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I unintentionally sent out my post announcement for this week with the title “Shells, Rocks and Fibers”, and yet – this week’s post is about puzzles ~ and the other “Shells, Rocks and Fibers” will appear next week. Sorry for the confusion. I guess I wanted to make this week’s email really puzzling 🤔.

Here is “Puzzling Quilts”:

I recently taught for a guild in Illinois and this crossword puzzle quilt was shared during show and tell. I loved it and had to snap a picture. In going through my photos recently I decided many of you would enjoy it too. Sadly, I didn’t get the name of the maker. If anyone knows who she is, please add it to the comments.

I am a puzzler at heart and love all types of puzzles. So I’ve made a few puzzle quilts myself. Way back during Wisconsin’s Sesquicentennial, I entered a guild challenge with that as the theme. Each of the words in the puzzle had something to do with our wonderful State, and the fabric squares (which all came from my stash) did too. I was so pleased with the puzzle part that I decided to border it with the four seasons in Wisconsin, and added buttons and embellishments. The book buttoned to the top right corner contains the clues to the puzzle. It was great fun to make and a winner at the State Fair that year.

In June of 2020 I made a quilt for a challenge in the ThreadBenders group entitled “Puzzled No More” (Click here to read that post). This one focuses on jigsaw puzzle pieces rather than a crossword puzzle theme. There are jigsaw puzzle pieces in the appliqués and the quilting too.

And while writing about jigsaw puzzles, 2020 was a puzzling year for me because I also made a baby quilt for my niece’s baby boy Remington. Remmy’s is an “I spy” puzzle quilt (Click here to read the post).

I even love jigsaw puzzles with a quilty theme.

In 2024 one of the miniature quilts entered in the AQS Paducah show was a sudoku quilt. I have to admit ~ I’m hooked on sudoku also. So I was really intrigued by Charles Cameron’s work. His design of the numbers is fascinating.

And for a really crazy puzzle quilt that I haven’t shared in a long time… this is “Puzzling Spumoni”.

If you want to hear that story, please come to my lecture at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. I’ll be sharing it’s story and you can see it there “in the cloth”.

Have you made any type of puzzle quilt?

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And one more thing…

Diane sent me photos of three quilts she’s made in response to a post I did last month about a “Gray Quilt”. Here’s what she said:

“Gray seems to be the color of the day! I have made these three quilts recently all using grays and beiges.”

Gray is very in right now – and these quilts use it beautifully! I especially love all the curves! Thanks Diane!

Lakeland Baptist in Iron River, MI is a small church pastored by Paul and his sweet wife Joann. Joann attended my talk at a Christian women’s retreat 2 years ago (click here for a post about it) and she felt that my talk would be a good outreach to the quilters in her area. There is an old high school building in Iron River that has been repurposed for a number of interesting uses and the church rented the “cafeteria” for our gathering because of the large space and good lighting. It was perfect ~ and of course I forgot to take any photos of the talk 😞. But here’s the building we were in.

We had a nice sized group and they were all so kind and interested. The attendees took many of my Mom’s tracts afterwards, and I actually sold quite a few books too ~ an unexpected bonus! Joann said that very few speakers and teachers are willing to make the long drive up to the U.P. because of the distance. I think they’re missing out. The trip up was beautiful and the people were so welcoming. What a blessing!

After speaking and then chatting with everyone, another Joanne engaged me in a conversation about the quilt guild that met in the same building. Part of the Windsor Center is an art and entertainment venue, but other areas are rented out to various businesses and groups. What a great idea! So many of these old buildings are torn down, but this one lives on. There were an eclectic mix of rentees, but my favorite by far was the Carrie Jacobs-Bond Quilters. They rent 3 “science” rooms ~ and what a perfect fit! Here’s their front entrance, lockers and all!

Joanne told me that she wanted to hang the spool quilt she made for the group (on the left) out in the hall, but some of the members thought it might be “taken”. So she painted it on the wall. After a while she couldn’t stand the emptiness around it and began to bring in other items. They’ve never been bothered. What a sweet entryway!

In the first room each member has their own table and machine that they are able to leave set up and ready to go year round! Joanne and Michaeline were pleased to give me the grand tour.

Just look at those gorgeous oak cabinets in each room ~ perfect for storing fabric and quilting supplies.

