Susie's Sunbonnet Sue

My sister's rescued Sunbonnet Sue quilt hanging at the 2006 Mid-South Fair.

This is what my sister's tired, worn childhood comforter looked like when she loaned it to me to rescue. After removing the yellow yarn ties, I cut through the tissue thin sashings to separate the squares appliqued long ago by our maternal grandmother, Elsie Race Walton. Then came the slow process of unstitching each Sue from her muslin background.

Next came hours and hours and hours of stitching narrow strips of reproduction fabrics to create filler blocks. During the same time period, I carefully hand appliqued each of the rescued Sues to a new background square.

Finally the completed top was handed off to my long arm quilty friend, Chris, who incorporated her version of McTavishing as fill for the backgrounds around each Sue. Many long hours later, the beautiful, newly-restored quilt was gifted to my sister for Christmas 2005.

Ooltewah (Tetris Road)

In November, we travelled to the John C. Campbell Folk School ~ there were no quilting classes that week, so I enrolled in an embroidery class hoping to re-kindle the crazy quilt spark that was first lit by my great-great-grandmother's quilt. The class was all about trying lots and lots of different stitches and threads but we were confined to the enameling studio which was NOT conducive to the work we were doing so many of us spent portions of our class time outdoors.

On our drives there and back, I was struck by the scenery and vowed to make a quilt to commemorate those moments . . . warm afternoon sun through the car windows, the mountains of North Carolina . . . the Ocoee running alongside the narrow, twisting road . . . and trees aglow with color that saturates the soul . . .

This quilt was gifted to my brother-in-law at Christmas.

Sunflower Impressions

From my early September 2005 journal notes: I don't know when I'll finish this . . . it will be an original and one of a kind . . . it comes from deep in my soul . . . and if it becomes difficult, I must set it aside until the joy and inspiration return . . . I will not put a time frame on this . . . it needs space and time to evolve . . .

Sunflowers if various shades of yellows and golds and rusts and browns, in different positions and in varying styles . . . impressions of some standing tall, others leaning or drooping, some in bright vases or tied with fancy ribbons, some newly opened and others full blown . . . some bold and others more refined . . .

Postcards pasted haphazardly . . . snapshots of moments in time . . . fragments . . .

Van Gogh wrote that his sunflowers symbolize gratitude and friendship.

Legend tells that the Greek sun-god Helios was drowned by his uncles, the Titans, and then raised to the sky, where he became the sun. He was beloved by a mortal named Clytie, who died of her love for him. Clytie was "rooted" in her grief, and thus followed Helios' daily journey through the sky. The sunflower's turning as it follows the sun symbolizes deep loyalty and constancy. It is said that if a girl puts three sunflower seeds down her back, she will marry the first boy she meets. The Chinese hold the sunflower a a symbol of longevity. Incan priestesses wore large sunflower disks made of gold on their garments. In the Andes mountains, images of sunflowers were hammered into gold and placed in temples. Sunflower seeds were a sacred food to the Plains Indians of North America. They placed bowls filled with sunflower seeds on the graves of their dead to nourish them on the long journey to the "Happy Hunting Grounds."

This table runner was gifted to a friend

"The sunflower is the biggest and showiest flower in the garden and the ONLY thing that really matters about it are its seeds . . . the show we put on isn't what establishes our worth, it is what we nurture and bring into being through our efforts."
author unknown

Colors of Joy

August 2005

Patty's sample of Fickle Pickle (a contemporary variation of the Kansas City Star quilt pattern first published in October 1931) was displayed at the quilt shop in early 2004. I fell in love with the pattern and vowed that someday I would be able to make one for myself. I wasn't qualified to even open the pattern envelope, but that didn't stop me from dreaming and knowing that mine would be made with batiks in every color of the rainbow.

When the class was offered again in 2005, I was ready for the challenge. I'd been collecting fat quarters and half yards of batiks for almost a year and I was thrilled to discover that the pattern wasn't nearly as mind bending as it first appeared. After the first class, I was off and running. Obsessed or possessed - either one was accurate to describe my work on the quilt top.

And as the top grew, the name became obvious to me.

This quilt was entered in the 2005 Mid South Fair. I didn't expect to win any ribbons or awards. What I really wanted was to share its vibrant and exuberant colors in the hope that at least one visitor would be touched with the kind of soul stirring joy that it has brought to me. Much to my surprise, Colors of Joy was awarded a second place ribbon in its category.

