Kathleen Ware

Yesterday I watched a short video clip from of a longer video called Quilts in Women's Lives by Pat Ferraro. You can watch it at Folkstreams. The clip features three women from very different backgrounds who all are passionate about quilting. A fascinating look at quilters and this was made in 1981.
While at Folkstreams I watched a 30 minute video of Kathleen Ware, a quilter from Oregon. This video was made in 1979 and it is a real time piece. The video shows Kathleen Ware in her home where she makes and sells her quilts. The quilt she is working on during the making of the film is the Lone Star Quilt.

Forget about rotary cutters! She simply holds her template on top of several layers of fabric and cuts it out. Unbelievably for all of us rotary cutter/acrylic ruler devotees, her quilt looks fabulous in the end. Quiltmaking has grown in all directions since 1979, but these are our modern roots; the American quilting revival is often traced back to the 1976 Bicentennial.

It was especially interesting for me to watch this video because just this week I have been buying fabric for a Lone Star quilt. Don't you love synchronicity? I want to do mine in 1930s fabrics. The second picture above is from Australia and uses 1930s fabrics. I am thinking of using some of the blocks from Baltimore Country Cousins for the applique. I'm still in the dreaming stage; I don't even have a pattern yet.

Barbie

This is so cool! Take a look at "Barbie's Pastimes" by Carolyn Sadler. It can be seen on The Quilt Show's daily blog as a "smilebox" slideshow. (Scroll down to the March 9 entry.) Talk about thinking outside the box. Dolls, quilts, dollhouses, just a few of my favorite things.

New Book

Last week my DH decided to order a book about Everest on Amazon. I offered to help him order it. Of course, I had to get the free shipping, so I ordered two books to save money. You know how that is, right? Well, my logic is that I would rather spend the money on a book than on the shipping.

Baltimore's Country Cousins by Susan McKelvey is a lovely book. Just my style of applique. Most Baltimore album blocks seem too elaborate for my taste and ability. The patterns in this book are similar in style to the applique blocks I have been making.

In this book Susan uses small rubber stamps and black ink to get some of the little pen and ink designs that are sometimes seen in Baltimore album quilts. A little hand with a heart in the center, a bird, and a scroll with the date are a few she uses.

Susan also explains how to use your computer to print out special words which can be traced onto fabric. I would really like to try that!

What's wrong with this picture?

We had a very snowy day here on Quilt Island this Monday March 2. So snowy that the town office where I work was closed. A good day to sit and sew, I know you will agree. With my DD home from college and using my sewing room since her bedroom is too cold, I packed up some applique supplies yesterday so I could sew all morning while she slept.

Mid-morning I stopped working on the "laurel spray" block from the Marie Henry book I am using. Hmm. What's wrong with this picture?

These blocks are all on point! Thankfully, I did notice before I got any more done. I clipped all my stitches from the back and re-positioned the bias stem and started again.

By late afternoon I got this far. I really like it! I will put this away for another day. I need good daylight to sew, otherwise I have a hard time seeing the thread.

Sunday afternoon DD and I drove to Cottonweeds so I could sign up for a miniature class in April. The store was packed with women shopping! I forgot they were having a sale. I helped the economy by buying some fat quarters, needles, and a chalk pencil. Don't say I don't do my bit to help the country.

Take heart, my snowbound friends, the first day of spring is in 18 days!