Daniel, one of their members, was at my talk. He was very interested in some of the techniques I use and asked great questions. I found out later that quilting isn’t his only talent. He made the cutting tables for the guild.

The third room not only has another of Daniel’s tables, but a long arm for the members to use!

And did you notice the roll of batting at the end of the cutting table? Yup ~ They’ve made cutting large batting pieces easy. Brilliant! Wish I had room for that in my studio.

The ladies told me that their rent is very reasonable and is covered by the guild member dues. With the long winters they have up in the UP I can see that this space would be heavenly for each and every member.

Thank you to everyone at Lakeland Baptist Church, and to all who came and made that day so special. I actually will be heading back up to Michigan, Iron Mountain this time, to teach at a quilt show in October. I can’t wait!

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And one more thing…

A few days after my visit to the UP, I was heading north again to lecture and teach for the Evergreen Quilters in Green Bay. What a fun group. I presented my Tradition With a Twist lecture on a Tuesday evening, and the next day my Seminole Sampler workshop. The class was a joy and I did get a few photos this time.

I think it’s safe to say that a good time was had by all! Thanks ladies!

And a special thank you to Kathy who hosted me in her beautiful “quilt filled” home.

In 2022 my friend Cathy and I visited a quilt show in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (the UP). It was a great trip (click here to read about it). Last week I was invited to present a talk for a church in Iron River ~ so I was able to return to that beautiful area. And what a great trip it was! I arrived on Friday night and members of Lakeland Baptist Church invited me to their home for a delicious, really home made dinner. They raise their own beef, grow their own vegetables and are both wonderful cooks.

If that weren’t enough ~ Jan is a “hooker” (rug hooker that is 🤣). She told me that she’s made a few quilts, but she didn’t really enjoy cutting up larger pieces of fabric and then trying to get all the tiny corners to match. She actually thinks hand-quilting the finished tops is more fun. That’s not something I hear very often. Then she said that a friend introduced her to rug hooking and she found her niche. Her home was covered with hooked rugs ~ like mine is covered with quilts. And John was more than happy to give me a tour of her work! As I began to take photos I discovered I couldn’t choose a favorite. They were all wonderful. I was impressed by the very first one. This long runner that laid atop their shoes was designed by Jan. She and John are on the right, along with all their animals on Sunset Farm.

You read that right ~ she creates her own personal designs! This one is in honor of their two donkeys who have passed.

Another floor rug was made from a traditional quilt pattern.

And this one is based on a Scripture verse.

Aren’t her designs delightful!!!

She also does “penny rugs”, and the way she displays them is charming.

The following are some of the hooked rugs hanging on the walls. Jan made the “partridge in a pear tree” as a Christmas hanging she could leave up year round.

And once again, her artistic flair is evident in the way she displays each one.

She even dabbles in Russian Punch Needle.

Thank you Jan and John for a memorable evening. As it was coming to a close I was able to get a photo of Jan with her wool stash. Even that is displayed in a beautiful way. The wool is in the cupboard, and the “worms” (cut strings of wool) are in the bins on top.

It was a delicious and delightful visit! And the next day I presented my quilting/faith journey talk to some of the church members as well as quilters from around the area whom they’d invited. What a joyful event! But I think I’ll save the details, along with the special quilting group in Iron River, for next week.

PS As I was writing this week’s post it reminded me of another friend who designs her own hooked rugs. Julie is a “hooker” and a “stripper” (quilt maker 😂). Her rugs are quite different from Jan’s, and just as amazing. To read that post click here.

PPS After adding the above PS I reread my post about Julie and realized it was written before her second journey with cancer. I think I should add “the rest of the story”: After a long, hard battle, Julie beat stage 4 uterine cancer. Since then she’s had some additional health issues, as has her husband. The Lord has gotten them through a lot, and she is still active and filled with joy. God bless you Julie!

After having grandkids here most of the summer, along with mom’s home-going, I realized I hadn’t sat down to sew for months. And I NEEDED to. My friends Ann and Ryan had a wedding approaching, so I gave myself permission to sew for a whole day!

The pattern I used to make this quilt is by Ruth Ann Berry (click here to visit her site). She owns the Quilter’s Clinic in Michigan, and she vends at many shows. I love her 3-D style of piecing. I took her class on Zen Doodling a few years ago in Madison. She’s a very good teacher and I enjoyed the class but I found that, even though I was a pretty good doodler in my college notebooks and I love to free-motion “doodle” on my quilts, Zen doodling isn’t really my thing. I did however really like the pattern she included in our kit for using the doodled fabric blocks we made in class. While my granddaughter Rainee was here we visited Ann, and I noticed her living room was decorated in neutral grays and beige. So I picked these favorites from my stash.

