Monday, March 30, 2015

Bound and Determined

I'm by no means a prolific quilt maker, a prolific quilter of other peoples quilts yes, but maker of my own...no. I am hoping that will change and I have taken some pretty good steps in that direction this year so far. I took three quilts to my very good friend Irene who does the majority of my binding for me. While I actually love doing binding, so does Irene and it gives me a good excuse to see her and sew pillowcases which apparently one household can never have enough of. I also can think of few things that I enjoy more than sewing and staring out onto this beautiful city I am lucky enough to call home.



In an incredibly short time frame my quilts are returned to me perfectly bound. And her only request is that I bring her more and soon.









I finally finished my value quilt! This was an exciting finish for me because it is the first quilt that I have made that actually fits the bed. What a novel idea, a quilt that fits a bed, who knew such a thing could be so useful? Every quilt I have made up to this point just barely covers the mattress....duh.
It is gigantic though and weighs roughly eighty thousand pounds. I had to enlist three friends to hold it up for me after we almost lost it over board the Vashon ferry.



For Katie's value quilt tutorial link here


This quilt is full of so many of my most treasured fabrics and backed with a very snuggly flannel and an even softer mini corduroy. I have been on a healing health journey and have been realizing the importance of sleep. 
I can't help but wonder if I may have taken this concept too far?
 Will I ever leave my bed again? 
When is cozy bad?
 Is too much sleep dangerous?
Can I cook from my bed? 
Should I move the kitchen to the bedroom?
I will get back to you with the answer to these pressing enquiries.







Another finish was my x-plus quilt that I started a very long time ago and finished piecing at my annual Loon Lake retreat. It was smaller than I had originally intended but it needed to be finished. Now it will fit in nicely with every other undersized quilt (besides giganto up there) I have ever made that serves very little practical purpose and barely covers a human.






I quilted an inch grid allover design on it, not the easiest quilting job but I am in love with the overall effect.




The final quilt that was bound for me was my newest sample quilt that I am in love with. It is my wholecloth sampler that I blogged about here













Speaking of whole cloth quilts, I took a whole cloth design class many years ago from Karen McTavish with my dear friend Barbara Magill. We took the class in Kansas at the Machine quilting show MQS. It was one of the first big shows I had ever attended and was so much fun in so many ways. Barbara and I took our hotel room apart moving tables and rearranging our beds and every thing else that weighed more than the two of us combined to accommodate our need to finish designing our work. We also collectively purchased more stencils than we could haul back to Seattle with us and I had weird bruises on my thighs from scaling a fence for Barbara's supply list that went flying out of her grasp in what seemed to me like a small tornado. In our beds that night we noticed that the blankets were heavy like lead X-Ray blankets and I almost wet my bed laughing when Barbara shouted out that the blanket just grabbed her ass. 
Barbara died last Thursday, she has fought cancer for as long as I have known her. We always joked,"what happens in Kansas stays in Kansas" it was one of the last things we said to each other. I am sharing a little bit of what happened in Kansas because it makes me too sad not to. Barbara never quilted her whole cloth, in the next few weeks I will be going through her things and I will find it and finish it, for her, for me, for us.
I am really going to miss her. Hug your quilting friends, cherish them, love them, laugh with them, remember them. 


17 comments:

  1. You were and are a great friend to Barbara. I think that finishing her quilt is the perfect thing to do. And I bet she knew you would do that for her. I send wishes of love to her family and to you to help you cope with her loss.

    I am new to your blog. I love it and I will be getting my long arm this summer. And I also lived in SLO though I don't any more. Nice to meet you Krista and I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend.

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  2. I too am new to your of which I love. As friends pass they know a little of them will be carried on through us...stay steady and please keep on doing what you are exceptional at so the rest of us may enjoy and learn and thus pass it on again.

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  3. This may be a duplicate as I wrote a comment and then disappeared! Thank you for sharing about your close friendship with Barbara. I am sorry for your loss of this wonderful person in your llife. Your quilts are gorgeous - you are so trusting to put it over the railing and walk back to take a photo.

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  4. Such a lovely tribute for Barbara. Take comfort in your friendship.

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  5. Such a sweet story about your friend and cohort in quilting ~ so so very sorry for the loss of your sweet friend.
    So glad you are blogging more ~ love what you do!

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  6. I am sorry about your friend. Finishing her quilt for her will be like her hugging you again!

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  7. It was lovely to hear the story of you and Barbara. She sounds like one of those people who fill a very special place in your life. Finishing her whole cloth quilt would be such a beautiful way to honor her.

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  8. Nice photos Mega Blogger;)

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  9. My goodness - I saw the pic from your window and it looks awfully similar to my daughter's view - she's down on Pioneer Square. Gotta love that water! Your quilts are fabulous - I really like your bed-sized quilt perfect! So sorry for the loss of your friend - you will have a tear or two while you're quilting hers, but they will be tears of love, we can tell. Sleep well under all that coziness of your Sleep Quilt!

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  10. I love your tribute to your friend Barbara. Keeping our loved and lost friends and family alive by sharing and laughing is just wonderful, and Barbara sounds like the kind of person who would just love it, too. I'm glad you will have her quilt to work on. I cherish a blanket woven by a dear friend who fought breast cancer for longer than I can remember, and it makes me feel like I haven't lost her completely. Maybe, in the end, it's part of the blessing of spending our lives as makers, so that those we leave behind can have a tangible piece of our hearts.

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  11. Your value quilt is beautiful!

    I'm so sorry about your friend. Your memories of her sound precious and wonderful. :)

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  12. Friends are such a treasure. They give you happy memories like the ones that you shared and that is probably their greatest gift because it is a gift that stays with us always. So sorry for your loss but so happy that you have such cherished memories.

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  13. I absolutely love your whole cloth. I love seeing modern whole cloth quilts so much!

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  14. So many beautiful things in this post, a beautiful friendship, beautiful memories, beautiful quilts. I hope that the new quilt helps with the sleep, and I hope you are able to keep those laughing memories forever.

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  15. Lovely post on so many levels. Sad for your loss, but joy in the blessing of such a wonderful friendship. That you recognize it, is very special. That you honor it by finishing her quilt is wonderful. Hugs.

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  16. Lovely post on so many levels. Sad for your loss, but joy in the blessing of such a wonderful friendship. That you recognize it, is very special. That you honor it by finishing her quilt is wonderful. Hugs.

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