Since the Fair, the quilt has hung in our foyer and remains one of my top five favorite quilts (my husband's top two).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Beauty is the experience that gives us a sense of joy and a sense of peace simultaneously. Other happenings give us joy and afterwards a peace, but in beauty these are the same experience. Beauty is serene and at the same time exhilarating; it increases one’s sense of being alive. Beauty gives us not only a feeling of wonder; it imparts to us at the same moment a timelessness, a repose—which is why we speak of beauty as being eternal."
(Rollo May)

Baby and Prayer Quilt Summer (2005)

His and Her prayer quilts made for a couple whose mother/MIL was terminally ill.


Prayer quilt made for my personal trainer who had just been diagnosed with MS.

Prayer quilt for one of DH's co-workers whose husband was gravely ill.


Baby quit for a former co-worker ~ her first child.

Baby quilt for another former co-worker ~ his second child.

Baby quilt for another former co-worker ~ her first child.

Summer 2005 was a time of juxtaposition for great joy and considerable sadness, as well as a time for many colors.

Cattywampus

Work in progress (summer 2005)


Section of completed quilt ~ August 2005

"If we treated everyone we meet with the same affection we bestow upon our favorite cat; they, too, would purr." (unknown)

I signed up for Cyndi's Stargazey Catz class when I was working part time at the quilt shop. The Stargazey patterns are deliberately lopsided and supposedly liberating because they don't require matching points and lining up seams. That, plus Cyndi's quirky enthusiasm, inspired me to try something really "out of my box."

I easily chose hot pinks and purples for my color theme. This quilt demanded non-traditional colors. I had long yardages of two different purple fabrics which would become the backgrounds, border, and backing.

For months, I gathered fat quarters of funky pinks and wacky purple prints. And yet, during the first class, I found I didn't have enough options. More fat quarters and a marvelous black with a neon plaid of hot pink, bright yellow, turquoise, purple, orange, and lime green to frame each cat's face.

I went home from the first class with a horrible headache. A tradionalist, coming out of the box and being asymmetrical was SO hard for me. But I was determined to finish this project to prove to myself that I could do it.

So much cutting and so many little pieces . . .

Eventually, the relationship between the block sizes became apparent, but it took a while.

By the time I had figured out the system, I was bored with the quilt. The second class was better than the first since we were actually stitching, but I was still bored.

I missed the final class because I had to make an airport pick-up run. I wasn't sorry to have such a good excuse.

The unfinished project went into a box and stayed in the bottom of my closet for months. Then, one day, out of nowhere, came the inspiration to simply use the blocks that were complete and make a smaller quilt!

No more cutting out, no more designing, no more hours of tedious construction . . . and once again I was motivated to complete the project.

I can't imaging having twice as many blocks in this quilt. That would have been sheer overload!

"Cats make one of the most satisfying sounds in the world ~ they purr. A purring cat is a form of high praise, like a gold star on a test paper. It is reinforcement of something we would all like to believe about ourselves ~ that we are nice." (Roger A. Caras)

Heavenly Fire

In Lakota traditions, the eight points of the star represent the following:

• Respect
• Truth
• Honesty
• Humility
• Humor
• Compassion
• Wisdom
• Love
  

And so it is in this case.

My mother died June 18, 2005. A friend invited me to her house on July 4 to learn an alternate method for stitching a Lone Star quilt, since we had taken a class earlier in the year and been entirely frustrated with that approach.

When I first agreed to go to Cathy's house, it was only to force myself to step outside my grief. I was exhausted by the effort, but excited that this new technique actually worked.

Because I started this project with sub-zero expectations, I also had no pre-conceived vision of the outcome. 

The star fabrics came from my stash, left behind from the failed paper piecing class. They were chosen because there was adequate yardage and the right number of colors (not the way I usually choose fabrics).

For a change, I was open to auditioning background fabrics without restrictions AFTER I had started piecing the center.


My first lone star [First Star to the Right] was made for my mother and what would be her very last Christmas and birthday gift.

Completed in August 2005, this lone star was made in honor of her life.

[Heavenly Fire was submitted but rejected for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative traveling exhibit - Forgetting, Piece by Piece.  This quilt earned a blue ribbon at the county fair and hung in a vendor booth at the 2007 Nashville quilt show (because of the marvelous quilting done by Chris). It has hung on our wall and near my desk at work, and is now displayed as a table topper.]

--------------

"There is in every heart a spark of heavenly fire which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity." (Washington Irving)

Hymn of Praise

Gifted May 17, 2005
Twisted Sisters pattern by Ami Simms



Complex and enigmatic, intense and unexpected, filled with seemingly random combinations ! yet grounde din rich, earty tones and bound together with the colors of sun and sky.


For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.


A very long time ago, the men of the village went on a hunt. It was the dead of winter and there was very little food in the village. The women and children were left behind due to the heavy snowfall. The men were only supposed to be away for three sunsets but due to the heavy snow they became lost. Today we call it a "white-out." They were gone for over 20 sunsets and when they came back to the village, all the children ran out to greet them.