Ryan’s last name is Gray, and Ann said she likes that color ~ so my palette was decided. I had to adjust the pattern a bit, but was pleased with the results when the piecing was complete (please note – the gray border fabric is bluer in the photo than in reality).

You might have noticed that I used two different fabrics for the sashing and borders. That’s because I didn’t have enough of the gray or the brown to do it all 🤣.

After piecing the top I came to the realization that my life had gotten back to some semblance of “normal”, and I’ve been able to find more time to quilt – praise the Lord! So I was able to quilt and finish this piece in time for the wedding (whew).

For the back I chose a soft Shannon gray and loved the quilting process. When I teach classes on quilting I often tell my students that I don’t have the entire quilting design in mind when I begin. I pick an area that looks like a fun place to start – and I start. This time I decided to straight line quilt all the sashing around the blocks using a ruler and my Sweet 16.

Then I noodled on what to quilt in each square. A “G” was a must, along with a heart or two (free motion quilting around a freezer paper heart made that block a breeze).

I also wanted to include a cross:

and an appropriate Scripture verse:

When done I had quite a sampler of quilting designs, and the back was as interesting

as the front:

Now to get a photo of the newlyweds with their quilt!

Back in 2022 I did a fun post about buttons inspired by a blog reader. Lorraine’s collection was amazing.

You can click here to visit that post 😊.

Another post from the past featured silly covered buttons.

I made them for a quilt I call Bug Bouquet and used my friend Cathy’s button maker. Click here to read about them.

One of my “Crossings” quilts is held together with buttons instead of beads. In 2012 my daughter-in-law Betsy and I collaborated on a project in which we were inspired by each other’s work. We called it “Kirsch Art”. We even had a few exhibits! Click here to read a post about it all. The framed photograph was taken by Betsy of a deserted roadside sign. It inspired my quilt “Where to?”

And the shirt buttons that cross the gap and hold the “broken” pieces of my quilt together were even stitched with arrows.

I recently discovered a Facebook page entitled Button Arts. I find many of the projects they post fascinating. Here are a few of my favorites:

That last one reminded me of a vase I have in my kitchen made by my dear friend Pam.

Click here to visit the Facebook page of Button Arts ~ and be prepared to be inspired.

And while we’re “talking” about fasteners… I made a quilt a few years ago for a small challenge about the sun. Around that same time I’d seen a photograph of a fiber art piece embellished completely with “fasteners”. It was made by a woman named Clara,

and it’s story still makes me smile. To read it please click here.

I was so intrigued that I had to dig through my stuff to find the right embellishments for my sun. If you look closely you’ll see snaps, hooks and eyes among all the beads. I wrote two posts about the making of this quilt and you can read about it by clicking here and here.

I was reminded of Clara’s art recently because Donna made a comment to that past post:

“I was looking for information about Clara online this morning when I came across this delightful blog. I thought you’d like to know that Clara Bleak passed away last Thursday (July, 23rd, 2026). She was 101 years old! She was still displaying and talking about her wallhanging. As far as I know, there are no plans for a service; though she had many friends at Founder’s Ridge.“

Thank you for reaching out Donna. It brought me joy to read that previous post about Clara’s wallhanging all over again. Even though I never met Clara, she was an inspiration to me.

In September I’ll be teaching a class at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison entitled “Quilt, Slash, Create”. I taught this at the Madison show a few years ago and all three classes sold out (praise God!) This past Spring I had the privilege of teaching it in Paducah as well. What fun!

Cathy was in that class and recently she sent me a photo of her finished quilts, along with this note:

“Chris, I took your Slash and Create class at Paducah in April. I thought you might like to see my finished wall art. I loved making my first “modern art” quilt. I’m already planning my next one!”

Great work Cathy! Keep on creating!

In the beginning of July Doris sent me this in an email:

“I’m so excited to be enrolled in your “Quilt, Slash, Create” class in September (I jumped on it right away because I am sure it will fill up in no time); however, my brain is not processing how this works in terms of the FQs I am trying to choose.”  

