A Time of Reflection

For many of us New Year's Eve is a time of reflecting over the past year and pondering things to come in the new. I'm not really one for a lot of resolutions and goals, but the idea of choosing a word for the upcoming year, really speaks to me. So that is what I did a year ago. The word was very personal to me, but as I navigated some of the storms, of the last year it served me well.

Last year was more about getting through than attaining any major quilting goals.....or any other goals for that matter. My quilting was more of a life raft than anything else.....but what a glorious life raft it was. It was a place for me to breath. Three quilts are the result.

Picking up the Pieces

Finding My Way Home

Shards of Glass

The words that moved me most this year came out of the mouth of our three year old, granddaughter, Autumn. After a bit of tiff with her older sister she came down stairs and said "Mommy, my heart is frozen." A little while later she said "My heart is thawed out now."

The sun is shining through the windows, as I sit typing this morning.....and my heart feels not quite so frozen. My word for 2016 is "PERMISSION". Ah, the freedom of that word. I'm giving myself permission to be happy, to let go, to move on............and what ever else comes to mind. Permission to create, to say yes, to say no.......in other words permission to follow my heart.

Thank you for your support over the last year.....your comments are alway so positive and uplifting. Your kindness means so much to me.

I wish you all the best for the New Year

Marianne

Let the Festivities Begin

Even though we are mid renovation this might just be our most stress free Christmas ever. Renting a furnished apartment for the duration of the renovation was brilliant.....thanks to my husband for that bright idea. 

I even had some quilty play time this morning!!

A mini tree, some presents............yes, those are the superhero quilts all wrapped and ready to go.

A poinsettia on the table............

Lots of good food........my daughter brought this lovely tray for Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow, dinner at her house with everyone, including four kids and three dogs....should be fun!!!

It's a very different Christmas than last year. Last year this same daughter was so very ill and this year she and her husband are hosting Christmas Dinner at their house.....I'm so thankful.

Merry Christmas to all of you and your loved ones.

Marianne

16 Corners Later.....The Super Hero Quilts are Done

Well maybe 17.....I did sew one with an empty bobbin.

It all started with my three year old, hero obsessed Grandson. Just pick up a panel or two (one for the front and one for the back) and add a little quilting.......easy peasy, right!!!!

I went all out with the quilting.......of course I did!!!!

I wanted to pick up on the spider web theme. Many hours later....there you have it. I kind of love it.

But meanwhile back at the ranch I received the news.........the granddaughters are into superheroes too. So, three more quilts to make..........Frozen on the front and Spider-man on the back.

There is no way I had time to spend hours quilting each girl's quilt......so I went to my old speedy stand-by. Yup, you guessed it, SPIRAL QUILTING!!!! By keeping the quilting lines further apart than my usual 1/2 inch distance I was able to quilt all three at about an hour per quilt.

I think the spiral looks great as well.

Also doing the bindings completely by machine is a time saver. Take a look at he wonderful stitch in the ditch attachment that comes with the Bernina Walking Foot....so fabulous for binding!!!!

To keep my interest up....a different binding for each quilt.

A label with each child's name in the corner and I'm done.....plus I threw them all in the wash and they crinkled up very nicely. Hmm, I could make gift bags for each quilt............I doubt that will happen, but you never know.

The Sting of Rejection....part of the process

It's always tough to receive that email.  You know the one.  Thanks for entering but...well, you know the rest. But alas.....it's all part of the process. It's important NOT to let this process devalue your work, especially in your own eyes.

I submitted three quilts to Quilt Con this year and not a one made it in. The quilts I submitted are very dear to my heart....in actuality, part of a series of Grief Quilts. Accepted or rejected....does not change the fact that they played and still play an important part In my personal journey of loss.

Picking up the Pieces 2015

Shards of Glass 2015

Finding My Way Home 2015

In all honesty, it's disappointing but all part of the process.

Improv Through the Eyes of a Five Year Old/I'm Not Copying Anything.

Since I was babysitting two of my granddaughters today, I thought I would let them each make a little quilt (16" square). Most of my craft things and toys are back at the house being renovated so I thought a little fabric play might be in order.

Recently at the EMQG retreat, we were chatting around the lunch table about how each of us actually started quilting. The majority of us started by playing in the scrap bin of either our mother's or grandmother's. I like having my little ones play in my scrap bins.

My thought was to have them pick out a few strips and I would sew them down QAYG (quilt-as-you-go) style. I should have known the five year old would have ideas all of her own.

She lit up like a Christmas tree at the thought of making her own quilt. Armed with several fabrics....and not from the scrap bin I might add she said, " I need to pick out the background fabric." So we scrapped my idea and we ran with her's.

"I'm not copying anything,that's what makes it so special!!" "It's all my own idea." "I am so amazed that I am making a quilt!!" Her fearlessness and delight warmed my heart.

The house was covered with mess....because there was a three year old involved as well. And of course a little snacking along the way. Oh well, the mess was worth the result.

