Blog

This photo was taken on Mother’s Day with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law.

Then in May Mom went into the hospital because of a fall. She has had trouble with her heart and blood pressure for years, and has been in and out of the hospital. So we thought this was just another in her long list of hospital stays. But it wasn’t. This one lasted longer, and Mom’s organs started acting more and more like they were almost 91 years old (which they are). After 20 days in the hospital (with a brief 3 day reprieve in the middle), it was decided she needed more care and we moved her to Shorehaven in Oconomowoc. It was only a few days later that we had to call hospice in. During this time Mom and Dad decided he should move into assisted living at Shorehaven to be near her. Big changes!

My Mom and Dad have always been my biggest encouragers, especially when it came to quilting (next to Mike of course). So when they moved into Shorehaven they wanted their kids, grandkids and great grandkids to go through their condo and take some items to remember them by. And that’s what we did. Then we would visit them and tell of the wonderful treasures we’d found. It made them so happy. What a blessing!

Without hesitation I chose Mom’s cookbook.

The spine is held together with mailing tape and it holds so many memories. My Grandmother gave it to Mom at her bridal shower, and Mom recorded it on the inside cover of the book, along with a few other notes.

Mom also wrote some of her Mother’s favorite recipes inside the covers.

What a blessing! And Mom was delighted that it was my first choice. On subsequent trips through their condo, I was reminded of how supportive they were of my quilting addiction. They had quilts hanging in every room. In the front door area:

In the living room (along with some of my niece Kaitlin’s anatomical art):

Above the dining room table (along with a beautiful painting by my Aunt Hazel):

In the bedroom there were two (and yes, the roses are another piece by Aunt Hazel):

There were even 2 quilts hanging above the bathtub! The one on the left is special because Mom made it. When I first learned to quilt I decided to take a class on free form appliqué. I talked her into taking it with me and, to my knowledge, it’s the only quilt she ever made.

When Betsy and Sommer (my DIL and granddaughter) went on their treasure hunt, they chose a few things I’d made. These wall quilts were hanging in the closet, ready to be swapped out with the seasonal ones that were up.

And this afghan was one I made years before I got into quilting. I first crocheted the afghan, then I cross-stitched the butterflies on it. I made two like this ~ one for my parents and one for Mike’s. That was the end of my crocheting infatuation. I was so pleased Sommer liked it.

As we set up Mom’s room at Shorehaven I had to include a few quilts there from their condo. The Oconomowoc quilt was made for a challenge held at the Ben Franklin store, and it has started many good conversations with the dear people taking care of Mom (they have all been wonderful!).

And of course Mom needed a quilt to snuggle under on her bed. Here she is with Mike and the Lone Star quilt I made them many years ago.

A few days after we got Mom settled in her room, Dad moved into his apartment. When he was president of the Wisconsin SAR, I commemorated the time he served with a quilt ~ and that had to be the first one hung in his living room.

On his bed is a pieced quilt and above it the Lake Sinisssippi quilt ~ with the family photos on the back facing out 😊.

They’ve acquired quite a collection over the years.

Just a few months ago my parents were living in their own condo, preparing their own meals, paying their bills, and doing all the normal things of life ~ while in their 90s! Things can change so quickly. The photograph at the top of this post was from May. This one is from June in Mom’s room at Shorehaven when our grandkids from Washington, Hanna and Will, were here.

They had a wonderful time with their great grandparents, and we are all grateful for every moment we have together! The amazing thing is that when Mom went on hospice they took her off of ALL the medications she was taking, and put her on morphine and one other for anxiety. She had a week of being “loopy”, and then she started feeling better. This past month she’s been breathing better, participating in activities and telling everyone about her love for her Savior ~ and where she is going! The nurses and staff, along with all of us, are amazed!

This past Wednesday Mom and Dad took a walk down to see Lac Labelle with Kurt and Mary.

In the afternoon Shorehaven had a “camping” event that Sommer and Trey were happy to attend with me. It was a joyful time!

