And That's a Wrap!

Another Christmas season has been wrapped up and with it several handmade gifts were given and received.  A handmade Christmas is traditional in our family.  Gifts always seem to carry some family history or significance.

For my kids:

 This quilt was made from a vintage quilt top bought at an estate sale.  I think, because of the pink fabric, it was done in the 1930s.  The scraps used are from clothing.  I gave this to my son, it's about a queen size quilt.

I made this Christmas quilt using precut Moda squares from the Winter's Song line.  It's a small 'Round the World quilt and I gave it to my daughter.  My grandmother made this version of a quilt many times, using smaller pieces.

Before my mother got sick, she had hand pieced three quilt tops and gotten them ready to quilt.  I've had them stored away for the past 5 years and finished up these two for my brothers (I'm still working on the one I kept for myself).

Mother always signed her work, so I took a picture of one of her signatures and printed it onto labels to add to the back of these quilts.

 

My son wanted to do something special for his girlfriend and decided to make it himself.  Not bad for just some straight stitching to make a fleece blanket.  The extra part of this quilt is that the back side has a pocket to tuck your feet in.

Into every quilt a ripper usually comes!

I've got this idea for next Christmas...something my grandmother used to do...and this is the beginning of that idea....something for everyone.  That's a long list, about 14 people.

I bought a jelly roll of 42 - 2 1/2 inch strips.  I sewed the different color variations together and then cut those in 2 1/2 inch strips.  I draw out an idea with black spacers added.  It's going to be very colorful!

 

So that's it for 2015...time to start 2016.

My Quilts - On Display

 It started with the purple quilt, my monthly quilting class, and my desire to bring an awareness for the need for more funding for pancreatic cancer.  I opened my home to the public and displayed ALL my quilts that I had been given, inherited, or made.  There were items for sale (quilted wall hangings, books/bibles, Christmas ornaments and food...lots and lots of sweets!).  Everything wasn't like I wanted it to be.  I didn't have time to put all the name tags of who made which quilt on the quilts (a friend came over to help me and then she ended up having a seizure...but recovered after laying down for a bit, please keep her in your prayers).  Because of the situation with my friend, I postponed my regular quilting class, but honestly, I don't think I could have done it justice anyway....I was having too much fun talking with all the ladies that came to see my quilts.

I thought I had about 30 quilts...but it seems my collection of quilt related and handmade items (crochet, woodworks, oil paintings....etc) is bigger than I expected.  I stopped counting at 90 items on display...not counting just the normal stuff that I have around the house that folks enjoyed looking at. Several people commented on the sewing machine collection and the scissor collection.

Sally came over Friday morning and we started displaying the quilts.  We kept most of them downstairs and displayed all the unfinished projects around the banisters of the loft.  My son had some of his quilts on display in his room, but I didn't get a picture of them.  A couple of ladies had more fun just going through all my quilt books and planning their next quilt project.

Here are some views from the day.  Looking down from the loft, you can see some of the unfinished projects and those in the living room.  I had my grandmother's quilting frame on the sofa with one of her quilts rolled in it. I took down my curtains and hung quilts instead.  There were several on the porch too.

 The gown was made by my grandmother for my mother's high school graduation.

 We even hung a quilt off the fridge and wrapped a closet door with a quilt.

 All the baby quilts and blankets ended up with their own rack.

 I didn't realize I had so much Christmas quilted stuff.  Truthfully, most of them were made by me and given to my grandmother as Christmas gifts, then after her death, they were given back to me.  This quilt rack was made by my dad, painted by my mom and covered with afagans and doll blankets, old baby blankets, and embroidered pillow cases.

 I found this little block, one of Sally's very first pieces.  I finished it up for her with quilting and binding.  She did a really good job on it.  In the background is the one that she is working on now...both are nine patches.

It was a great day with a steady stream of people in and out all day.  We raised a little over $500.  I think that is a pretty good start for my fund raising for Relay for Life 2012.  I could have made a little more.  Our first visitors thought that I wasn't just showing my quilts but had them for sale....I corrected her real quick on that.  Then the store called where the purple quilt is on display and there was someone there wanting to buy it.  However, it has already been given to the American Cancer Society and they plan to use it to bring awareness to the Relay for Life.  It will be on the Christmas parade float and will travel to some events before either being auctioned off or raffled off.  But it made me feel good to have someone like it enough to want to buy it.

