A Grateful Heart and To Wish You a Happy Thanksgiving

At this Thanksgiving season and always, I am richly blessed.  Some blessings are obvious -- easy to see and easy to be grateful for.  Some blessings have come in disguise as challenges to be overcome, wrestled through, and learned from.  It's not always easy to be grateful for the challenges, especially in the midst of them, but I'm grateful for both kinds of blessings.  My hope is that I will never take any of them for granted.  I echo E. P. Powell's sentiment, "Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude."  I hope for a grateful heart every day, not just in November, not just on Thanksgiving Day.   As Anne Frank said, "I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."

I wish rich blessings to you and yours at this Thanksgiving season and always. 

I know most of us won't have time to sit and listen to music just now but at some time over this weekend, maybe you will enjoy this program from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Music and the Spoken Word celebrating this holiday. 



The songs include "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come"; "Now Thank We All Our God"; "All Things Bright and Beautiful"; "Simple Gifts" (organ); "Bless This House"; "Prayer of Thanksgiving"; and "Come, Ye Fount of Every Blessing."

Happy Thanksgiving!

--Nancy.
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To Keep Her Warm

Finally, the snowball and nine-patch top for grandbaby girl is finished.  With simple flowers appliqued on the scrappy border.  Unquilted it measures 43" x 55".  It will shrink after quilting, washing, and drying but it will be big enough for a baby even if she happens to be 8 or 9 pounds.  I layered and basted it on Saturday and began quilting it today.

I deliberated about batting.  Cotton?  Poly?  I love the cotton batting I've been using but, honestly, it doesn't seem very warm.  Or cuddly.  So I decided on poly.  I had some in the closet, pulled it out, cut it, and realized that it was way too thick.  If I'd used it, the quilt would have been a mat instead of a cuddly cover.  Besides that, polyester seems like it could be dangerous because it melts.  My daughter and her husband use a wood stove to heat their small home.  Let my imagination turn aside and go no further down that road. . . .

So I headed to the store and ended up with a bat that is 80% cotton and 20% polyester.  While I don't like the feel of it on my hands, I know it will be completely encased in fabric.  It seems cuddly and warm.  I'll write more about the brand and how it quilts in a later post.

I'm linking this post to WOW (WiPs on Wednesday) at Esther's Blog and to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, Esther and Lee.

I'm also linking this to A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts.  My original post claiming this as my goal for the month was posted on November 1.


--Nancy.
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Old Pins

Colonial Williamsburg's DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum is hosting Threads of Feeling, a display of mid-1700's billet books from London's Foundling Hospital, on loan from England's Coram.  Women and families who were unable to care for their infants for any reason took them to the Foundling Hospital to receive care until they could get on their feet again and return to collect their babies.  When a mother left her baby, she also left a small token, a piece of cloth, clothing, or ribbon, as a means to identify her child when she returned for him or her -- because there was always the hope that she would return.

My love of history and family history pulled me to the online exhibit of some of these tokens.  My mother's heart weeps for the mothers who were unable to keep and care for their babies; for the babies without their mothers; and for the babies who were never retrieved, living their childhood without the love and support of family. 

My love of sewing led my eyes to the pins and bits of fabric, lace, and embroidery.  Below are just a few.  I thought it was interesting that the ends of some of the pins were wrapped in thread.    (I'm not using Lightbox so you can click the image to see a close-up, then click again for an even larger view.)

If you'd like to view more of these tokens of love, you can seem them at Threads of Feeling from the Foundling Museum.

How I wish I lived close enough to spend a day at the Colonial Williamsburg exhibit! 

--Nancy.
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Progress on the Snowball and Nine-Patch

It's just play at the moment.  I'm not sure what this quilt will look like when it's finished.  I know it helps to take photos and see them on the computer monitor, though.  It seems to give me a little objectivity and perspective.

Thoughts on various aspects of this quilt top:

the center
The nine patches and snowballs are all sewn together.  They stay as they are (for better or worse).

the stop border
You can barely see it there on the left side, a light/bright and very narrow strip of turquoise and white check.  Now I wonder if it's too light.  I've tried several other colors and tones/shades and haven't been happy with any of them.  And maybe it's too narrow.  I'm not sure how wide to make it on a quilt this size.  Width?  Color?

the outer border
It is intentionally uneven, narrower on the top and right side, wider on the bottom and left side.  Should it be even wider on the left and bottom?  Will the quilt look okay with an uneven border?  How wide is too wide, how narrow is too narrow?

I researched border sizes a little and learned that current thought suggests that the most effective border width is based on a numerical equation called phi, equal to 1.618.  Multiply the block size by .618 and by 1.618 to find out the best width range for a border.  The blocks in this quilt are 4½".  The range for the border is between 2¾" and 7¼".  That's a really wide range for a quilt center that measures 31½" x 40½".  As the borders are laid out now, the left and lower borders are 7", the right and top borders are 5".  Hmmmm.

