The Pants

Just over two weeks ago when I picked up Little Man from kindergarten, he quickly showed me the ripped knee in his pants.

I made the pickup with barely ten minutes to spare (short notice + thirty-minute drive in 5:00 traffic) because Daddy wasn't feeling at all well (he's fine now).

And, once Little Man was fed and tucked in bed, and Daddy was steady on his feet again, the pants were sent home with me to "fix."

Okaaaaaay . . . there's no way to mend a threadbare blown-out knee without having it show, so why not make it really show?

I've not done much visible mending but this seemed like the perfect opportunity and, since the pants are already well-worn, I wasn't overly worried about long-term durability of the "repair."

After:  The torn knee stabilized with a layer of fabric under all the stitching.

And I stabilized the other knee stabilized as well.

When I sent this photo to Daddy, his immediate reply was "those are some cool pants!"

And when Little Man saw them, his first reaction was "Awesome!"

* * *

I've been fever-free for just over three days now (hooray!) and my stamina is slowly beginning to return.  The antibiotics are still working their magic (for another 5 days) and I'm doing better at pacing myself so I don't overdo.

Over the weekend I managed an hour in the studio - I'll share those results on Wednesday.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing."

Marc Chagall

Ebullient - the Quilt

In September 2019 I purchased this quilt top

for $20 from an eBay seller who described it 

as "all vintage feedbacks" . . .

I loved its scrappy vibe but really

 doubted the feedsack description

and my doubts were correct.

Once I had the top in hand

I quickly realized that machine quilting

would do nothing to make the top better.

So in early 2020 I offered the top

to Cathy L. since I knew she was a

big stitch hand quilter who loves scrappy.

Lo and behold she offered to big stitch quilt it

for me as a return favor for fabrics I sent to her

to be used in her many, many donation quilts.

I was thrilled to say the least.

The quilted quilt arrived here late last week.

OH MY GOODNESS - I love how Cathy

used multiple colors of thread echoing

the colors in the backing fabric.

She mentioned how often she thought about 

the maker's personality as she quilted.

I used a marbled Stonehenge fabric

to make binding - its blues, purples,

greens, and pinks work beautifully with the 

eclectic fabrics in the top.

Look closely and you'll find double knit polyester,

poplin, seersucker, multiple colorways of the 

same fabric, plaids, florals, and so much more.

I sent Cathy this Art Gallery Pastel Thrift backing -

if you supersize the photo you'll find lots of

typewriter font letters layered behind the plaid.

Finished size 60" x 72"

Needless to say,  I absolutely love Ebullient.

(Zestfully enthusiastic, cheerful, full of energy)

THANK YOU, CATHY!!!!

* * *

On a completely different note,

our neighbor asked me what to do with 

the wedding dress he found among his mother's things.

After a week of research, texts, and emails

younger son and I delivered the dress Friday afternoon

to the Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum here in Memphis.

The staff was so excited about this beautiful

1940s gown - they dressed a mannequin

just so they could take photos to share

on their Facebook page.

The donor is very happy about this outcome

and I am happy to have been part of the process.

Quiltdivajulie

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Wu Wei - Last Finish for 2020

Wu Wei is finished.

You can read the introductory post for it HERE.

This block is near the top of the wall hanging.

This one is near the bottom.

This block is the one in the center.

Hand stitched Kantha-style straight-ish lines

 using several colors of Presencia Perle cottons.

Finished size 15.5" wide x 40.5" long

All three of the hand-stitched pieces are pinned on the

design/display wall at the entrance to my design studio.

(see first photo at the top of this post)

You can read about RAME by clicking HERE.

You can read about LEGACY by clicking HERE.

* * *

The process of stitching these 

was definitely calming and relaxing.

But at this point, I don't know if I'll do any more.

Time will tell.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Even if you think a conversation wasn’t important, be careful about whom you share it with.  One of the most important aspects of listening is being trustworthy.”

Marla Tomazin

Kantha Stitching This Time

Last year I was handed a big stack

of vintage orphan quilt blocks.

This was one of them.

Most of the others were passed along to others.

This was the second one that I kept.

And this was the third one that stayed with me.

They've been in a drawer for over a year now . . . 

I decided to hand stitch them onto 

this length of Moda Bella blue backed with 

more of the vintage damask napkin fabric.

(no batting this time)

I'll use the same Perle cottons used on Rame.

Here you can see one line of basting

with white quilting thread and 

a test line with the darker purple Perle cotton.

And this line of green Perle cotton runs the full length

replacing the center line of basting thread.

I plan to start in the center this time and work out,

alternating from one side to the other

using a different color of thread for each length.

This is more like Kantha style stitching.

(good background articles HERE and HERE)

I've used this method before on my Moodling series

of Priority Quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

(click HERE to see a series of old posts

where Moodling was included)

* * *

I have named this piece WU WEI.

(Adjective describing a Chinese concept and art 

of conscious non-action; to embrace the flow 

instead of effort to achieve a result)

Quiltdivajulie

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“As a writer you try to listen to what others aren’t saying . . . and then write about the silence.”

N.R. Hart

Legacy - Another Hand Stitched Project

A couple of weeks ago 

I started sharing process photos

for this hand stitched project on Instagram.

