Wishing you Peace, Love and Joy for 2019.
Image designed using a photograph of one of my quilts, Stars at Sunset, manipulated with Kaleidoscope Kreator software.
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Monthly Archives: December 2018
Seasons Greetings!
Merry Christmas and/or Holiday Greetings!
Work in Progress
This photo shows part of my current project which I’ve been piecing on and off for the last 18 months. My teaching schedule has been busy this year and I’ve had family commitments with the joys of twin grandchildren. Hence, progress has been slow. I’m determined to complete the top by the end of the year and have booked my long-arm machine quilter for January. The center is a 28″ Radiant Feathered Star with a 9″ compass in the middle. Then there are four 15″ compass blocks and four 14″ diamond star blocks. The 24 small Ohio Star blocks fill in the gaps. This quilt is a commissioned piece and fortunately, my client is being extremely patient with the length of time it’s taking me to design the quilt and get the job done. I’ll post on this again when the project is closer to completion.
Library of Congress – color and elegance
In October, I spent four days in Washington DC between two teaching engagements, one in Baltimore and the other in Newark, DE. When I visited the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, first opened in 1897, I was struck by the abundance of color on the ceilings and walls, as well as the elegance of all the arches and domes. There were also patterns in mosaic on the floors. It was spectacular. I find places like this inspiring and seeing them adds to my store of experiences from which to draw when I am designing quilts. This is a place not to be missed if you have time in Washington DC. Here are some pictures.
Sew Teach Me – Youth learning to sew for free
In July, I visited QuiltWorks, a wonderful quilt store in Bend, OR. Marilyn Forestell, the quilt store owner, has founded a non-profit organization, Sew Teach Me. Their vision is to match trained and screened mentors with youth to learn to sew at no cost in a safe and nurturing environment supported by a community with the necessary tools, skills and projects for a successful sewing experience.
Marilyn’s team of volunteers teach youth basic sewing skills at her store and want to share their love of sewing with the next generation. The Sew Teach Me website provides a wealth of information and the opportunity for you to set up your own team at your local store. You will receive full guidelines for the projects to help you get started. To learn about becoming more involved, you can also contact Marilyn at marilyn@quiltworks.com.
The four beginning sewing sessions teach basic sewing skills, while creating simple and fun projects, within a one to two-month time period. These classes are free. Materials, including sewing machines that have been donated by the local sewing community.
The four sessions are:
1) Getting to know your sewing machine and making a name tag
2) Making a pillowcase
3) Making a sewing tool caddy
4) Making a pillow pal
The mentors are volunteers who have gone through a background check, and a training session to be prepared to work with students. There are many donation opportunities from donating funds to helping build the program to donating pre-cut kits for the various projects.
I applaud Marilyn for initiating this project which has already introduced over 100 youngsters to the joys of sewing. I encourage you to work with kids. Even if you can’t develop a full program like this, you may have the opportunity to work one-on-one with an eager young person who wants to learn to sew. Start with a small project that may be easily completed, before moving on to larger more time consuming ones. My books, Creative Quilting with Kids and Patchwork and Quilting with Kids have a wide range of projects for individuals and groups. The books are out-of-print, but second-hand copies are available on Amazon.