Monday, September 30, 2013

And the winner is..

I just wrote a To-Do list for the day.
Drinking Hot Chocolate now.
And talking to my one year old now too!

Thanks for this great giveaway!

I've sent you a message!

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to play along with my silly question entries.  It may have seemed a strange request, but I was curious, for the sake of curiosity and also with a purpose.  See, recently, my son's school district has decided to stop teaching cursive/script writing.  This has made me think.  A lot.  I was not quick to anger or argue, because I know times are changing and that many things already have changed (Did I even tell you about the time in London when we passed a red phone booth and I had to explain to George what it was for?  Or when I told him his grandmother didn't have computers when she was a kid and he said in shock, "Not even a touchscreen!" Ahh.. things have definitely changed).
But I have sought out discussions and opinions on the topic, on Facebook and in real life, and I'm slowly working through how I feel about this monumental difference between my life experience and those of my children. 
Waay back before I was a quilter, I was a writer.  Not this kind of writer, a blog writer or a book writer, but a letter writer.  I had lots of pen pals, tons of stationary and pens (and stickers, and stamps, and any other office supply I could get my hands on).  I may have written about this before at some point, but here I want to record my feelings on handwriting.  On how important it is.  How much of an identity marker it is to me.  When I see my grandmother's script, I can hear her voice.  My mom's-- I envision her hands. (Funny, my husband's handwriting evokes his accent)  My own handwriting is something that I spent years refining, and just remembering the pages I have filled with it brings me some sort of comfort and calm, not unlike looking at my own quilts.
I assume that my boys will both learn to write-- to print with pencil and paper-- of course.  But will their handwriting become something that will identify them?  Will they take pride in it?  Will it reveal bits of their personality?
In the discussions, people say that cursive is outdated, unnecessary.  But if they don't learn to write it, will they still learn to read it?  I can't imagine a world where my children won't be able to read the notes I've written them in their baby books.  Where transcriptions will be necessary to read primary sources and other documents that are less than decades old?  Yes, this is getting emotional for me.. sorry.  One friend directed me to this website on the subject, and it gives more to ponder.  I think there's more to cursive writing than the school district is paying attention to..

So I asked, what was the last thing you wrote by hand.  The majority of people said some sort of list, either a to-do list or a grocery list.  Lots of people wrote notes or cards.  Many of you wrote checks.  One person commented that she wrote in a journal.  A real paper journal.  That's good.  I have  a paper journal too, one that I occasionally jot down what the boys and I do with our days-- funny things they did or said, Jack's baby milestones.  I have a notebook of lists and ideas too that gets used more often.  But the last thing I wrote was my signature on a credit card receipt at the quilt shop.  (The last thing I ate was a ghost shaped marshmallow).

Anyway, I've always been a fan of material culture, and I just wanted to use this space to record how I feel about this cultural change.  I worry that they won't teach cursive and then in 10-20 years they'll discover that it was a mistake, that it actually is important and we'll have a generation of people who are lacking this skill-- kind of like how they stopped teaching Home Ec. in high school and now my generation can't cook or feed itself healthy foods and so many other essential home-related skills are just missing!  Ok, no tangents.

I'll leave you with some pages of Slams.  These are small booklets that penpals passed to each other and answered questions written inside.  When the pages were full the book would be sent back to the maker (or the person it was made for) to read, laugh, save.. just a bit of material culture, handwriting included.





Friday, September 27, 2013

My favorite quilt

There's a party going on over at Mary's blog.. she wants to see our favorite quilts.  I like a lot of the quilts I've made.  Some that I see every day I'm tired of, and others that I've given away I've almost forgotten about.. but there's one that I'm happy to catch glimpses of every time I walk through the house.  I'm happy to make George's bed every day.  The Spider web is my favorite:

 I made this quilt for George, with George, in 2010.  I love so many things about it, all the memories, all the fabrics.. The light blue background was a Ralph Lauren shirt of my husband's.  The deep blue border was a print I found a JoAnn's.  Before George was born, I bought baby stuff in greens and browns, the nursery was painted green, his baby quilt was green, blue & yellow.. but after I met him and got to know him.. he's not really a brown kid.  He was much more primary colored.. So I made this quilt with red (at the time I really didn't like red, but it kept creeping into my quilts) and blue.  He was 2 years old, by the way..
(after that he went through a Red & Grey period, followed by a Green & Grey period, then it was just Grey.. and now that he's in kindergarten, his favorite color is Pink.)
Spider web quilts take a long time to make, so I have lots and lots of process shots..
I foundation pieced the triangles onto a paper my husband had written.  And when it was time to remove the paper, George helped.

When the quilt was done (a few weeks after the local annual quilt show, so I didn't get to show it), we used it, and used it, and used it.  I think George got tired of the photo shoots, but I couldn't get enough.



When I made this quilt, I was really in my groove .  Going back and looking at pictures, I was so into quilting.  I mean,  I'm still so into quilting, but lots has changed, life has gotten so much fuller.. I finished grad school, went back to work, wrote a book, had a baby, and stopped working again.  Now I'm a full time mom.  And I mean FULL TIME.  Really, I'd like a break.  Just half a day to sit in the sewing room and play, or clean, or iron even!  So I can look at this quilt and look back on that time.. when things were simpler.  Remember the happiness then and enjoy it.  
  
