Thursday, December 17, 2015

The Quilters

Here is a post that appeared on my main blog, A Colorful World this week.  I am copying it here as it tells about my quilting journey....

The Quilters
For Linda Kay's Wit and Wisdom  (awesome writing meme on Senior Adventures!) I would like to share a special legacy....


My mother is a quilter.  My grandmother was a quilter, and every aunt and great-aunt and my two great-grandmothers and on back through my lineage.  It was fore-ordained that I would quilt.  The days of the quilting joys of my grandmother and great-grandmothers were born of necessity.  The quilts were used to warm their families against the winter cold, and were worn out after years of faithful use.  Not many of them survived.  They were made of scraps of clothing and of feed and flour sacks.  Nothing was wasted.  The batting was often hand-carded cotton.  Women's work was truly never done in those early days, and they went to bed to sleep under their hand made quilts, bone tired from the long days.  When the quilting was to be done, a group of women would gather around a frame suspended from the ceiling, to do hand quilting and visit.  My mother sat under that suspended frame as  a child and watched the needles go in and out, snaking across in long lines of loving handwork....it was the perfect fort.

Mom took me to the quilt shop to buy my first fabric for my quilt.  It was the early 80s and life had progressed to templates, and purchased fabric to be cut up into shapes, and sewing machines to put it all back together.  The rotary cutter was new also and soon became the norm.  Prices started soaring for expensive cotton fabrics needed to make heirlooms that would last for generations.  But, as I began to learn the techniques involved in piecing and creating quilt blocks, I also wished to pay homage to my roots...and make an old-fashioned quilt, hand-quilted.  My Mom often hand-quilted her quilts back then too, and she tried to teach me, but I just couldn't get the hang of that rocking back and forth motion that was needed.  So, as you can see from the photo above, I did my first hand quilting by going IN and OUT!  Not the most effective method, but I was comfortable with it.

What I love about the photo, is that the feed sack fabric the quilt is created from was some of my grandmother's fabric.  She was no longer quilting, and she gave me these pieces.  The frame was my Mom's....and she soon after gave it to me as she had moved on to using a hoop.  I love the feed sack quilt, which unfortunately I have never finished hand quilting (perhaps this is the year!) and I love the quilting frame.  Both are treasures!  I do my quilting on the machine now, because hand quilting by my archaic method was just too darn slow!  But I at least know how to properly hand quilt now.  I have made a few quilts, and several wall hangings or other small projects since that day in the 80s when the photo was taken, and I know I will quilt until my hands will no longer hold the needle that I can't see how to thread!  When that day comes,  I hope I will be happy with all I have accomplished.  I know it has given me great joy over these years.  After all, how could it not?  Me being a quilter was truly fore-ordained.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Second Wall hanging Gift Finish!

I have been working on two wall hangings for my sister-in-law and niece for Christmas....and today I finished the second one, ready for mailing!  My sis-in-law loves baby ducks and the colors navy and bright yellow.  Her wall hanging was in this post HERE.  My niece loves roosters....here is hers!


This was the first time I had ever attempted "thread painting" a technique I learned about at the Quilt Guild.  I really enjoyed it!


Tuesday, December 1, 2015

We Have a Winner!!!!

Many of you may remember that we were doing a raffle of a quilt made by myself and three others in our church sewing circle, to help out with expenses for Wade Robinson's family.  Wade has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophe).  The drawing was supposed to occur on November 11th, but we wanted Wade's Mommy, Nici, to draw the winning ticket, and Wade was in the hospital all that month.  He finally got out two days before Thanksgiving (a blessing!!) and was able to go home.  Today we went by the Robinson house and Nici drew the winning ticket.

The winner was Paula Padilla who bought a ticket that was being sold by Nici's Dad at the Thornydale Post Office where he works, and where Paula also works.

Me on the left, Nici and Paulette George (our other seamstress on this project, GayNell Gagner was unable to join us for this)

Helen Spicer, Nici and Paulette

Paulette called the holder of the winning ticket and the winner, Paula, squealed with delight at the news! :-) We learned she was working at the Post Office.....

So off we went to the Post Office to deliver the quilt to its new owner!

Paula Padilla and her new quilt.

Nici's Dad came out and joined us...he had sold Paula the winning ticket.


What a wonderful blessing this was for all of us!  We were thrilled for the winner, and happy to turn over right at $600. in ticket sales to Nici and Ryan Robinson to help out.  I was walking on air this morning!  Praise to God for this opportunity to be part of this!