lucky pillow and pinwheel quilt

 

I put one of my embroideries into a pillow and called it the Lucky Pillow because seven is a lucky number and my granddaughter turned 7 last week.  

I finished it on the drive to Toronto to visit the family.

The seven year old has a 3 year old little sister and they play together.  Here they are playing with the small quilt that I am making for little sister.

It's made from hand pieced pinwheels, one of my favourite ways to place half square triangles together.  To up the playful feeling of my hand dyes, I visited local quilt shops and purchased some new printed fabrics for this wee quilt intended for a new person.  (she's only the ripe old age of 3)   

Suvi's quilt is one of the hand work projects I took with me to Mexico.  I loved being able to put the pieces into a baggie and sew it on the plane using a thread cutter rather than scissors or take the baggie with me to the beach or pool.  In the above photo, I am putting a nine-patch of pinwheels together in the lobby of the resort during a period of waiting for one of our families to arrive.  

I prepared this project beforehand with rotary cut squares that were machine pieced together with a single diagonal line.  I cut off half of the tiny square and discarded that part, then pressed the squares open.

It is a very portable and cheerful project.

   

This baby quilt is one of two hand work projects I took to Mexico, the other one being the one patch quilt I wrote about last week.

I keep looking at it on the wall because I am cautious about using too much red fabric.  I want a light as air feeling that's interesting far away and close up.  

  

The lucky pillow as a hat for grandad.

the pinwheel quilt.  xo

I was here

I really don't know what I want to say about these two new pieces.

It took most of the morning to put them in the shadow-box frames
and then package them up in cardboard to ship.

love meditation: moon and time

One of them is a donation to a fund raising auction for the Thunder Bay art gallery.

The other, a gift.

like all my work, these are personal communications
they are about

who I am
where I live
what I love

they also show how
important time and labour are to me

as both these aesthetics are evident

 watercolour on paper

hand work shows my humanity
the marks are tenuous, wavering,
they demonstrate vulnerability

indigo dye, stitch resist, with hand stitch added 

both these pieces are examples of determination
of will
of a need to complete the task at hand to my best ability

they are both careful work

It  took me a week to
complete this watercolour study of a quilt that I would like to make
some day
Agnes Martin came to mind

 

I keep writing these blog posts about my work.
It seems important to say it.

I was here.

life affirming

When I make a baby quilt, I go off track in regard to my arty ideas.

Baby quilts are meant to be used and they are automatic heirlooms.

The reverse applique is finished.
The variety of greys are from local plants, the reds are from procion.
Velvet applique in organic cotton.

This one is for my one year old baby, Maia Wren.

It will be saved by her.  Way past my own life time.
I am giving something more than cloth and labour.
More even than my creativity.
I am giving pure love.

the front

It is my fourth grand-child quilt.

the back

put goodness into the world
count on its rippling effect

These baby quilts are personal

and I believe that they have a powerful beauty.
A beauty for the future.

I believe in the future.
I would not be making things without that kind of surety.

Those of us who make things affirm life.

The emotions of caring and hope and love and a little worry are transferred into my work

through touch.

simplicity

I am completing the quilt I started for my grand daughter before she was born.
I am following through, loving the slow process.  It's a log cabin arrangement, hand pieced and hand quilted.

I respect the materials by handling them gently.
I respect the finished product by taking my time.
I respect the future owner (not two yet) by touching and holding this piece as I make it.
I believe that she will feel my touch in this quilt for the rest of her life.

Making something become real and that will have a place in her life makes me feel useful.
Quilts are protection blankets in so many ways and I want to protect the ones I love.

The back is a square of large dots within a square of tiny ones.

"Simplicity stands at the end, not at the beginning of a work."  Anni Albers 1944