We thought she was leaving us for heaven in the beginning of July, but we are truly blessed to be enjoying Mom and Dad still. Each day is a gift! Praise the Lord!

Kim recently emailed me and asked for suggestions on how to thread beading needles. Some quilting and beading needles have very small eyes, and threading them can be a daunting task, but I’ve found a few tips that are helpful. Actually, needle threading in general can be a pain, especially as we mature 😊. There are oodles of needle threaders on the market.

I also purchased a few to give as gifts at the Birmingham Quilt Festival last year.

I have a box I inherited from my great grandmother Melvina with her needle threader inside. She wrote her nickname ~ “Mallie” on the outside of the box. What a treasure!

But the tiny eyed needles seldom work in these, and require other options. Here are the tips I sent to Kim:

• I need very bright light first of all. And a clamp on/hands free magnifying glass is helpful.

• Cut the end of the thread at an angle to help keep it from fraying.

• When needles are made the eye is “punched”, so if you can’t get the thread through one side, turn the needle around so that the thread is going through the way the hole was made.

• It often works to wet the eye of the needle, not the thread. This usually helps to grab the thread (but not always – don’t ask me why)

• Lastly, hold the thread tightly between your thumb and forefinger so that just the tip of the thread is showing, then place the eye of the needle over it instead of pushing the thread through the eye.

And remember the adage “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” (and recut the tip of thread as often as you need to).

 

As most of you know ~ I love the Mariners Compass pattern. I’ve had a lot of fun with it over the years because my drafting technique enables me (and everyone else) to make compasses in an endless variety of shapes and sizes. Here are just a few:

They also can be used in non-quilted projects like clocks and umbrellas 😁:

My workshop starts with drafting a round compass, and then I encourage students to try other shapes. In a class at WCTC back in 2013 my friend Karen stitched one of those round compasses. During show and tell at a recent meeting of the Fabricators (my group of friends from Open Lab at WCTC), Karen said she had something to show me. Then she unfolded the quilt she started way back then! Beautiful!! I was thrilled!!!

She put the compass on the background with a corded piping technique (click here for a blog topic about it), and the narrow gold border is a flange. Karen has a longarm and wasn’t sure how to quilt around these areas ~ so she just quilted over them and it worked well!

On a related note, I received an email from Brenda a few weeks ago inviting me to teach for the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show this coming March 😊. We began discussing which workshops would best fit their show. Brenda mentioned that many members of their guild have been asking for garment classes, and she was wondering if I could teach compasses on garments. I told her that my 6 hour compass class works best in it’s current form because the students need that time to learn the basics. That’s when she mentioned how nice it would be if I had a garment with a compass on it, so students could see even more versatility. Hmm…

Life has been too crazy lately to take on a full jacket project, but what if I embellished a thrift store find? Mike and I decided to take a morning off and do a bit of thrifting, and I was thrilled with what I found.

The designs on the front would be great inspiration for the back.

I felt a 16 pointed oval compass would be too much – but 8 points would be fun!

Now to make the time to draft and stitch it! Stay tuned 😊.

****************

I decided to end this post with a pretty photograph. My friend Judy hosted our recent Fabricators gathering in her beautiful Victorian home in Waukesha. Not only were her home and gardens lovely, but just look at the treats she made for us:

Very pretty ~ and yummy too. Thanks Judy!

As I’ve mentioned previously, my parents are in their 90s and recently moved into senior living. Mike and I are in the process of going through their condo and getting it ready to sell. Over the years my parents have “collected” many of my quilts. Whenever one struck their fancy I was happy to gift it to them and Mom and Dad found places for each item. While moving them, some of the quilts went to be in their new living quarters, some went to family members, but there were quite a few wallhangings that no one claimed ~ and I can’t keep them all. So I decided it would be wise to donate them to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Art‘s upcoming fundraiser auction.

They are accepting donations until January 30th, so we needed to make a trip to Cedarburg. It was a great opportunity to explore their current exhibit: “Wit/Whim” and it was delightful!