The pinks are not really pink but small red prints on white/off white grounds (and two plaids), but they look very pink.  The greens and blues are also on white (or vice versa).  I think the colors will work but I don't like the placement. 

the applique flowers
The vine is a piece of yarn to give the impression of a vine but I don't think a vine will be effective on this quilt so I'm taking it out. 

Only a few applique flowers are laying on the border but I'm thinking of clusters of flowers with leaves on the wide borders; single flowers and leaves on the narrow borders.  Maybe the flowers are too small.... 

It's all just play for now but I can't play too long or our grandbaby girl will be 2 before it's finished!  I've decided that in my case, creativity can not be rushed.  It will take its time or the result will be less than my creative best and will look insincere.  There are so many variables in the creation of a quilt.  It seems to me that some people have an intuitive ability to make "perfect" decisions.  And some of us just puzzle our way through it learning a little from each quilt. 

I'm linking this post to:

• A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts.  My goal is to have this top completely stitched by the end of November.  I would love to have it layered and partly quilted before the end of the month, too.  It may happen but I'm not claiming that as a goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes.
• Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

--Nancy.
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It's Festival Time for Center Light

Amy of Amy's Creative Side is hosting the fall Blogger's Quilt Festival to coincide with fall Quilt Market.  You still have time to enter.  Choose a category (one of 15!) at the festival link (above), write a post about your quilt, then link it to the category you chose.  What a fun way to see lots of quilts.

I'm entering Center Light into the scrappy quilt category.

This quilt came about because I had an over-abundance of light, plain scraps.  It was either throw them out or make them into something.  I chose the latter.  I did not have a layout in mind when I began sewing the blocks.  It's the result of pure play.  I finished stitching the top a few years ago and finished hand quilting it last month.  It measures 61½" x 80".  Individual blocks measured 5" before quilting and shrinkage in the washer.

You can see how scrappy some of the light blocks are from the two below.  I was just trying to use up the little pieces.

Here are two more views.

You can join the fun by viewing the quilts and/or by entering one of your quilts in whatever category seems right.   

Doesn't everyone love a festival, especially when we can miss the hustle and bustle of people packed elbow to elbow and just enjoy the sights?!  I know I do.  Now that I've finished this post I'm headed over to see the other entries in the festival.

Enjoy!

--Nancy.

P.S.  Here are links to all the categories:  baby quilt, throw quilt, scrappy quilt, group/bee quilt, two color quilt, ROYGBIV quilt, applique quilt, hand quilted quilt, home machine quilted quilt, professionally quilted quilt, quilt photographer, art quilt, doll/mini quilt, wall hanging, bed quilt.
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To Keep Her Heart from Breaking

Imagine America's prairie before there were automobiles, before there were highways, roads, or dirt paths; before towns or stores.  Imagine back to a time when the prairies were unsettled and unclaimed and horses pulled wagons with all of one's possessions to new homestead land.

Imagine a little sod hut settled on that wide, open land where one could see for miles and miles and not see another person for months and months.

A pioneer woman sat beside her husband on the wagon as he drove to their new home.  When they finally arrived at their land her husband stopped the wagon and, looking at the barren land on which sat a tiny sod hut, he said, “Isn’t that the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen?”

I believe I might have wept.  No matter what one's prior circumstance was, to move to a sod hut would probably be worse. 

Pioneer women had one thing in common:  hardships:  bad weather, threat of Indian attacks, pestilence, disease.  "One hardship that we tend to overlook is isolation.  Picture a pioneer's little cabin, several hundred miles away from any semblance of civilization and the nearest neighbor often many miles away.  The emotional support of a friend was not easily found.  These pioneer women provided emotional sustenance to their families but had no one to whom they could turn.  Their exhausted husbands could not, in many cases, meet their emotional needs....  Perhaps that is why they eagerly turned to quilting.  Very few crafts provide both utilitarian and aesthetic functions like quilting."

The story of the pioneer couple and the description of isolation among pioneer women reminds me of something a very old pioneer woman said about quilting.
 

I quilted as fast as I could    
to keep my family warm and     
as beautifully as I could    
to keep my heart from breaking.    

Most of us have it easier these days than did the pioneer women of 150 years ago.  We quilters probably all quilt as beautifully as we can, but to sit and sew a quilt without a pressing need for one is a luxury.  It's certainly a luxury I generally take for granted -- at least until I pause and reflect on the blessings in my life.  To have fabric at hand or the means and proximity to a store to buy fabric is a wonderful blessing. 

