Life is a High Jump

Saturday started here, where the appropriate questions is how high can you jump.  From here the day took a creative high jump to Brenda Smith's class.

As you can see, they are all getting busy and hardly noticed my arrival.

The walls were loading up with Scrap Heaven designs as they all tried to eat up their stashes.  I hear and it all the time, "I sew and sew and sew and still I find scraps!!!!  Why do scrap quilts still leave scraps?

Straight lines and curved lines appearing here in one of my favorite pallets and with several fabrics that I may have a few scraps of as well!

How much do our scraps identify us for who we are?  I wonder if I walked into this room and they all stood back if I could pick whose pile was whose? It  might be an idea to swap scrap piles...put the bar up a notch into that uncomfortable zone!

This batch is is a dead give away!  We all get to know each other so well in the comfortable surroundings of what we love to do.  Laughter and sharing of stories is as much a part of this adventure in pieces as the actual piecing.  I was happy to see this face in the room.

Meeting some people remains in the mind's eye over time.  When I married and moved to Australia, I left behind everyone and all things familiar and started a new life.  The enormity of what I had chosen to do with my life still reveals itself 20 years later.  I was happy in my new life but without the surrounds of my family, friends and career I was more than a bit lost and lonely.  One day I invited a gal to my house for coffee simply because I heard her American accent while standing in line at the bank!  Things turned when I took young Oscar to the Dolphin Street Playgroup in Coogee.  Here I was surrounded by moms and kids in a creative environment.  Near to the university and hospital, the group was filled with "new" Australians and we all had something in common.  It was a great place to make a mess, play music, and to gather where there was always something on for young and old.

Early on I was approached by an unassuming character who said she heard that I sewed.  (still unsure where she heard that as at the time I struggled with straight seam curtains!)  From that minute a long lasting friendship was born as we sewed, silk screened, painted and made paper through the years of managing young children.  Bronwyn's kids were a few years older but her kitchen soon became a hang out and her sewing room a place of massive inspiration (perhaps due to the stacks of projects around the room with so much potential!)   I learned a lot from Bronwyn and listened with interest to the challenges she had with her kids and particularly her kids messy rooms.  I think of that every time I step over sport clothes and pillows.  

The most special moment was when she gave me a quilt that she and Lucy had made for Noah when he was born. I held it in my hands and was overcome, simply overwhelmed by the thought they she and her daughter had sat together and chosen the fabrics and sewed them all together. The next day I was at her house, rifling through her trunks of fabric begging to be taught to quilt.  That's the story.  It's one of kindness and beginnings that have lasted the test of time.  Bronwyn may be sick of this story but it is one of my favorites and I am forever grateful for our meeting as I remember the first minute we met like it was yesterday.

New heights were achieved in lots of directions,

Weekends roll into Mondays.  Gears shift and we move into classes, mail outs and more. Last month we did Kaffe's Log Cabin for a dolly quilt and eager Michele got so excited she went home and started a big quilt.

Using the Marti Michele Log Cabin ruler makes making these blocks a simple feat.  They can then be arranged any way you like but we are liking this way at the moment.  The ruler has to measurements for strips so it is easy to make small strips for one side and larger strips for the other, creating almost a circular pattern amongst the blocks.  There are lots of options for block assembly now that this gorgeous quilt is underway.  Michele also latched onto the Wagga story earlier this year and went away last weekend to get a jump on this project.

Ok, the simple structure of a wagga means immediate satisfaction.  Made from wool suiting samples with highlights of color and texture this is already a success.  But wait, there's more...

These bits of wool felt were purchased from Purl Soho.  Michele plans on first quilting this wagga and then adding bits and pieces of applique onto the top of the quilt over the years according to her memories of her Australian life.  Michele is here "temporarily" from Boulder, Colorado.  A woman of substance, Michele is gathering quilting momentum as she inhales every bit of quilting knowledge she can.  Two great projects on the list and always a smile on her face.

This is a photo of Grace overseeing the final stages of a first quilt being bound after three lessons and only a month.  The quilt is stunningly put together in a mixtures of textures and colors and is enormous!  What a great start to quilting!  

And finally, as thought move over to breadrolls and tuna fish and the sound of cereal bowls clinking...her is Sheena's Lava Lamps.  (tipped over as I haven't gotten a handle on turning photos around yet!)  Great 

use of the tumbler template!

So, no matter how high the bar is set, a can do attitude, and a surge of energy will get you over to the next height!  Enjoy the flight. kathy

Comments

[Burton]

OMG! I absolutely love the fabrics in the fifth picture down. The combination of browns, black, yellow and teal is wonderful. Please pass on my compliments to your student. That is going to be a marvelous quilt!

[Rita]

Wonderful stories and some great inspirational pictures in this post. Beautiful quilts made by some amazingly talented women. Thanks for sharing.

Rita

[Sally Ickes]

Again, thanks for sharing your students work and the history of how you got into quilting. Sure do wish your shop was here in the US! How lucky your students are to have the opportunity for such great experimentation. I love reading your blog, your thoughts and what's going on at MO. Sally

[Miri]

Great quilts and great stories! As an ex-pat, I can totally identify with all you said. I came here already a quilter and it has been a great way to meet and make friends :)

[Sarah]

That really is a lovely story of friendship. It's always so nice to have a friend who shares the same interests as yourself. There seem to be more and more becoming interested in quilting but haven't made the leap yet. I'm so glad I have!

[Wholesale Lingerie China]

A great man is always willing to be little.