As we entered the doors we were intrigued by some interesting knit pieces by Yr Johannsdottir. I’d forgotten to take photos of the quilts I was donating and decided to pull up a few chairs and spread out my quilts between two pieces of her work ~ the sweater with a face named ULLA, and the tree of snakes (sorry I don’t know the actual name, as I forgot to photograph the sign).The rest of the pieces on the chairs are those I donated to the auction (the one that looks all white is a hand quilted wholecloth).

Once I filled out the forms and handed over the quilts, Mike and I were very interested in seeing the rest of the exhibit. As we walked through the doors I was drawn to an amazing tree growing in the corner of the gallery! It’s entitled “From Gardens Where We Feel Secure”.

It was such an imaginative combination of knitting, crocheting, found objects, lights, mirrors, and more. I walked beneath it and couldn’t resist snapping a pic of the branches above.

Here’s the sign – and don’t miss the last paragraph. What fun!

The rest of the exhibit was just as intriguing. Here are a few more of my favorite pieces. I apologize for not taking a photo of the sign for this piece. It is fascinating.

This one is named “25,000 Moments”

These “Wiggle Quilts” really intrigued me because I’ve played with a similar idea in some of my quilts.

Sew … Luke started with two quilts: one an antique, and the other one he made from salvaged textiles. He then cut an identical shape from each and swapped them into the opposite quilt. I’ve made a number of quilts in my “Quilt-Slash-Create” series in a similar fashion.

This is part of a post I wrote about it:

A number of years ago I read an article about cutting identical portions out of two quilts, and swapping them. This intrigued me, so I decided to try it. I had been given a bag of leftover pieced squares in an art quilt challenge. I decided to piece them into a small square quilt. I then cut a piece of a beautiful hand-dyed fabric the same size. I layered both pieces separately, and quilted them identically. Once they were squared up, I stacked them and rotary cut a circle through both quilts. After separating the quilts, I swapped out the circles and zig-zagged them into their new “home”. That was fun, so I stacked them and made another cut. This continued until it felt done, and I was quite pleased with the results!

I wonder if that article I read back then was about Luke’s work. I actually taught a class on this technique at the Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in Madison a few years ago. Here’s one more set of quilts from that series.

I’ll warn you, it can be addicting.

Oh no ~ I went down a rabbit hole and wandered away from my original topic 😁! Sorry.

In conclusion, if you want to see the “Wit/Whim” exhibit at the museum, you’ll need to move quickly because it only runs through August 10th. And if you want to support the museum through their online auction it will be open from 12pm on Thursday, August 21st through 2pm on Monday, August 25th. I’ll post a reminder as the time gets closer.

I”m still mourning the loss of JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts here in Watertown (and everywhere else 😔).

The last day I shopped there, as I was commiserating with my favorite clerk over our loss (and finishing off the bolt of lime green Kona Cotton), I asked if we could take a photo together.

We really have so few options in my area. Even Walmart has downsized it’s fabric department 😔. So you can imagine my elation when I heard there was a fabric store moving into downtown Watertown! It’s owned by Haley and her family, and you can click here to read her story.

Haley isn’t a quilter, but she loves crafting and fabric. Her store is bright and colorful, and all the displays in the center of the floor are on wheels so they can be moved aside when she sets up for classes!

She has oodles of notions and supplies, and more of everything is coming in daily. She has some nice quilters cottons and, because she’s into other types of sewing, she has garment fabrics too!

As I walked around I learned about a new type of laser cutting machine.

It’s quite intriguing. Rather than have me try to explain it – here’s the scoop:

Haley and I did a bit of chatting about classes, and I’m excited to think about the possibilities. I’m grateful for her vision, and hope that you have shops coming in to fill the void left by JoAnns in your area. Haley’s shop may not be a full sized quilt shop, but it is a lovely option.