I spent as many hours stitching outdoors

as the light and weather permitted.

The backing was vintage damask napkin fabric.

The top was a crochet-edged napkin

made by my maternal grandmother.

Three of the four doilies were crocheted

by that same grandmother.

The fourth (darkest round one)

was a thrift market find.

I cannot tell you how much easier this combination

was to stitch compared to Rame.

The fabrics were softer 

and there were no folded edges to stitch through.

Around and around and around 

working from the outside

into the center . . .

And then LEGACY was finished.

You can double click to enlarge the photo

if you want to see more detail.

Here is a look at the damask back.

I've pinned Legacy to the same design/display wall

where several other smaller pieces hang.

They make me smile whenever

I walk into the design studio.

I have another hand stitched project

involving three vintage quilt blocks,

more of that damask backing,

and some blue background fabric.

Once it is underway

I'll share photos here.

I'll never become a true hand quilter

but these small portable pieces

are so soothing to work on . . .

* * *

Another Blogger-related note:

To many of you who haven't seen any comments from me

on your blogs in recent days/weeks -

it seems that the new Blogger is not allowing me

to leave comments on blogs where the comment box

is embedded below the post.

(aside from a few random blogs)

Those that are set up with pop-up comment boxes

seem to be faring a bit better in terms of

my being able to leave comments.

I miss being able to respond to many of you . . . 

I've sent feedback to Blogger about this ongoing issue 

but I haven't heard anything back yet.

If any of you have found a way to get around

this comment-related issue,

please let me know how you resolved it.

Thanks!

* * *

And for those who asked about the polar bear panel -

it is by Andover and available HERE.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Listen to the wind, it talks.  

Listen to the silence, it speaks.  

Listen to your heart, it knows.”

Native American proverb

RAME - a Siddi Quilt

Several weeks ago, Sujata shared on Instagram

that she would be hosting an online Zoom class

named Stories in Stitches

on the making of a Siddi quilt.

I enrolled right away even though

I knew it involved hand stitching

rather than machine piecing.

Step one was to buy a set of No. 8 Perle cotton threads

and select scraps from the stash in related colors.

Step two was to prepare the foundation.

 (laying underneath the colorful boxes)

As Sujata guided us through the process,

I started stitching down my outer row of scraps.

Since she will likely be teaching 

more classes like this one

I will not be sharing the "how to" here

other than sharing my process photos.

The folded raw-edge triangle at each corner 

is called a FULA and Siddi quilts are considered

naked without these bits of ornamentation.

The pink floral patch pinned in place

is called a TIKLI - another form of embellishment

that Sujata suggested was akin to adding sequins.

The Siddi quilt makers in India do not use pins.

As a beginner, I did.

I also learned that if I make another

it will be made using lighter weight fabrics.

Quilting cottons are a bit too "thick" for my hands.

(the Kaffe collective fabrics were easier to needle)

I managed a few rounds of stitching each day

but was careful not to stitch too long at one sitting

so the arthritis in my thumbs wouldn't flare up.

Another big change I would make on a next one

would be to use one color of thread throughout

(even though I love the look of multiple colors)

to reduce the knot-off-and-begin-again starts/stops.

This is my finished quilt.

14.5" wide x 18" long 

This is the back.

I named my little quilt RAME which means 

"something that is chaotic yet joyful at the same time"

* * *

Thank you, Sujata - it was a wonderful class.

Quiltdivajulie

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“I'm a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.”

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Saturday - one week later....

I actually did some hand stitching yesterday ~ during all of this time in the recliner, my brain finally sorted out why I've been so completely stalled on the Ice Cream Roses project. Thanks, Jude ~ your body of work has inspired and motivated me to do the soft edge applique by hand instead of with the sewing machine. I will feather the edges as I go... and I doubt seriously that the final layout will resemble what had been contemplated originally. This is the first block ~ sunning itself atop a log.
For those who have asked where DH gets the wood for his turnings ~ here are photos of the most recent additions to his stash. All but the tallest one are from a huge cherry tree. The single tall piece is holly (very rare to find one this size).

Stash acquisition note: DH and one of his woody-type friends were crawling about in a local mulch yard just before dusk (after business hours) retrieving these treasures when the local police came by, ran the plates on our car, verified ID, and waited while the guys called the owner of the yard to confirm for the police that the guys had his permission to remove the logs. You can imagine the funny versions of this story that are evolving!

To give you some idea of scale ~ Tippy (upper left corner) weighs about four pounds...

Taking it easy today ~ finally appear to be fever free ~ while you can "survive" on Gatorade for 5 days, you have very little energy or stamina...

Enjoy your weekend!

Where I Am

Please double click to enlarge the comic ~

This is where I've been this week and will be for the next few days. One of my attorneys is headed into a trial that starts Monday so I'll be working over the weekend as he finishes preparations. [I plan to take my latest Priority Quilt project (more moodling) and my laptop so I have things to do in between editing sessions.]

See ya'll next week!


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"I've been thinking, Hobbes -- "

"On a weekend?!?"

"Well, it wasn't on purpose..."

(Calvin and Hobbes -- I miss that comic strip!)