This and That

As occasionally happens, I’ve collected a number of items to share that are unrelated, but I’m sure you’ll find them interesting. We’ll start with a quilt my friend Nina made for her grandson Corey. It was inspired by Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and she calls it Corey’s Neighborhood.

It includes Corey’s house, the neighborhood school, park, fire station, etc. Nina gifted it to him with some toy trucks. Adorable!

Then, Pamela found my blog while surfing the web for information about a Sunbonnet Sue quilt made by her grandmother.

“Hello-I was thrilled to see your post with the “Sunbonnet Sue” variation. I’ve been looking for the original pattern without any luck at all because I have a queen size quilt my grandmother made over  50 years ago with this same Sue block. I am now restoring the quilt-actually remaking it as the fabric in the rest of the quilt is deteriorating badly. It is basically useless now, but the Sue Appliques are perfect. She embellished hers with ruffled cotton eyelet lace on bonnet and skirt.  I have twenty one of them and am considering making two twin size quilts with ten appliqués each and will frame one block. It may take me a while to do this but I just have to preserve my grandmother’s handiwork. I’d love to share a photo with you, if you’d like to contact me at my email address.  Thanks again for posting-it was a kind thing you did for your friend!  Regards, Pamela”

I replied by telling her how lovely it was to know she desired to preserve her grandmother’s quilt in such a special way, and asked if I could share it. She was pleased and sent me a photo of “one of the few blocks that isn’t in tatters”. 

It’s the same block as the ones I put together for my friend’s niece (click here and scroll down in that post for Isabelle’s quilt story).

I’m looking forward to seeing Pamela’s quilt completed!

And I have one last story to share from the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. At the end of the last day, after talking with Steve and LuAnn about their scissors holsters, I turned the corner in the vendor mall and met Kelly in the Sew Lite booth. Ever since I had trifocal lenses inserted during my cataract surgery last year, I’ve been able to see at all distances without glasses! It’s been a huge blessing. BUT… I need really bright light to read. The lamp on the table next to my chair is “almost” bright enough. So, I’ve been on the lookout for a better option. When I saw the very bright “XTV Versa™ Rechargeable Multi-Light” hanging from Kelly’s shirt I was intrigued.

There are two very bright lights at the end of the black wires. The flat metal pieces at the top of the photo on the right are a two piece magnet that holds the battery pack and lights to your shirt front. Just look at the difference it made while I was doing my devotions this morning. This is with the table light on and the Multi-lites off:

And this is with the Multi-lites turned on:

It’s spectacular! I’m hooked! And they are made in the USA!!! Click here to visit their website.

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And one more thing…

I was so encouraged to see Karen’s finished quilt in my previous post about the Carson Valley Quilt Guild, that it inspired me to share a few other encouraging moments I’ve had recently…

Patty emailed me a photo of a past project she finished, along with this message:

“I spoke to you after the Saturday Tips lecture at the Wisconsin Quilt Show. Mentioned that I’d taken a class from you many years ago in Oshkosh.  A couple of years ago, I found the quilt that I’d started and decided the time was right to finish it.  Turned into kind of a memory quilt – lace from a project I did for my brother, buttons from my Mom’s button box, lace leaves I made when I got my embroidery machine.  Everything that I had lying around the house waiting to be used brought back a memory.”

What an elegant art quilt! Well done Patty!

Also, a few week’s ago I presented my Modular Memory Quilts lecture to the North Shore Quilter’s Guild and did some reconnecting. As I began to set up I noticed Judy sitting in the front row with a friend. I was tickled when I read her name tag. Every Sunday morning when I post to my blog, without fail, a dear quilter comments with kind words of encouragement. It means a lot to me, but I couldn’t remember where I knew “Judy” from. And it was her! I was so pleased to have the chance to thank her.

My friend Nina (Corey’s grandma) was at the meeting too, and she’d brought a project for show and tell that she made in one of my Repliqué workshops 20 years ago. I love it!

So much encouragement. Blessing upon blessing. Thanks ladies!