I’ve reached that point in life where my parent’s health is failing and they need our help. I’m so grateful we can be there for them, even if it means I haven’t been in my studio much this summer. So when Mike needed a pair of jeans hemmed I looked forward to going downstairs and sitting at my machine. As I glanced around my eyes landed on the bulletin board that’s been with me through most of my sewing journey.

It’s so full, and this time the big yellow sunflower is what caught my eye. It is easily the most unique ribbon I’ve ever won. It was an Originality award given out at the 2003 Wisconsin State Fair.

Isn’t it delightful? The petals on the flower are wired and the cow is sew much fun (especially her little “moo” ears).

Something you may not know about the Fair is that the prize money (premiums) for the winners is a small amount. So local guilds are asked to sponsor different categories and then provide additional monies and special ribbons. In 2003 a Milwaukee area group named Quilters Anonymous sponsored this category and I was very blessed to be the recipient.

The sad part is I couldn’t remember which quilt won that award. This was going to take a bit of sleuthing (sorry about the photo – I couldn’t resist 😂).

I began by searching my computer for photos of quilts made in 2003. Oops ~ I have folders for 2002 and 2004, but no 2003 (how’d that happen?)

Next I grabbed the big three ring binder of quilts I made early in my quilting life. It was fun to look through, but I was disappointed to find that it only had photos through 2001.

So now what? I have a box that holds all the ribbons my quilts have won over the years. Perhaps I could find the State Fair ribbon that went with that quilt. Eureka ~ it was about a third of the way down in the box.

What a blessing to see that I’d written the name of the quilt on the tag: “Blessings” 😊. I must admit I didn’t remember it won that ribbon at all. It’s a quilt included in my lecture “Silhouettes and Shadows” and the reason is pretty obvious ~ it contains two large silhouettes of parents holding babies.

The part that was original was the photographic overlays. I’d read about a technique in which you iron a sheer fabric (in this case organza) onto freezer paper, cut it at 8 1/2″ x 11″, and print photos on it by running it through an inkjet printer. I decided to try it with black and white images of my kids when they were little. It worked! And once printed they were fused to the silhouetted background, and quilted around to hold them in place.

I’m sure those images are not washable and would probably disappear if the quilt gets wet, but I have no intention of washing it. Have you every played with printing on unusual fabrics? Please send photos if you have.

I’d like to send my thanks to Quilters Anonymous. I’ve known some of their members and am wondering if anyone remembers who made this delightful ribbon?!?

Oh, in case you’re wondering, Mike’s pants did eventually get hemmed 😄.

Over the past few weeks I’d collected photos for two stories I wanted to share. I occassionally like to share short stories, but for some reason I like to group them in threes. Then, just a few days ago, Carol sent me an email that I felt would be a perfect addition to this week’s post. I hope you’ll enjoy all three.

While speaking to a lovely quilt guild in Oshkosh a few weeks ago, a quilter named Connie came over and showed me a very clever idea for upcycling sweatshirts. She’d originally decorated the sweatshirts with her embroidery machine. Recently she decided they’d been worn enough and it was time to make them into oven mitts. She did a fine job of lining the mitts with Insul Bright™ batting to make them heat proof, and her finishing was very well done.

And here she is with her mitts!

I asked her what she planned to do with them, and she said she was going to hide them away for her family to find when she’s gone. They’re so delightful that I think, if it were me, I might like to see their faces when they get them. But either way ~ they are so clever. Thanks for sharing them with us Connie!

*************

Recently I was putting things away in a cedar chest and found a pieced runner with a typewritten sheet of paper attached. I don’t remember having it at all, and I was pleasantly surprised by the bit of family history it contained. My parents had visited an elderly relative many years ago and that’s the reason I have it now. There is no back, batt or quilting ~ just blocks and a ruffle.

My mom is a geneologist, so she took good notes when they were with Esther. Here’s the story Mom gave me:

What a delight to have the story to go with the “quilt”. Thanks Mom!