I must admit that wording the supply list for this class was a bit tricky for me because the students start with 4 fat quarters and end up with two 2-sided quilts. I responded to her that “the quilts will be reversible so you’ll want 2 fqs for the front that coordinate, and another 2 for the back that coordinate, but front and back don’t have to go together. Then I linked her to a post I’ve done about this technique. You can click here to read it!

I think you can see that in this first photo a tone-on-tone black fat quarter was paired with a colorful pieced 18″ x 22″ quilt “top”, but it could easily have been just a bright and colorful printed fat quarter.

The backs of these quilts used a different black print and another pieced “top” from my UFO bin that I created by weaving curvy strips of fabric together. This second piece could easily have been a lighter printed fabric (but it was fun to use up both the bright and light small pieced “tops”).

I hope that helps everyone visualize what’s going on. If you look at Cathy’s quilts at the top of this post, you can see a good example of using just fat quarters – no previously pieced “tops”. Either option will work for the class in September.

I’m also presenting a lecture each day entitled “Tell Me a Story”.

Here’s the description: “Looking at a quilt can be very satisfying, like eating a good meal. But when you know the quilt’s story, that’s like getting dessert! This talk will include quilts, photos, and stories ~ some from Chris’ collection not previously shared, and many others from her friends. It promises to be fun “with a cherry on the top!””

You’ll need to sign up for this lecture to understand that last part of the description 😊.

As I’m looking through all the lectures, workshops, and special events ~ I’m finding many that tickle my fancy. I love to learn new things too! To read about all the offerings you can choose from go to: https://quiltshow.com/

I can’t wait for the show!!! Hope to see you there!

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In the past year I’ve posted bits about my mom’s year in hospice care quite often, and last week I shared that she’s gone home to be with her Savior. Thank you to everyone who reached out with kind words of comfort. It’s been a year filled with ups and downs, but we’ve felt God’s presence in all of it. Mom passed away two days before her 92nd birthday. It was on the 75th anniversary of my parents first date. They’ve been married for 72 years.

Mom was talented at many things. She had the gift of hospitality ~ and loved to cook all our favorite foods. She also enjoyed knitting and crocheting ~ especially items for her family (posts about the nativity set she made for me, and the part her skill played in a quilt I’m still “working on” come to mind). Mom loved puzzles of all kinds. She was also an amazingly dedicated genealogist.

As I began thinking about all the things that made her “mom” I had to admit that every one of them revolved around her love for her family. There were only four of us in the beginning but as with most of our stories ~ that number grew.

I was born while mom was working as a dental hygienist and dad was still in dental school. My brother Kurt followed 2 years later. (he’s the one next to mom).

We were a close knit family

And we’ve stayed very close over these many years.

Kurt and I were blessed with loving spouses.

And quite a few kids and grandkids.

Mom loved each and every one! The photo above was taken a few years ago, before my nephew’s youngest daughter was born. All the other great grandkids were there except Rainee. All families have their struggles and because of a difficult part of ours, Rainee has not been a part of our lives for 14 years, but she has been a part of our thoughts and prayers. This year things changed and she was able to come to Wisconsin and meet her family. This is a part of the story that could only have been a gift from the Lord.

Mom lost her ability to hear early this year, and her vision was failing too. Communication was getting more and more difficult prior to Rainee’s visit and mom had been sleeping about 97% of the time. She would open her eyes long enough to say “I love you” and then fall back asleep. During her year in hospice she often asked me why Jesus wouldn’t just take her. My answer was simply that God’s timing is perfect.

The day Rainee came to meet mom she surprised us by waking up and saying she wanted to sit up in bed. She hugged each of us, but after she hugged Rainee she just stared at her ~ and then looked at me confused. I finally wrote Rainee’s name one letter at a time slowly on the whiteboard, and mom squinted intently. When I reached the last “e” mom said “Rainee?”, I nodded yes, and Rainee came over and hugged her again. Then Rainee turned to me and said “great grandma Ginny just said she loves me”! That night Rainee made her a beaded charm and mom was alert once again for our next visit.

That was the last time she had a time of clarity, and she passed away a week after Rainee returned home. I truly believe God kept her here on earth this long so she and Rainee could meet! God’s timing is perfect!