A note about the quilting... it was an early attempt at free motion.  I did it on my Kenmore.  Ripping the papers out had loosened a lot of the seams so I wanted to quilt it densely for strength.  My lines are wobbly and uneven, but I kept going and quilted it with passion.  I remember enjoying the quilting process.  And now when I run my hand over it when George is tucked in bed, I think, "That was me.  I made this."  And I'm proud of myself for the effort.  

Thursday, September 26, 2013

First Steps to FMQ-- Blog Tour & Giveaway

Do you quilt your own quilts?  The last quilt I hand quilted (start to finish) was George's baby quilt, finished in early 2009.  Then I sent one to a long-armer, and by late 2009, I was ready to give machine quilting a try.  Even though I read a lot of blogs about machine quilting, it was still a rough, bumpy event.
1994 Detail (2009)
We still use that quilt, but I have learned a lot since.  A year or so later, I tried out wavy vertical lines with my walking foot, and that somehow became my 'go to' pattern for any quilt I needed quilted quickly.  It's great, I still do it, but I can't really fairly say "Yes, I machine quilt my quilts."  Come on, I've got one pattern.
Well, it's time to break out of that one pattern rut and start playing..


My friend Christina has written a book and asked me to help get the word out.  When I got my copy I was so excited--                                     'Oh wow!  I love this!'
  'I have that fabric!'
                        'This looks so cool'
         'I love her photography!'

And I'm like, "sure!  I can promote your book!  I quilt!"  I flipped through the book and instantly wanted to make about 6 of the projects.  I thought it'd be nice to make one to show off for the blog hop.  The construction was simple, so I got started-- pieced the top, layered and spray basted.. and then..

Um.  No.  

I got too scared to quilt it.  Because, no, I really didn't know how (or I should say I didn't feel comfortable) to free motion quilt.

That's when I shelved my blind enthusiasm and opened First Steps to Free Motion Quilting as a guide book, with the intent of learning a new skill.  And wow, it worked.  There is so much information in this book, all neatly organized, easy to understand, with clear directions that are easy to follow.  If you read her blog, you know that Christina has always made machine quilting look easy, but now we know how she does it. ;)

I started with some practice pads and I worked on the patterns I have always wanted to try.

I used some left over Mile-a-Minute blocks and turned them into coasters.  I tried vines, pebbles, echoing paisleys, and spirals.  Some of my lines looked good, some were crap, but what mattered was that I was no longer scared of doing it.  I know with practice I'll get better.
I also started doodling patterns -- I used the magnetic doodle board lying in the play room, easy to draw and erase, no worries about the kids messing it up.

Gradually I built up the confidence to try out some quilting on the book project, and hey, it didn't turn out too bad.  (You can see it better on the back-- and don't mind the broken threads.. sometimes my top thread catches on the feed dogs, even though they're down, while FMQing.  I should take it to be serviced, right?)

 I tried a vine, zigzags, spirals, even George's name... and honestly, each pattern just made me want to go back and try out some more. I was totally surprised that of all I tried, the square spirals are the ones I liked doing the best.  I've been daydreaming about quilts with thin borders ever since..
So here it is:  I made a little chair cushion for George's play table chair.  He was super excited about it, and so was I.  (Christina's pattern is for a regular sized chair, but I adjusted it for George).
Are you like me, a fake free motion quilter?  Are you scared, or don't know where to start?  This book is great for walking you, step by step, past that fear and into a place where you can start to get creative with your needle.  Most of the 24 projects are small and fast, so you can try out a bunch of different designs and techniques and add skills quickly.  Soon you'll feel confident enough to quilt your own quilts with enthusiasm instead of anxiety.  Quilting should be fun, right?  I also love that all of her practice projects end up being cute little items perfect for gift-giving.  I hope I'll find time to make a few more before Christmas..

If you would like to win a copy of First Steps to Free Motion Quilting (a US winner can choose between a hard copy and an ebook, an international winner will get an ebook.), leave me a comment telling me the last thing you wrote by hand, the last thing you ate, and the last person you talked to.  I'll choose a winner on Monday, 9/30. 

