Rolling Hills

I managed to do a little bit of 'obligation' sewing this evening after my store closed. This is a round robin block I have to work on this month - my assignment was to put a 3" wide border with curves onto this piece (sorry, no 'before' photo:). 

I think this is a _very_ spring-y quilt in progress! I decided to do a simple freehand curved border with 'grass' and 'sky' prints. To me the border I did looks like rolling hills - the kind I love to ride my bike across! :)

Really, I _should_ say 'used to love' to ride my bike on -- I haven't been out bike riding for a couple of years. (sigh!) I'll have to get my flat tire fixed so I can go riding once the weather is reliably warmer. :)

I have a dear friend that I had kind of lost track of for the past two years - we've known each other since my oldest child and her youngest one were in nursery school together (about 30 years!). Yesterday we got in touch via telephone again and I was so happy I was giddy!

I love my friend Sherry and I was really afraid to call at first - I was afraid she'd be angry with me for dropping the threads of our friendship. Thank god she's a forgiving soul! She is having some health issues and I think this is a good time for an old friend (me) to offer support. I'm glad we reconnected - I am planning to go see her in person on my day off (Wednesday). :)

I also got not one but two Facetime phone calls from my niece Stephy who lives in NM. She bought some lovely fabric and was bravely trying to work her way through a very cute patchwork tote bag pattern. Facetime was so cool - she could let me actually read the directions for myself and see what she was having a hard time decoding. :) Life is sure interesting!!

:) Linda

Can Spring Be Far Off?

I know this photo is not the greatest - I took it with my iPhone and it was raining at the time. When I went yesterday to get my hair cut, I found a large-ish patch of snowdrops flowering at the back end of the parking lot behind the salon. Flowers in mid-February in eastern MD! I can only remember one other year since I've lived here (1978) that we've had flowers so early in the spring. :) I thought it was worth remembering.

I spent several hours today driving down to Gaithersburg to attend a meeting of the various shop owners in the Quilter's Quest at Capital Quilts. It's about an hour to hour-and-a-half drive from my house to CQ, depending on traffic. No idea how many miles it is (not nearly enough to account for the time spent in travel, I assure you!). I always enjoy these meetings - it's fun to see a set of my peers and we've been working together for a number of years.

I did get to meet one new owner today - Kelley Bova from The Scrappy Apple in Winchester, VA. :) I think some time later this spring or early summer I'm going to try to go on my own personal Quest and visit all the shops for myself. :) It's fun to get out and see how other people do things - and I don't get to be a 'private' quilt maker very often any more.

:) Linda

Happy Valentines Day

I hope that all of you are enjoying a nice evening with someone you love - or at least LIKE. :) The card above is a vintage Valentine from about 1925. :)

Linda

I'm Easy ...

...to please! :) I taught a class on making fabric flowers this afternoon ... and I think it went well (the real 'proof of the pudding' is what my students think!:). I had fun teaching, anyway. (grin)

I am absurdly pleased by the little Valentine's Angel I just printed out and made - especially considering how incredibly easy it was to create. :) She is available as a free printable download from Jenny at Allsorts. I printed her out on card stock and then had a few pleasant kindergarten moments with cutting her out and taping her together. :)

I'm glad to be 'well' today - this business of sleeping from 11 p.m. until 2:30 or 3 p.m. the next afternoon is for the birds!! :P

Linda

PS One of my students, Suzy, shared a nifty Etsy shop with fabric flower patterns. La Todera is a great place to find very 'botannical' flowers to make. :) (No compensation, just like the goods:)

Inspiration

This quilt was made by Vera Hall, in memory of her grandmother who was a quilter. Thursday morning I attended a session of my guild's daytime meeting (Faithful Circle Quilters) to hear Vera speak about the lives of African Americans just before and during the Civil War. 

Her lecture was fascinating! I knew, generally, about black folks serving as soldiers for both North and South ... and about the efforts of Harriet Tubman and other heroes of the Underground Railroad ... but Vera spoke about a woman I did not know - Elizabeth Keckley.

Mrs. Keckley was a woman whose profession as seamstress and dressmaker in Washington, D.C. brought her into contact with Mary Todd Lincoln - with whom Keckly became close confidant and supporter. She also made dressed for Verena Davis (wife of Jefferson Davis) and Mrs. Robert E. Lee.

Vera spoke about Keckley's early life as a slave and her work - which allowed Elizabeth to purchase her own freedom and to set up a very successful dressmaking business, the income from which supported eleven people for a number of years.

Vera did not sugar coat anything she talked about and was very frank about the kinds of difficulties Elizabeth Keckley and other black people of her time faced in society. Her lecture was illustrated by quilts and by numerous photographs of her own travels to see sites significant during Keckley's life. Fascinating!

I only got iPhone photos of the quilts Vera brought to illustrate her lecture and I have not asked Vera's permission to post them here on my blog, so I will abstain. If you have an opportunity to hear her talk, do go!

:) Linda

 

PS I finally finished making fabric flower samples for my class. Here are some more photos:

A folded flower

RickRack Rose

Ruched Flower

Fun In Space

Yet another way to have too much fun on video! :) This is the intro info for playtime (a.k.a. experiments) in space which include "'nittin' needles, static electricity and water droplets": Astronaut and chemist Dr. Don Pettit does physics demos that are out of this world. Currently on board the International Space Station, Dr. Pettit presents fantastic physics that can only be demonstrated in micro-gravity.

:) Linda