Silver Bells... Silver Bells...

These are my two fully-loaded gift bags for the Silver Bell ladies (being subjected to one final inspection by Miss Angel). 3 of us from work adopted seniors through this program and we delivered our gifts to the agency at lunchtime today (it's still cold, but the rain has stopped).

My Happy Quilt is going to Miss Mary (age 97) and All About Soul is going to Miss Alder (age 101).

Underneath the quilts are fluffy new bath towels, tissues and toilet paper, shampoo, body lotion, hand creme, soft pretty bed socks, and a few other small personal items like deodorant and lip balm.

I have SO enjoyed putting these gifts together ~ and I hope the ladies have a much softer, sweeter, and warmer winter season as a result. Can you imagine being 97 or 101? Just think about the experiences they've had in their lifetimes and the memories . . .

Quiltdivajulie
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"Memory is a child walking along a seashore. You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things." (Pierce Harris)

Challenge Participation

I have joined in Jackie's Black and White Challenge.

I've long had a photo of my black and white stash in the sidebar album of quilty projects waiting for attention ~ and this is just the motivation I need to get busy and make my black and white...

I've made two B&W quilts already ~

The first was Deeper Than the Stars which was donated to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America's Quilt to Remember project ~ I posted photos and its story here.

The second was Juxtaposition (shown above). It was made as a birthday gift for a special family friend.

I have plans for at least 2 quilts for this challenge - the first has been named Roses are Red (at least for now) and the second is being called Yet To Be Named (accent color to be chosen at a later date). The fabrics are pulled for Roses, including a wonderful assortment of scrappy reds that were shared by Wanda. I'm hoping to begin stitching on this in January, after I finish a couple of works-in-progress.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The only thing that has to be finished by next Tuesday is next Monday." (Jennifer Yane)

Truly Amazing...

Please take a few moments to read this post on Ami's blog.  There's a link near the end that leads you to a slide presentation about the Quilt of Purple Patches (shown above).  

I'm thrilled beyond words to have had the opportunity to participate in this amazing project ~ and for any of you headed to Houston, PLEASE stop by the AAQI booth!!

Quiltdivajulie

Cleared for takeoff...

The flying monkeys have finally been freed from their holding pattern on the design wall in my studio...  and, in true liberated style, when it was too long I cut it off.  When it was too short I added more on.   I tried very hard not to take out and do over, although I did have to remove a few stitches at the end of two of the borders in order to add on and have the red fall in the right place.

The top measures 61 x 86 ~ still need to piece the back, and then the monkeys will be off to Oakland to visit with Chris and Iris.  We've talked about quilting ideas but haven't settled on anything just yet.  Any suggestions out there?

My time of contemplation continues... ran across an absolutely heart-rending post on Jude's blog earlier this afternoon which elegantly captures so much of what I'm feeling ... with the monkeys now flying free, I need to leave the design wall bare for a few more days...

Back to work tomorrow ~ they had a temp at my desk for the 3 days I was out so I have absolutely no idea what to expect in the morning (aside from not wanting to wake up at 5:15 am).  

Quiltdivajulie

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"Patience  is also a form of action."  (Auguste Rodin)

Thirty Years Later

I originally pieced 25 scrappy Grandmother's Fans in the early 1970s 

using scrappy fabrics from my mother's sewing stash 

(she made clothing, a few crafts, 

and numerous comforters, but she was NOT a quilter)

My machine-pieced fans were hand appliquéd onto 

oversize muslin squares which were then

sashed with bright yellow broadcloth. 

The top was then layered with a batt of polyester fiberfill 

and a muslin back before being tied with yellow acrylic yarn.

After 25+ years of service on the guest bed at 

my mother's house in Michigan, 

the stained and lumpy comforter came back 

to my house in late 2004. 

I took it all apart, saving only the fans. 

Over the last 3 years, I tried a number of times 

to rework the eclectic group of fans 

into a new quilt top, 

but each attempt came up short 

which resulted in the fans being stacked back on the shelf.

Then, last year, I found this length of royal blue, 

seemingly splatter-painted, fabric 

buried in my stash and realized it could be 

a perfect backdrop for the multi-color fans. 

Armed with the thought process from 

Janet Berlo’s article "Smashing Those Dresden Plates" 

dated December, 1993 and included in her book titled 

Quilting Lessons: Notes from the Scrapbag of a Writer and Quilter ~ 

I bravely cut my fans into quarters 

and began the process of hand appliquéing 

each to a 6-1/2" square of the blue fabric. 

Unlike Ms. Berlo, 

I clung to my need for order in the face of chaos and opted, 

after several tries at random placements, 

for this exploding sunburst concept. 

And many thanks to Chris 

for her wonderful custom quilting! 

The golden yellow thread added the final "zing"!!

Note added later:  

This quilt was later juried into and displayed 

as a semi-finalist at AQS Nashville 2008.  

It now hangs on the wall in our master bedroom.

Last Finishes of 2007

These are the last 2 Priority Quilts completed during 2007 ~ they are the 29th and 30th of the year! I have another pieced and I'm working on the hand quilting, but it will be counted as the first one for 2008.
The first is Exuberant Color ~ named in honor of Wanda who sent me this fabulous orphan block with the suggestion that I do something with it for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. I hand quilted it using a variety of shades of embroidery floss (3 strands). Then I raided my stash of batiks for the back and the binding. Here's a link to Wanda's blog ~ it's one of my favorite daily reads.

And the following Priority Quilt is named Mindful Moodling, V (Juxtaposition, Jr.). For those of you who don't know about moodling, in the 1930’s, author Brenda Ueland wrote a book titled "If You Want to Write: A book about Art, Independence & Spirit” and I copied this phrase of hers in one of my journals: “so you see, imagination needs moodling — long inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering”… the fabrics in this PQ were scraps from 2 different quilts hand quilted with many shades of yellow, gold, and soft orange embroidery flosses. I work on these when I'm watching television, waiting for appointments, covering the front desk at work when the receptionist takes her lunch hours... the scraps are laid down to cover the foundation fabric, then loosely basted in place. Once the hand quilting in one direction is completed (through the top and batting only), I remove the basting threads and add the back fabric. I then "moodle" in the other direction through all 3 layers. The inspiration for my version of "moodling" came from Tonya's LazyGal blog - click here to see photos and posts re: Tonya's threadies.

Happy New Year to each of you ~

"Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front..." (Henry Ward Beecher)