Birds, a medallion quilt

I started this simple quilt in 2015 when I flew out to Oakland to be with my daughter and son-in-law and to meet my new grandson just days after his birth.

I had no plan for the quilt top, it just grew, and when my daughter expressed a desire to have the finished product as well as for it to be larger, I added a row at the top and bottom.

The two red, white and black bird fabrics are Japanese. The greenish fabric in the nine-patch blocks has colorful, whimsical owls - I love anything with owls!

I stitched in the ditch between the rows in both directions and then big-stitched with perle cotton on the blocks. I had no plan for the big stitching, just did what I felt like as it progressed. Blue big-stitching outlines the large birds in the center blocks. Big-stitched black arcing lines run around the blocks inside the red border. On the remaining blocks, I big-stitched circles in black or white.

The quilt seems to ramble. My daughter loves it - says it's the most beautiful thing she owns. Now that is gratification. Plus, even more gratifying, she and her husband and my precious little grandson now live in Minneapolis.

The quilt with no plan except to be with my daughter.

~Andrea

White Privilege

I am in a small group of eight women who get together monthly, challenging ourselves to learn new techniques and processes from each other. We call ourselves the Loose Threads. Here is a photo of a few of us at our July meeting. Gingerly, I am hand stitching, gingerly, due to a fractured left elbow (it has almost healed completely, thank goodness.)  Thanks to fellow Loose Thread, Carol (of Giraffe Dreams) who took the photo.

WHITE PRIVILEGE,  36" x 36"

"White Privilege" is made entirely of fabrics having a print of either a writing script or a children's theme. Snowballs blocks with children's prints run on the diagonal, progressing in time from vintage (lower left) to contemporary (upper right,) 

On the snowball blocks, I did big stitching with black perle cotton to emphasize the hexagon shapes. I made all of the pinwheels from the little triangles left from the snowball blocks. I put the pinwheels into blocks of four with a black perle cotton tie in the center. 

I used all nine children's print fabrics in my stash, of which only two showed children of color. Hence the name "White Privilege."

The numerous script fabrics vary from antique-looking scripts to contemporary, and include a crossword puzzle, a Japanese script, a script that looks something like hieroglyphics, and a faint cursive script surrounded by tiny birds sitting on telephone wires.

In my forty year career, I worked with children and youth of all ages, mostly in the inner city. They were my inspiration for this piece.

"White Privilege" was exhibited in venues all over  the Twin Cities in an exhibit called "Cycles" put together by Minnesota Contemporary Quilters. The exhibit ran from June 2016 through May 2017.

Details of White Privilege:

                      Upper right:

                     Lower left:

~Andrea

Staycation postcard

 (The solid black edge on three sides of the postcard are the table, not the postcard.)

This goes back to 2012. I made this postcard one afternoon and submitted it to 

the on-line site for Quilting Arts magazine, for the postcard theme challenge, "Staycation."

It was not published. It was not mailed back to me (naturally.) I recently came across this photo.

"Using fabric scraps of folded, hand-dyed pastels, I pieced a row of vertical stripes to represent the sky at dusk. Below it, a similar row using batiks represents the nature pond behind our house. I left all the fabric edges raw. Three vertical pieces of black glittery ribbon on the lower row suggest the sparkle of the pond's dark surface. With metallic gold elastic and a button, I formed the setting sun with rays of light across the pond.  

I walk around our pond nearly every evening. The summer breeze and changing light cause all of the elements – airy, watery, greenery – to shift and transform. 

Materials used: hand-dyed cotton, batik cotton, metallic gold elastic, button, glittery ribbon, cotton thread, glue, fusible stiff interfacing."

~Andrea

Blogging again?

A few years hiatus ... to mourn my mother's death; become a long-distance commuting grandmother; help my daughter, son-in-law and grandson move to Minnesota; and travel with my husband.

Here's the log cabin quilt I made while anticipating my grandson's birth.  The logs are one inch wide,  finished. The three inch square centers have a bunny theme - bunnies playing, hiding, running around.... The finished blocks are 13 inches square. Thirteen is my lucky number. I was married on the 13th and my daughter was born on the 13th.
:

My grandson (right) in his first year, socializing with a little friend on his quilt:

In an older post, I showed a quilt called "Det er så koselig." After my grandson's birth, I embroidered his name in the lime green rectangle and it now hangs in his bedroom.

~Andrea

Hello baby, soon...

This past week I sewed a baby quilt for my niece and her husband's little baby girl, whose birth is due in October. I think every baby should have a traditional baby quilt.

The fabrics came from my stash.  I love it when unrelated fabrics come together so happily.

My mother, who died this past winter, would have ooh-ed and ah-ed over this quilt.  (Maybe she spoke to me.)  It was comforting to make.

~~Andrea

Clyde ' s quilt

Clyde as a newborn

Clyde at about one month

My friend Grace has her first grandchild, Clyde. I made him this baby quilt.

Baby Clyde is now 6 months old, smiling, laughing and very sociable.

Clyde at 6 months

Grandma Grace adores him.

~Andrea

Dakota County Star Quilters' show, continued

Here are some more photos, starting with my patient husband.

Enjoy the inspiration! I would like to join these quilters but the drive to the guild meetings is a little long. I keep up with them through four friends who are members.

~Andrea