May Snow and Creating Trees

Even though we've lived in Colorado for over ten years, I'm always a wee bit surprised by these late spring snowstorms. This was the scene from my south window when I got up this morning - beautiful, awesome, gorgeous, etc. Our grand total the last two days is 20-24 inches of heavy wet snow. The hummingbird feeders were frozen so I had to bring them in for a quick thaw in warm water before hanging them back outside. Two hummers were waiting for their breakfasts and they continue to hang around for more.

I've been busy this week and this is the one day I have nothing special on my agenda so I'll be in the loft working on my landscape quilt. I've added one border and some aspen trees. It took awhile to do the tedious job of cutting and attaching the trunks and leaves. I have a few finishing touches to add (perhaps a fallen log or rock outcrop) and the final border. Here is the quilt so far.

Quilt Group

I belong to several quilt related groups and I love them all. Today was Friday PM Quilters. As the name indicates, we meet every other Friday afternoon but I like to think the PM stands for "Perfectly Marvelous!" We take turns hosting the group in our homes. All but two of our members live in Estes Park. The two who don't, used to live here and have moved to Loveland which is about thirty miles down the Big Thompson Canyon road, a curvy, winding, "follow the river" road. Today we met in Loveland - eight of us. We each bring a project on which to work and, while we are all quilters, many of us also bring knitting, embroidery, or other needlework. It's always a treat to see what everyone else is working on. We stitch and chat from one to three then have dessert prepared by our hostess - it's always something delicious!

I took my camera intending to take photos of our group but completely forgot until it was time to leave at four. So, the only photos I took were of the spring flowers blooming by the front door. Those of us in Estes, are envious of our lower altitude friends because spring comes much earlier at 5000 ft. elevation than 8000 ft. elevation. No flowers blooming here yet, unless they are indoors. I am lusting after blooming flowers which I won't be able to plant until June 10 (our last official frost date.) I'll have to be content with plant catalogs and photos of my deck garden from years past but it's hard to wait.

New Quilting Projects

We drove home yesterday and it's good to be back in the mountains. We stopped in Grand Island, Nebraska so I could take a quick walk through Material Girl Fabrics. It's one of my favorite quilt shops and, fortunately, there's a bagel shop close by for my husband.

I'm eager to start on a couple of new projects: personalized Christmas stockings for Trail Ridge Quilters and a table quilt with fabric I purchased at Prairie Star Quilts in Elk Horn, Iowa. I love the excitement of beginning a new project. This is the fabric for the table quilt - isn't it gorgeous! The colors are perfect for our house. I will use the floral for the center and make wide borders with the stripes. I plan to hand quilt around the motifs in the floral fabric. I haven't yet decided how I'll quilt the borders.

Elk Horn, Iowa

We are in the little town of Elk Horn, Iowa for my husband's 50th high school class reunion. Most of the people that live here are of Danish heritage. Elk Horn has an authentic Danish windmill, built in Norre Snede, Denmark in 1848. In 1975 it was purchased, disassembled, and shipped to Elk Horn where it was reassembled and restored to working condition. It is a tourist attraction where visitors can take guided tours, watch wheat and rye being ground by wind power and purchase Danish gifts from the adjacent shop. We're in the midst of Elk Horn's annual Tivoli Fest. In addition to a parade and delicious Danish food, there are lots of fun things to see and do. I always visit Prairie Star Quilts when I'm in town. I think I'll head over there right now and see what's new.

Stitching on the road

My husband and I are leaving on a road trip tomorrow so I'm busy doing laundry, packing and getting my stitching supplies organized. When I travel I always take a portable project and frequently it's an English paper piecing project. My favorite way to transport all my supplies involves zip lock plastic bags in various sizes.

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Bag #1 holds several bobbins wound with the threads I'll use to baste and whip stitch. I thread a needle, poke a hole through the bag (from the inside) and pull the thread through to the outside. When I cut off a length of thread I leave a tail of several inches on the outside of the bag which stays zipped closed. This bag also holds a few extra needles on a small card (sharps for basting and betweens for whip stitching the pieces together.)

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I like using freezer paper templates (in this case, hexagons) which I print using a template from http://www.incompetech.com/. These shapes can be sized for a specific project. I print on regular printer paper then staple this sheet to four - six sheets of 8.5 X 11.5 inch freezer paper. I put one staple in each hexagon to hold the sheets together and cut each hexagon carefully through all layers. When I'm ready to iron them onto my fabric, I remove the staples and press the freezer paper hexagons (shiny side toward fabric) onto the fabric strips and discard the printer paper hexagons. I leave about a half inch between hexagons.

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If you look closely you can see the hexagons ironed onto the fabric. I loosely fold these strips and put them into Bag #2.

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Bag #3 holds small scissors and beeswax for coating the thread.

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I use additional bags to hold completed units.

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Diagram printed from above website

All these smaller bags go into a large zip lock bag which also holds my diagram, which I've colored in with colored pencils, and a small paper bag for scraps. I use masking tape to secure the scrap bag to the inside of the car door.

I'm ready to travel!

You can find lots of good tutorials for more detailed instructions on English paper piecing in quilt shops and on the web.

Feel the Love

Most of the quilts I make become gifts for family members. I've designed, pieced, and hand quilted a quilt for each of my grandchildren, except the youngest, when she or he graduated from a crib to a big bed. When I gave my first grandchild his quilt, I didn't know how much he loved it until I was babysitting for him one night when he was about four years old. I sat on his bed with him reading bedtime stories and when I tucked him in he said, "You made this quilt just for me didn't you Grandma." I told him I had. He then said, "When I snuggle under it at night it feels like you're hugging me. I tell myself, 'My grandma loves me.' " What a sweet and lovely thing that was to hear. Tears come to my eyes just thinking about it. I'll keep on making quilts for them and my reward is knowing they feel my love when they snuggle down under those quilts. I'll be starting a quilt for my youngest grandchild soon. She's two, adorable, loving and spunky. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Quilting: My Passion!

About fifteen years ago I discovered that I love to make quilts and I haven't looked back. My dearest friend guided me through the planning and creating of my first quilt, "A Forest of Pines." It was a big challenge for me but I finished it and it now hangs in our home. It's far from perfect. I guess that's why I placed it high on a wall where you can't see that the points don't match and the hand quilted stitches are big and irregular. But, from a distance, it looks pretty darn good for a first attempt. I belong to several quilt groups; I've taken classes, read dozens of quilting books and made many more quilts since the first one. But, "A Forest of Pines" holds a special place in my heart. I have a perfect view of it from my loft (Aspen Loft Studio) where I'm inspired to keep making quilts.

Quilting for Mother's Day

I'm working on a small wall quilt (pot of geraniums) to give my sweet mom for Mother's Day. Although machine quilting is not my best skill, I'm pleased with the results so far. I just have to add the binding and I'm done. We're taking her out for brunch tomorrow when I'll give it to her. In the meantime, I'll brew up some of my new green tea and visit my good friend who recently had shoulder surgery.