*************

Then, after last week’s post about words on quilts, Carol sent me this email:

“This is the most heartfelt quilt that I have ever made.  Two years ago, my husband was in chronic kidney failure and on dialysis.  He was on the transplant list for 3-4 years when the call came that a kidney was available.  We were excited for him but also saddened to learn that his donor was a 15 year old girl who died tragically in an accident.  Several months later he sent a letter to her parents thanking them.  Her mom replied and told us a little about their beautiful daughter Sarah.  I offered to make a quilt for them in Sarah’s memory.  Sarah loved sunsets and her favorite song was Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan.  The quilt I made was inspired by a quilt that I saw on Pinterest (I later found out that the inspiration quilt was made by Nicola Ritter of Perth, Australia).  If you zoom onto the bottom left part of the quilt, you can see where I quilted the lyrics of the Zach Bryan song.”

Carol’s email continued:

“A year ago we traveled to Rapid City, SD and met Sarah’s parents. It was very emotional for all of us. Our local TV station did a 2 day news story about our meeting and the quilt.“

To watch the news story please click on the following link:

https://www.kfyrtv.com/2024/06/25/i-know-shes-close-organ-donors-family-connects-with-recipient-through-special-gift

Carol agreed to let me include her quilt and it’s story in this week’s post, saying she hoped it would encourage others to become organ donors!

Dear Carol, Thanks for sharing your story and your beautiful quilt!

After the post I did about my recent Fruit of the Spirit quilt, Margit sent me a photo of a quilt she made with words on it. I met Margit Kagerer while visiting my friend Evelyn in Arizona years ago, and have admired her work ever since. This is what she wrote to me: “I free motion quilted the Gettysburg address into Lincoln’s profile. The quilt was shown at the Houston show in 2024. I did many quilts with text, mostly poetry.”

WOW! Thanks for sending the photo of your quilt Margit!

After getting her email it occured to me that words have played an important part in the quilt world for quite a while. I have fabric printed with words that I’ve collected over the years, and in the past decade they’ve become even more popular ~ and readily available. I’ve been especially intrigued by the fabrics of Tim Holtz in recent times (click here to see some of his fabric ~ and be inspired). My collection of wordy fabric includes some with quilt phrases, patriotic themes, Scripture, etc.

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I’ve even written a book on educational quilts for kids that’s all about words ~ and my technique for making them without fusible web so they stay soft and snuggly. This was my first Snuggle and Learn quilt. I made it for my granddaughter Hanna 18 years ago.

Another kids quilt I designed using Repliqué was the Critter Quilt. It was fun to put the words inside the animals.

I’ve put words on quilts in many different ways over the years. When my nephew Adam was little he was really into fish and he asked me to make him a quilt. I was fairly new to quilting, but it sounded like fun. I found a pattern for the fish blocks and scattered them on a blue background. When I began the free motion quilting I realized the space to fill was large, and my attention span short. So my quilter’s ADD set in and I decided to “write” on the quilt in thread to fill some of the space. On the back of the following photo (please excuse the quality of the photo ~ it’s old 😊) I wrote the story: “At Thanksgiving Adam asked me to make a quilt with fish on it. I made this for his Christmas gift. He loved it! Among various other designs in the meander quilting I included “Adam’s Fish Quilt”, “Made with love by Aunt Chris”, the names of his siblings and cousins, and “Christmas 1989”.

Here’s the best detail photo I have of the quilting. I think you can make out “Adam”, but the rest are not as obvious.

Since then I often write messages and Scripture verses in the borders of the wedding and baby quilts I make for family and friends.

On a few gift quilts I’ve included names in appliqué, as on this one I made for my niece Kaitlin’s wedding shower:

The next one has been in a number of my lectures. It’s called “How Beautiful ~ Liberty”, and it’s one of my Accordian Door quilts. That means it’s made from three quilts: two are cut into vertical slices, sewn together, and hung on the third quilt with Velcro™. So there is a different view from the left and from the right. This is the view from the right. The base quilt words were made with a Brother Scan and Cut™, fused in place, and then stitched down with the quilting.

Have you made a quilt with words you’d like to share? Please send photos to: .