The evening mom passed dad called us, Mike and I went right over, and we were together as we waited for the funeral home to come and get mom’s body. At one point her nurse came in and told us he was going to get Shorehaven’s dignity quilt to place over mom as she was taken out of the building. At that moment I remembered that my quilt guild, Patched Lives, had been asked by Shorehaven years ago to make a quilt for this purpose. I organized that project and asked members to make blocks. I then put the blocks together, and was at Shorehaven with other friends from Patched Lives to present it.

So, I said to Jake “I helped to make a dignity quilt a long time ago, I wonder if you still have that quilt”. When I saw the embroidered Scripture blocks in my handwriting I knew it was the one.

I even wrote the label. It’s so important to label your quilts!

This was another sweet moment when God made it clear He was a part of this all.

Mom was not afraid to die because she knew that Jesus had prepared a place for her in heaven. We often read together from the Bible the passages that give assurance that everyone who has confessed their sins and accepted Christ’s gift of salvation will have an eternity with Him in a perfect place he called paradise (John 14:1-6 and Luke 23:40-43). She wanted everyone to know this! If you’re not sure you have this peace, please email me. I’d love to share from the Bible the assurance He has given us. Mom wanted you to know too!

As quilters we love all fiber – and lace is definitely a fiber. I have a bag full ~ some from family members, some from thrift stores and rummage sales, and some from shops I’ve visited around the world. I’ve used it in a few quilts, but usually just a small amount as an embellishment. My “Lacy Hearts” quilt was made in the 90s. It includes many bits that evoke memories. There’s lace, pieces of jewelry, and buttons from grandma’s button box. And it’s hand quilted!

I even used a small amount to mimic the “gingerbread” trim on the Cross House in my “Sidewalks of Sun Prairie” quilt.

When Will and I were in Venice at Christmas time we visited the island of Burano. It is known for it’s lace making tradition and we watched a woman painstakingly stitch Venetian lace with a needle and thread (click here for a link to that post).

One of our first stops on our recent trip to the UK was in France. After we visited Monet’s gardens we did a walking tour of the city of Rouen. As our guide talked about the cathedral, she told us that much of it was built in the Gothic style of architecture which is very ornate.

This close up photo of an area in the back of the cathedral shows the details a bit more clearly.

Our guide told us that the French people sometimes refer to this type of carving as “stone lace” (I don’t remember the French phrase). What an interesting use of a fiber related term! We saw quite a bit of “stone lace” on the trip. An interesting additional bit of information is that many of the cathedrals were made of limestone that darkens with time. When they cleaned this portion of this cathedral they left the arch over the door uncleaned to show the difference. Wow!

That afternoon when we got back on the ship I spent some time looking at the English Channel over the railing. I was hypnotised by the froth on the waves as we moved through the sea. It seemed to create a type of watery lace that reflected in the glass of the balcony.

I didn’t think about lace again for a few days. Then we arrived in Brugge, Belgium. As we walked into town there were vintage posters along the path. This one struck me as very interesting. It’s from 1900 and is of a woman making bobbin lace. We would discover that bobbin lace was very important to Brugge’s history.

This storefront window contained some lovely lace, as well as a small leather bobbin lace pillow with work in progress. It’s a very different process from the needle and thread method used in Italy. I’ve seen artists making this type of lace and it is a tedious process. How do they keep track of all those bobbins?

As we wandered a bit further there was an even larger example of this intricate workmanship in progress.

How could anyone wrap their head around this?!? Who figured it out in the first place!?! And just imagine how long a piece like this would take to make! I think I’ll stick with quilting 😊.

This all brought a post from long ago to mind. My friend Connie attended my Open Lab classes at WCTC for years. Of all the projects she worked on in class my favorite was her doily tree skirts (to read about them click here).

Doilies are a type of lace and Connie had quite a collection from friends and family members. Making these tree skirts for her kids and grandkids was a labor of love.

And one last “lace in quilts” photo. My friend Lori just sent out an email with a photo of her “Lace and Linen Liberty Flag” quilt in honor of our nations 250th! It is beautiful, and the pattern is available on her site (click here):

There are many types of lace, many ways to make it and oodles of ways to use it in quilting. I’ve tried my hand at tatting too with little success. How about you? Have you made lace? Have you used it in a quilt? Please send photos!

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Also, my sweet mom, Virginia Walters, went to be with her Savior this past week. Her funeral is tomorrow. Next week’s post will be a tribute to her. Thank you to all who have prayed for her and my family.