The men were happy to see the children but were perplexed as there were no women to greet them. As they entered the village, they found all of the women dead. The women had sacrified themselves so that the children could live. They gave the children all of the food.

The village Shaman told the men "We must dance the Dance of Thanksgiving, for the bounty we have returned with." The men cried out, "How can we have a Thanksgiving Dance with all of our women gone?" The Shaman simply said, "Trust in the Creator."

The men made plans to have a Thanksgiving Dance and that night the Creator came to the Shaman. She told him to do something unthinkable. She told him to bury all of the women together, in a single shallow grave.

The next morning all of the women were buried together. That night, the men and the children danced the Thanksgiving Dance with heavy hearts. The Creator caused a great sleep to come over the village and sent a wonderful spirit to the village. The spirit was tall and stately and played a flute. He went to the grave and started to play his flute. He bent over the grave and as he played, tears fell from his eyes. These tears became seeds of corn and he played and played and cried and cried.

At the end of 20 sunsets our Creator said to him, "Kokopelli, you shall forever remain hunched over as a tribute to the maidens who will forever be known as the Corn Maidens. Your tears which came from your heart have become seeds of life, corn. Our people shall never go hungry again for you have given them life."



"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."
Rachel Carson

"May the moon bring you new strength by day
and the moon softly restore you by night
May the rain wash away your fears
and the breeze invigorate your being
May you all the days of your life
walk gently through the world and know its love"
Native American blessing

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."
Kahlil Gibran

The Penguin Quilt

After our younger son moved from the undergraduate dorm to an on-campus apartment, I ended up making a lap quilt for one of his roomates. Charles loved penguins ~ so I searched online until I found penguin fabric, mixed it with oranges and blacks from my still-small stash, and purchased the glorious turquoise blender fabric at one of our local quilt stores. I managed some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting in the blocks and bravely added what has become my signature ripple quilting in the borders.


Charles was elated with his quilt (and shocked at the cost of the materials).

Kaleidoscope Quilting - John C. Campbell Folk School

Student exhibit at the end of the weeklong classes ~ January 2005

"The kaleidoscope echoes a lingering sense of what used to be interlaced with an aura of things to come as it opens unimagined vistas of pure enchantment and splendor."

R. Scott Cole, kaleidoscope artist, teacher and psychologicical counselor

Morning Song ~ framed and still hanging in our sunroom

"A kaleidoscope can provide a creative beauty that continues to change; one cannot 'replay' a pattern. Thus a kaleidoscope serves not as an escape from conflict but as a tool for generating greater acceptance and harmony. Perhaps this serves as a metaphor for life ~ beauty and change, but you can't turn back." Id.

Salsa - at the end of the class

Salsa - re-worked as the center of a table topper; later donated to the Mountain Baby Blanket Project

"In symmetry there is a balance; in balance there is harmony, in harmony, equilibrium. As long as we are perfectly balanced, we cannot fall. As long as we do not fall, we continue to survive. Survival is the untimate and perpetual striving of all living things, from the most primitive to the most sophisticated being. Somewhere therein lies the relationship between the universal appeal of kaleidoscope mandalas; the inspiration of beauty; the wonder of nature; and the awesome magnificence of Creation itself."
David Kalish, kaleidoscope artist

Another Class Project

"There are two kinds of surprises; the meticulously planned kind and the happy coincidence. Making kaleidoscope quilts allows me to synthesize elements of both, to merge control and spontaneity to spark something unexpected. There is an air of abracadabra as the last seam is stitched because the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts. And in the end, I am the one who makes the magic and the one who is surprised."
Paula Nadelstern, quilter and author of Kaleidoscope Quilts

Angel's Quilt

This was my first Turning Twenty quilt.  [photo taken at quilt shop where Chris and I met]

Our LQS owner constantly pooh-poohed this pattern (she's entitled to her opinion) but, as a new quilter, I loved the way the shapes and colors were mixed together without me having to choose what went where. I still didn't trust myself to work randomly.

From another LQS, I purchased a coordinated bundle of Blended Quilts III fat quarters. The soft colors reminded me so much of my now-fragile mother ~ the mixture of soft gentle colors, a comforting jumble of exquisite patterns, and those full-blown rose blossoms (my mother loved her rose bushes) . . . poignant and bittersweet, persistently endearing.

Touched by an Angel
Maya Angelou

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

[2009 note ~ this lovely quilt now covers my grandfather's dining room table, the base of my studio ironing table . . . a constant reminder that I dared to take a chance and work with something new]