Friendship Quilts: Mark Making on Fabric for Kids’ Quilts
Journal Entry: April 18, 2020. Friendship Quilts bring together the bond between family and friends. I bet if people are asked what they miss the most in the time of Coronavirus social distancing they will say the interactions with other people. It’s one of those things we aren’t likely to think about. As an active society, we take it for granted that we can be with family and friends every day. I think I came to my apex of feeling the void of outside humans in my life last week. I sensed that other folks were in the same place…
Build a Bear Quilt for a Toddler
Journal Entry: April 1, 2020. I can honestly say I haven’t seen one bear in all the time I’ve lived in Colorado EXCEPT for the time we were with our friend Beth. And, I’m not really 100% so sure I saw bears then. My husband and I were sitting around our table with Beth, just talking about seeing wild animals in our rural foothills neighborhood near the Air Force Academy. Both Earl and I answered Beth’s question about seeing any lion or bear with an emphatic “No!”. Thank goodness we’d only seen a lot of deer and a red fox…
Quilting with Kids: Home Projects
Journal Entry: March 23, 2020. I’m thinking about these kids today. As one thought has led to another I’m thinking about the crazy times we are living in right now, watching the impact of the threat of a spreading virus and how it is changing my kids’ daily routines. I’m thinking about my grandkids and what they are doing to fill time away from friends and extracurricular activities, and these thoughts are leading me to think about the last project the girls and I shared. And then… those thoughts sent me down the path of thinking about last summer and…
Quilt Designs Inspired by Monet’s Garden: Monet’s Lilies #1 and #2
Journal Entry: March 15, 2020. The inspiration for my Monet wall hanging and bed-size quilts came from an interesting series of events related to Claude Monet’s garden. It started from a long phone conversation with my youngest granddaughter Lily, who had visited Monet’s home in Giverny, Normandy, France with her mom during a summer vacation. Claude Monet is my absolute favorite of the famous Impressionist painters. Lily provided a wonderfully detailed description of her experience: the gentle beauty of the gardens, colorful flowers and lily ponds, and Monet’s personal collection of paintings. During our chat I mentioned how much I admired…
A Quilter’s Website: The Quilter Exchange & Fiber Art Studio ReFresh
Journal Entry: March 7, 2020. So many friends and family members have asked me what I’m doing now that I have retired. I resigned as the Group Editorial Director of The Quilting Company (10 quilting magazines and online content) after F+ W Media filed for Chapter 11 in the spring of 2019. As Scarlet O’Hara would say “Fiddle de dee!” I still have new adventures to travel. I spent time working on a number of quilt projects I put on the back burner: a few special quilts for family, playing with art quilt designs and relaxing with handwork projects using…
Landscapes in Fiber: Forest Fire Recovery
Journal Entry: September 15, 2015. In the summer of 2013, a devastating fire began in Black Forest, Colorado. Before all the fire was fully extinguished it burned 14,280 acres of land and destroyed 509 homes. My husband and I had moved from the Black Forest area in 2005; we still had friends living there. Joe, Angie and their family lost their home. The family was devestated and after some time decided to rebuild on their Black Forest property. They now have a beautiful new home, ground cover and wild flowers have pushed through the ashes and animal life are returning…
Animal Quilt: Appliqué Doggie Faces in Fabric
Journal Entry: December 16, 2014. Another Boxer puppy joined our extended family this summer. Daisy represents the latest of a long line of Boxer loyalty. My oldest son received his first boxer, named Lady Bug, when he was four. After he married, and before our oldest granddaughter was born, my son and his wife brought Calvin into the family. It was sad when Calvin passed a few years back. We were anticipating the arrival of the next Boxer. What does a fiber artist do to celebrate a new family member? What else? Using Daisy’s sweet little face as a model…
Revival of the Denim Jacket – Embellished
Journal Entry: April 25, 2014. Repurposing old clothing into new clothing designs and the renewal of traditionally home-crafted arts is making an international resurgence. Clothing, from shirts and jackets to the glitter of formal eveningwear is revitalized with embellishments such as pieces of crocheted dollies, scarves and edgings, hand-stitched embroidery, beads and buttons, and ribbon trims to create bespoke designs. I undertook a massive closet clean out a while ago and discovered I have collected 5 denim jackets over several decades. Granted, each is a different style, but really, how many does a person need? I just love wearing comfortable…
Quilting Lines of Symmetry
Journal Entry: March 21, 2014. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein I tried to convince my sons when they were in school that quilting is really about math. We’ve argued many times about the difference between a degree in liberal arts, such as one in art or education, and a scientific-based one like engineering or medical science, hard versus soft science. I’ve tried to convince them that quilting crosses over both sides as math and art. Even though they gradually accepted it many, many years ago (I believe acceptance finally came forth because I engaged them in my…