Paige cut out all the shapes and pinned them in place. She picked out the thread colour and pointed out where to quilt. I'm not quite ready to let her use the machine but the girls love pushing the thread cutter button.

Little Autumn (three) picked out the background fabric for her quilt and told me which shapes to cut and where to put them. She lost interest after that and got busy dumping the pins and picking them up with a magnet.

We could learn something from watching a child create......

Under Renovation and Saved by the Queen

Life these days seems rather upside down, to say the least. We are undergoing a major renovation and in December....are we crazy?????

The kitchen is a gut job and all three bathrooms are being done as well.

So....we moved out for a month, but not without my trusty Bernina (I'm not that far gone).

We rented a furnished apartment for a month and for the first order of business.....a temporary sewing space, of course. I mean sewing is my therapy and with my life this out of sorts, I'm going to need all the therapy I can get. 

There was the temptation to run away to the west coast, but we thought it best to keep an eye on the renovations. So far the guys are doing a bang up job (pardon the pun) but I am beyond giddy at the excitement of it all. It's so exciting I'm not even feeling my usual Christmas grumpiness. It doesn't hurt that Christmas Dinner will be at my daughter's house. For that I am so thankful! Last year at this time she was so sick and this year she is well enough to host all of us.....so much to be thankful for.

So as you can see, I'm putting the space to good use. It all started with one Spider Man Quilt for my little grandson. One thing always leads to another. Suddenly I'm making four quilts. The little girls are suddenly into Super Heroes as well.  I got informed by the two five year olds that they weren't into princesses anymore. Oh, oh.....I had just bought three Frozen Panels for the girls. "Well, what about, Elsa, I tentatively asked?' "GRAMMA......they rolled their eyes....of course we love her. She's a QUEEN!!" AH....SAVED BY THE QUEEN!!!

So being Super Gramma....just kidding. I'm making good reversible quilts. Frozen on one side and Spider-Man on the other.

They are coming along.

This is so not my thing.....But anything for the love of my little Grandchildren!!!!

Technique Improvisation

Or should I say, Assembly Improv......sigh, no idea what to call my process these days.

Actually it's sort of a  Layering of Techniques. I'm finding myself changing techniques along the way, mixing several and experimenting, as I go. If that's not improv, than I don't know what is.

 

 

 

Here are some samples of the whole layered technique process.....sometimes it almost feels like I'm building the blocks.

 

Below are some shots of the techniques I have utilized in some of the blocks.

 

Assembly-line piecing for the background of the blocks, if you will.

 

I learned this amazing method, from the book Crazy Shortcut Quilts by Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse. I have incorporated this concept in so much of my work.

                    

 

I used this method for a background of sorts....but I only thought of it half way through, so not all the blocks are done this way....more mish mash!!! Well, that's what mixing techniques and experimenting along the way is all about.

 

 

Here are the Elongated Triangles I started with in Katie Pedersen's Workshop.

 

 

Here, I decided to applique the triangles to the "pieced background".

 

Cutting away excess fabric, from the back......

And what about the raw edges, on those appliqued triangles? On one edge of the triangle I "stitched and flipped" and on the remaining two, I used appliqué strips...applied to all the layers, appliqué as you quilt.

 

And there you have it. Who knows how I will join the blocks.....  

 

Note: On several of the blocks I used a few other techniques besides applique with those triangles but, I will save that for another day. It's probably time to write a few more tutorials....but I'm still in experiment mode.



Finding My Way Home

It's not that one necessarily starts or sets out to create a "Grief Quilt" but rather that one is grieving during the making of that quilt.  It is my experience, that the life behind the quilt has a way of showing up, in the quilt.

I started my journey, map in hand, with the cocky idealism of youth. With a relatively pain free childhood behind me, I thought I knew where I was going. Nothing really prepared me for the unexpected bumps in the road. The mountain tops and the valleys....the exquisite moments of joy and the dark valleys of pain.

Somewhere along the line I threw my map away and discovered that many roads lead home. At times there is the death of a dream but often around the corner is the birth of a new one.  The longer I journey, I find the less I know....perhaps that's a good thing.

There is vulnerability in working improv, as it documents one's journey through life. Perhaps this is why I love working this way so much....for me it's cathartic as I loose myself in the process. 

Then suddenly, the quilt is finished and I am often somewhat restless and bereft at that moment. Such was the case when I finished the quilt I started in Krista's Hennebury's Class (Improv Under the Influence).

Finding My Way Home

Finding My Way Home...close up

The center of the quilt is the orginal set of instructions or map, if you will.  Then somewhere along the way, the quilt took several twists and turns of it's own. The colours started to mingle and things started to fracture. I also incorporated several different techniques along the way....changing things at will. 

I will always see this quilt of part my journey of finding my way through.

Below are several process shots.

And through it all we had a wedding......

 My two beautiful daughters at the rehearsal...

And of course, there is nothing like my beautiful grandchildren to give me a reason to Find My Way Home!!