did learn it from her grandmother). 
Holiday Morning is the result of learning this technique and applying it to leaves and the little birdie shapes.  It's so easy to needle turn once the edges are creased.   The  pattern for Holiday Morning is nearly finished and includes the foil method if any of  you  want to  step into the amazing world of applique with an easy project that will needle turn your world.
Thanks to Anna Maria for going to the trouble to step it out for us with the delicious Chocolate Lollipops.  That fabric screams "Cut me in CIRCLES, please!"  pass it on...kathy

Rain.

For two days now rain has dropped from the heavens as if from a series of bursting water balloons.  It crashes down in loud, relentless sessions on the tin section of the roof.  There is evidence of the rain everywhere and quite beautifully on this rose that still looks like heaven despite the beating it just got from the downpours. Today the shop was full of stories about rain...stolen umbrellas, driving blindly, huge puddles, delays, roofs falling in, flooding, trees down and and despite the trials the joy that we finally got some water in the catchment...60cms at last count.  On the news tonight there was a very happy lady standing in front of a dam smiling after the first major rain in a year! 
All that said I like the blog to have  pictures of quilts in progress like the Kaleidoscope scrap quilt here.
With school back on the routine has swallowed me up with notes to read, dates to set aside, early morning starts and panic over lost ties, socks and shoes which are always missing at the last minute.  Finally I put laundry and dishes aside yesterday to get back to work on this fun little project.  It was good therapy sewing all those strips together, thinking, "oh no, I don't think I can cut this up it's too beautiful...oops, first cut, not so bad, well maybe it's ok to cut up and then...zippity do dah, 64 triangles done!"  (not quite sure why I cut 64 when I only needed 32...duh)
Not so zippy to get done is my latest love, the Pickle Dish hand pieced quilt that Brigitt Giblin brought to class last month.  We are hosting Kaffe Fassett in the shop in June so Sarah and I are both starting projects with Kaffe Fabrics for a bit of fun. (stay tuned for more details on Kaffe)  A huge bit of fun really once I put all the pieces on contact paper!

So, (translated as "sew!") I am off to the "studio" to put borders on two quilts before I collapse. 
We only need five more days like today to get the water levels back to near normal.  It's a pleasure to have the rain ...talk to me if five days and I won't be wandering around the garden looking for pretty dripping flowers but it'll still be good to see everything turn green before our eyes!  all the best, kathy

The Weirdness is Out There

YES that's right,the weirdness of our quilting buddies continues...rooruu has posted her weirdness if you want to check it out, as has Erica, and Sheena's is below. And nowfor the lovely Libby, who is one of our precious Cut Loose Quilters that we love so much. Libby began her return email by saying that she was a little offended that Kath and I thought there might be anything weird about her at all.... I just want to say, Lib, it was you or Lindsay and she is too easy a target!! (Love ya guts Lindsay xxx)

So here we go, the Weirdness of Libby, for Libby and by Libby. And you know what? I tried to find a piccy of Libby to insert here, and all I could come up with was this one of her bottom, and the one down below of one of her smashing works in progress at the MO retreat.

1. I ring bells. Not dinky little hand bells but great big heavy-as-a-car bells. I love the sound, I love ringing for weddings and
even the muffled bells of funerals, I love the company of other bellringers (a truly weird and wonderful group of people, as kind
and generous as quilt makers and much better drinkers) and I love the history and tradition. The Quasimodo joke was funny the first
time I heard it.

2. The jewellery gene skipped straight from my mother to my daughter and younger grand-daughter. Likewise the glamour gene.

3.  My hands are different. My left hand is like my father's, my right is like my mother's. They're both hard workers, my hands, but
if their fingernails get beyond a certain length they drive me mad. Nail polish is excruciating (see 2. above)

4. If I accidentally get a knock on either shin I will immediately get a huge egg-shaped lump and bruise courtesy of playing hockey
in my youth. This still happens after     34 years. And it still hurts.

5. I am a frustrated librarian. I can remember book titles, authors, in which book a certain quilt pattern can be found, which
magazine has which article etc but I can still walk into a room and immediately have no idea why I went  there in the first place.
(This one may be cheating a bit: we probably all get that)

6. I love my car and know it loves me. If I had a dog, I would probably love it more than my car, but I'm allergic to dogs so the
car will have to do.

So I'm fairly easy to recognize: lumpy, slightly deaf, entirely lacking in glamour, driving along chatting happily to my car with
the back seat covered in books!

OK, you are weird Libby, but we love you anyway,and we'll see you on Wednesday for Cut Loose Returns! I'll use this opportunity to let you Cut Loosers know that on Wednesday you need to bring at least 10" of "string"(read, strips of varying sizes and various fabrics) presewn together. And your holiday challenges! Looking forward to seeing you all.

One last thing before I go... just a little reminder for those who do know, and a sort of heads up for those who perhaps don't realise.

When we blog a project, particularly a new project that's not yet published, we do it in good faith that you all realise it's a sneak preview. I know that other bloggers feel the same way... reading someone's blog is like getting a little window into their life/studio and getting the inside scoop. Please understand that having been given this opportunity, copying, printing out or reproducing our projects before we get a chance to publish and promote them is not very cool. It would be a real shame if we had to not show things until they were finished, because we love giving you a peek and hearing what you all think as things develop.

That's it for today, have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine :) Sarah

Weird & Wonderful

Remember Sheena, our funky provider of all things vintage for the shop?   
Here is her response the the weird tag... too good to miss.
Ladies-
When I asked Toby (20 year old son , not family dog ) what were 6 weird things about me ,
he answered with alarming speed, not a hint of hesitation , the following :
1 _ child-like behavior ( a positive, he means enthusiastic )
2_eats beetroot dip with a spoon, straight from the tub (a positive, no one else in
family will touch it )
3_thinks all dogs are human and are trying to talk to you (doesn't everyone think that )
4_junkahollic (no comment )
5_crazy haircut (coming from someone who regularly shaves his head ,I thought that was a
bit much )
6_lover of stale food ( refers to fact that it is difficult to cater for uni student's
random evening meals and sometimes food expires by it's use by date, just by a few days !It
won't kill you , is one of my favorite responses but obviously I love stale food !
The really weird thing is that he didn't mention the fact that I have a room full of
untouched fabric and unfinished projects, he obviously thinks thats normal !!!
Weird Sheena
There, proving the point that one should never ask one's children or if you do, be able to face the truth. 
Here's to enjoying all things and all people that are weird...and wonderful. k