The Little Black Hole in my quilting room

I have a little black hole in my quilting room.  It's very similar to the little black hole of the washer and dryer that eats my socks,  the one in the rest of my house that lunches on my car keys, and the one that moves things from drawer and drawer. (Sometimes, it even gobbles them up for good.)

I had cut out all of the 3-1/2" squares for Emily's quilt and placed them on my design board.  Here's a picture to prove that they once all existed.

So, the other day I was vacuuming the room and my vacuum cleaner blew off a ton of the white squares. When I picked them up and put them back in place, I was suddenly missing a bunch of them.  Were they in the vacuum cleaner?  No.  How about under my sewing machine table?  No.  Under the bookcase?  No.  Behind other pieces on the wall? No.  Aagh!  The little black hole was at work.

I resigned myself to having to cut more, but opted to wait until it was absolutely necessary.  Hoping, of course, that they would magically appear.

Well, THEY DID!  As I was sewing together the blocks, one of the blocks had the missing squares all stacked and pinned in place.  I must have been thinking fast as they were flying off the wall and grabbed them up before the vacuum had a chance to eat them.  At least I can tell myself that.  Made me feel very smart indeed.

I hope you solve the unending mystery of the black holes in your house too.  And that you experience days when you feel extra smart.

No Grunge on this quilt - Emily's quilt Part Two

This is a continuation of a previous post about the graduation quilt I'm making for Emily.

I bought some white-on-white fabric just for this quilt.  I had a grunge fabric in my stash that I liked too.  Both of these fabrics were planned to be used in this quilt.  I wasn't sure that I liked the combination.  Most of time, I like to mix up the backgrounds to give the quilt a little more personality.  Originally, I thought that I would add gray fabrics too, but the poor pastels didn't hold up.  Do you mix up the backgrounds too?

Since I was wobbling on the decision to use the grunge fabric, I asked some of my long time quilting friends for input.  Immediately, one of them told me to loose the grunge.  It made the quilt look dirty, which is sometimes the fun part of grunge fabric.  I knew she was right.  It did make this quilt look dirty instead of young and flirty.  Hey, I'm a poet!

So, no grunge on this quilt.  I pulled out some solid white from my stash and cut that up for some of the blocks, and here it is now with the plain white instead of the grunge fabric.  It looks so much better now.

I hope you have a posse that gives you honest feedback too.

Painted art quilt for class

I've been asked to teach a class to my quilt guild about how to paint an art quilt.

All of the pieces that I've painted of flowers are gone.  One was given to the person who took the picture.  One was sold to a fiber art collector. One was donated to a non-profit for a fundraiser.  One was given to a member of my small quilt group.  So, I couldn't use any of them as my class sample.

September is the due date for this little quilt, so that the class can be advertised well in advance of the January class date.  It's kind of cool that our quilt guild holds classes once a year that are taught by members for members only.  The classes are really cheap, because the teachers donate their time and only charge for kits, if needed.

I'm going to co-teach with another member of my small quilt group, since she loves to paint and is very creative.  We decided to pick something easy and small so that our students can complete the piece in the one-day class.   Here is the picture we chose. 

I'll show you more when I get it painted! 

Graduation quilt for Emily

I make quilts for high school graduation presents.  My oldest granddaughter, Emily DeJarlais, is graduating in June 2021, which is a few years out.  She and I looked at some pictures of modern quilts and talked a little bit about the colors she likes.  This far in advance, I usually start collecting fabric so that by the time I make it, I'll have the supplies that I need.

I've purchased a few baby pinks and baby blues, which are the colors she selected.   So pastel!  Not grandma's usual bright colors.  And no lime green (aghast).  I found a pattern that was just as sweet as the fabrics and have started cutting them out and making the blocks.  Here is what the block looks like.  Those little corner pieces are 1/2" square!  Yikes!

In order to make these tiny pieces, I sewed strips of 1" color strips to 2-1/2" strips of white fabric.  I sewed with a smaller stitch length than I normally do, because I knew these would be cut into really small pieces.  1.90 is what I used.

These were cut into 1" wide pieces.

I sewed 1" x 2-1/2" pieces to the sides of the 2-1/2" squares.

Then sewed the little strips to the top and bottom.  I'm showing you the block again so that you can follow along with the block assembly.

Only 31 more blocks to go!

I hope you like this pastel quilt so far.

Plush stuffed animal for a baby

I previously made a baby blanket for my Sister's first grandson.  I had quite a bit of left-over fabric, so I thought that it would be fun to try and make a stuffed animal.  The parents-to-be are avid dog lovers, so it seemed fitting that the animal should be a dog.

I found a cute pattern of a floppy dog on Pinterest, and I'm sorry that I can't remember the designer.  The pattern called for button eyes and something for the mouth.  However, I decided not to add anything that the baby could pull off and swallow.  Instead, I opted to fussy cut the owl fabric for the eyes, and add a ribbon bow around the neck.  I gently filled the components with fiber fill (instead of dried beans) and sewed the arms and ears and legs to the body.

and here is the back view

I hope they like it!

Summer and trying to keep up

 It's the summer and, as always, I want to be outside riding my bicycle, hiking, walking, gardening, and camping.

Lake Billy Chinook, Oregon

Banks-Vernonia Trail

This year I am trying to keep up the blog, but if you don't see it for a week or two, you'll know why!

Sisters trails

Deschutes River trail hike from Tumalo

Champoeg State Park, Oregon

Grandma's old letters

I have no quilts in progress (what?!).  So, I've attacked a project that has been staring at me for 6 years.  My Grandmother Morgan saved all of her letters and cards from 1913 until the late 1970's.  My mother kept all of those letters, plus a bunch of her own.  When she passed away 6 years ago, I inherited the boxes of letters and cards.  The reason I ended up with them is because I've also inherited the genealogy files and pictures.  My goal was to get all the letters digitally transcribed and then donate the letters to a genealogy center.  Well, this is the time and the year to get it done!

My Grandmother Morgan, Anna Bertha Burkle Morgan, was born in Lafayette, Indiana to German parents in 1891.  She moved to the Seattle area when she was about 21 to be with her sister and father, who had moved out west in 1913 or so.  Most of the letters are from her Indiana relatives, and as her kids moved away, she started getting them from her kids.  In the 1970's, she started getting them from her grandchildren.  (Some of them are from me).

Anna Bertha Burkle

My mother, Helen Ann Burkle Morgan Adams, was born in Kent, WA to Homer and Bertha Morgan.  She lived in either King or Pierce County most of her life, with a short window in York, Pa. My mother's letters started when she went off to college at the University of Washington, and continue through the late 1970's.

Homer and Bertha Morgan and kids

Helen Ann Burkle Morgan

I can see why most Women's histories are not in the history books.  Their lives are full of family duties and they were tired!  And their letters, while written to each other weekly, are mostly mundane details about their daily lives.  Not stuff that the schools want to teach.  But for me, they are a wonderful look into how their lives were during all those old times, how they felt about things, how cheap everything was compared to now, and how much genealogy information is contained in the letters.  My grandmother and mother both sewed and made quilts, so it especially dear when I read about clothes, quilts or blankets they made for me and my siblings and kids.

Bertha Morgan in her garden

Al and Helen (Morgan)Adams 25th anniversary

Bertha Morgan 1970's

Anyway, I have been typing away and trying to transcribe them correctly.  And I hope to finish them soon.

Helen Adams abt. 2010

 What would you do with the original letters?  I don't want to toss them out, but I also don't want them all in my cupboards.  Any advice would be wonderful!