And don't forget to stop by the rest of the stops of the tour for more chances to win!
9/25: Allison Rosen at Stash Books Blog 
9/26: Jessica Alexandrakis at Life Under Quilts  (you're here!)
9/27: Monica Solorio-Snow at Happy Zombie 
9/28: Susan Beal at West Coast Crafty 
9/29: Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio 
9/30: Angela Walters at Quilting is my Therapy 
10/1: Amanda Jean Nyberg at Crazy Mom Quilts 
10/2: Megan Dye at Megs Monkey Beans
10/3: Victoria Findlay Wolfe at Victoria Findlay Wolfe Quilts 
10/4: Katie Pedersen at Sew Katie Did 
10/5: Christina Cameli at A Few Scraps

Friday, September 20, 2013

The List

Helen came over for lunch the other day and we were discussing The Modern Quilt Guild and changes in our NYC chapter since it started.  We talked about a lot of things, and I mentioned my habit of getting overly inspired by blogs, instagram and previously pinterest and Flickr.  I said whenever I start to feel like I'm chasing the crowd,  I stop.  I try to pull myself back, and regain focus on my quilts and the quilts I want to be making instead of just jumping in and making one of the hot patterns of the day (which I'm not knocking and have done in the past (scrap vomit in 2012,  coins in 2009, spiderweb in 2010), they have their place in history and build skills as well as clear the head.  Plus it's fun to be involved in an at-the-moment thing).
But back to the list.  I don't know when it started exactly, but at some point I started writing down a list of all the people whose quilts I like.  The quilts I could stare at for days in blissful wonder.  Susan McCord's vine quilt comes to mind as an example.  
Susan McCord's Vines quilt.
 Helen was surprised to hear who was on my list, I guess because the quilts I've finished don't exactly show these quilters as influences.  See, I didn't say "my quilts" there, because my collection of unfinished quilts probably gives a better picture of my personal influences and aesthetic. So many of the quilts I've tried, I've loved, I've poured myself into, never made it to completion.  But when I see myself as a quilter,  I see those quilts too.

This is my List:
Janet (from the NYC Mod Guild)
Debbie Steinmann (from the ATL Intown Guild)
Charlotta
and of course, my own great grandmother,
Theresa Gleiter
Detail of my great grandmother's fan quilt.  Yes, she marked her quilting pattern in PEN.

Are you surprised to learn who's on my list?  Do you have a list of your own?

Friday, September 13, 2013

Scrappy Plus Along

Oh Instagram.. you are always there, always giving me eye candy, tempting me with coupon codes and pretty fabrics.  Pictures of quilts and pets, pets on quilts, babies, food..
This week Brenda put up a nice simple quilt block, and she tagged it #scrappyplusalong.  Hmm.  Then another, and another.  There are so many wonderful quilt alongs happening now on IG, but none of them made me want to drop what I was doing and sew a block until this one..

This is very very fun, does anyone else want to join in?

Oh, and thank you so much for all the great arts and crafts suggestions!  I have browsed the links and plan to start on a few projects as soon as I collect some materials (kicking myself for donating all of my yarn 2 years ago..).  From the stuff George has brought home this first week, it looks like they are actually getting pretty creative over there after all-- scissors, glue, tissue paper, drawings.. but it's all focused on the day's lesson, which is great.  When he gets home from school, all he wants to do is play in the yard with dirt, sticks and rocks.. he mixes them with water into "potions", so maybe I should do some searches for science activities.  Updates to follow~

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Arts and Crafts-- Suggestions Please!

George starts Kindergarten this week and while that's really exciting, I'm also feeling a bit overwhelmed and under-prepared..

We went to the orientation last week and the teachers gave us an idea of the curriculum and activities the kids will work through.  It seems like it's very focused and academic, which is great, but they made it seem like the kids won't have much time for arts, crafts, music and phys. ed.  All that falls back on me then..

While I've always been good at seasonal crafting with George, I feel like I've got to step it up this fall because he won't have the creative outlet at school (his Pre-K was VERY crafty).  So, do you have any suggestions of your favorite fall crafts for kids?  Indoor, outdoor, messy, calm.. I'm open to all ideas.  If you can send links, photos, descriptions, that would really help.   I used to be so good about pinning things to Pinterest, but now I just don't have the time to browse and get sucked in, you know?  I will go back to my "Being a mom" board, but this week, any help you give will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Monday Morning Star Count 11

Welcome to the final Star Count of the summer~
How did you do?  I hope our weekly tallies helped you get a bit more stitching done.  I know I accomplished a lot with this reminder.. I actually found direction for a project that otherwise might have stalled after 2 or 3 stars. 
I'm happy to show that I reached my goal of 7 stars, and I started putting them together with neutral background diamonds in a 7 Sisters pattern.  This pattern was so fun and so easy, that I really hope to continue and see if it can grow into a quilt. 
I may have done more this summer, but I have a confession to make-- my fingers hurt.  Not from quilting, but from playing Super Mario Bros. on Wii.  See, George discovered the game and we've been playing.. first I'd play and he'd watch.  Then we learned how to play with 2 remotes.  I am NOT a big video game player, but it is addictive and I may or may not have played for a while after he went to bed on some nights.  It's fun, but that Wii remote is hell on my thumbs!  After 30 minutes of Mario, I couldn't hand piece for a day! 
This is "balance"though, and in the long run (and now) I value the time spent with George more than having a quilt finished sooner.  As soon as he's back in school though...  I've got great plans to pull out the sewing machine, a big box of strips and strings, and make something!

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the Star Count this summer.  Who's got something to show for the last week?

Free Zoom Quilt Class, October 20.

    Free Live Online Craft Class Learn to quilt with Jessica Wed., Sept. 9 Tues., Oct., 20, Nov. 9 7:00 – 8:00 pm Sign up now.   Take one or...