It snowed here yesterday.  Not much, just a few flakes, just enough to remind me that winter will arrive soon.  I'm grateful I'm not physically isolated from others and that I don't have the pressing need to make quilts to keep my family warm.   I feel grateful for nearby friends to visit; for telephones to visit with friends and family who don't live nearby; and for the internet which connects me to distant blogging friends whom I have never met.  And I'm grateful I don't live in a sod hut!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Sources:

• The image of the field with bales of straw/hay was taken in Iowa in 2005.
• The image of the sod hut was photographed by Jason who generously made it available at Flickr for posting with attribution and credit.
• The story about the homesteaders and the tiny sod hut was told in Lillian Schlissel's book, Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey.  (Page number not recorded.)
• The quotes about pioneer women/isolation and quilting beautifully come from "The Pioneer Spirit," an essay by Mike Hartnett in Kathy Lamancusa's book, Quilts Are Forever.
• Crossed Ts Quilt:  International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008.040.0059.

--Nancy.
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What You See Depends on What You're Looking For

When I look for the diagonal lines in this layout, I find them.  When I look for bright snowballs, I see those.  When I look for reds, or blues, or greens, that's what I see.  Interesting, isn't it?  Perhaps that means there's no focal point?  I don't know if that's good or bad.  I guess the only time we really see a whole quilt at one time is when it's posing for a photograph.  Otherwise, we see bits and pieces when it's in use or when it's folded.  Still, I like the idea of the pieces of a quilt working together to make a unified whole.

Because it's a quilt for a baby girl I wanted to make one that's a little feminine and light/bright but not too bright.  My fabrics run toward darks and brights with not many in between.  I tried to limit the palette to reds/roses/pinks, blues, greens, and yellows.  A few peaches and turquoisey fabrics crept in, too, all from what I had on hand.

The blocks are 5" before sewn, will be 4½" after being sewn.  Without borders the quilt would be only 31½" x 41½" which I think is too small for a baby quilt.  I'll add a border, maybe two, and I'm thinking of adding applique flowers, vine, and leaves.  We'll see...

Just to say:   masking tape has its limits on a design wall when it comes to using a wall in your house.  I didn't count but my guess is that about 20 sticks is the limit.  I've moved some of these blocks around a lot and have had to replace the masking tape.  Ha.

If you have any thoughts about changes to improve this little quilt, I'd love to read them.

I'm linking this post to WOW at Esther's Blog and WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thank you, Esther and Lee.

--Nancy.
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Snowball and Nine Patch: Four Variations

I always find it interesting that so many variations can be created from a single quilt pattern.

The four patterns above are all created from 9-patch blocks alternating with snowball blocks.  How different they look! 

The two on the top row both have dark-on-the-corner 9-patches.  The snowballs on the left have dark triangles in the corners.  The snowballs on the right have light triangles in the corners. 

The two on the bottom row both have light-in-the-corner 9-patches but the snowballs on the left have dark triangles in the corners and the snowballs on the right have light triangles in the corners.

The patterns that are catty-corner from each other have colors in opposite positions.  It may depend on your own vision what stands out to you or what you see first. 

When I look at the top left pattern the first thing I see are the diagonal crosses.  In all the other patterns, I see the snowballs first.  If I squint I can see the white diagonal crosses in the lower right pattern.


Turn these patterns on the diagonal and it almost looks like there are four different patterns.

How about you?  Do you notice how different patterns can look when the colors and/or lights/darks change places.  What do you see when you look at these patterns? 

--Nancy.
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My Least Favorite Sewing Chore . . .

. . . is oiling my mother's old black Singer.

I don't like the smell of oil or the mess when the oil drips from the bottle (no matter how careful I am).  I'm always afraid I'll miss some and get oil on whatever I'm sewing.

I have the original manual with oiling instructions.  The illustrations are excellently rendered drawings but some of the little arrows that point to the spots to oil just don't seem too clear.

Still, it has to be done and I'm grateful to have the machine and that it's in good working order.  So I oil.

And when I'm finished, my mother's old black Singer just purrs.

How about you?  Do you enjoy oiling your machine?  What's your least favorite sewing chore?

--Nancy.
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Impromptu Design Wall

The board I usually use for a small design wall still has some other blocks on it.  These nine-patches were small enough that I just started taping them to a section of wall near the sewing machine.  It's not a very large section, but then this quilt won't be very large, either.

I made another 12 blocks today for a total of 34 (having removed 2 from what I had yesterday).  I haven't decided on size yet so I don't know how many I'll need.  And I'm still playing with the colors.  (The colors in the photo are not true.)  The blocks will finish at 4½".  If I use alternate plain blocks I'll need half as many as if I used only nine-patch blocks.  In a way, I wish I could make tiny nine-patches but I just don't think I have the time to make enough AND hand quilt the quilt before baby arrives.

So, that's may work in progress this week.  Plain and simple.

I'm linking to WOW at Esther's Blog and WiP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, ladies, for hosting.

--Nancy.
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