My desire for this weekend wasn't just to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer..but also to raise awareness that I am a quilter too.  I'm hoping...no praying....that this opened some doors for me to really do something with this talent God has given me.  If nothing else...I will be busy for a while finishing all those unfinished projects!

Quilts….Did I Mention I Love Quilts

In case you haven’t heard…I love quilts, my family loves quilts and everything to do about quilts and sewing and art and crafts.

Since November is the awareness month for pancreatic cancer, I am turning my normal quilting class of just 2 hours into an all-day quilting class for the same price, with the option to use my sewing machines if needed.  I’m also displaying all my quilts (from 5 generations of women) and having a bake sale with some arts and crafts for sale.  All the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.

So for the next two weeks…I’m going to be all about getting ready for that.

If you happen to be in the middle Tennessee area and would like to come for a quilting class on making a Grandmother’s Fan or see a quilt show in a log house in the country….call me….            931-996-8064 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            931-996-8064      end_of_the_skype_highlighting      .  I only have 8 slots left for the class.  If you want to come out, please call for directions.  GPS does not work well with my address…but if you want to give it a try…

6794 Piney River Road N     Bon Aqua, TN 37025

If coming from Interest 40, take exit 163 (it is right at an hour drive west of Nashville).  Hwy 48 runs between Dickson and Centerville…head towards Centerville off the interstate…south.  Exactly 5 miles from the interstate, Piney River Road is on the left.  If coming from Centerville…we are about 1 miles past the Pinewood Store on the right.  A black barn sits right by the road  (I’m a visual direction kind of girl).
Down Piney River Road, about 2 miles you’ll come to a big red aluminum building.  My house is right behind that barn in a big field.  I’ll have purple ribbons up.

This is the pattern we’ll be making (or a variation of this).  If you stay for the normal 2 hours, you can make 1 block, if you stay longer you could have a 4 block wall hanging made.
Here’s the details:

Private Collection

Quilt Show & Bake Sale

Quilting Class $20 – all day

(Limited space available)

Arts & Craft items for sale

Saturday, November 12^th

8:00 – 5:00

Home of Deborah Boutwell

Pinewood Area, off Hwy 48

Call for details 931-996-8064

All proceeds and donations

benefit the American Cancer Society

(oh…there will be BBQ!)

Threads and Tears

I found a community of woman, connected with treads and tears.

Read about it here!

Just in Case You Wanted to Know Some Things About Me

I  went walking with my camera today and the following pictures are just a few that I snapped today.  Some of them show things I worked on today and other some of that heritage I was blessed to be around.

I did get some things finished and I'm pretty proud of this skirt.

 I got started on the blouse to go with the skirt, but my design took a few turns before I finally  cut the material.

 I hope to have the binding done on this table runner finished today and up on my Etsy shop this week.

 I washed the quilts that Sally brought me and hung them on the line.  Yes..my clothes line stretches across my back porch.  I did it for convenience one day after we moved in and it's been there ever since.  The only bad thing, my son's dog will sometimes pull the items on the bottom line off just for fun.

 I then went to my parent's house to take care of some things for my dad.  This where I lived all my childhood.  We moved in when I was 6 months old (they did a lot of remodeling, the house was much smaller and about 50 years old when we moved in). It's kind of sad to me that those trees were planted after I moved away and they have gotten so big.  Guess I've been gone long enough for trees to grow.

 But I didn't go far.  See that little red roof behind the red barn?  That's my house.  I consider myself right across the street from my parent's home...or across the field.

 I went into my parent's house to tidy up for my dad and snapped a few shots.  This is the wall in the main bedroom.  All those pictures started with the three black and white baby pictures in the center  (I'm the cutest one!).  All those other pictures are our kids through the years.  My mom spent her last few months in this room looking at this wall.  I think it brought her comfort and joy.

 This is the bed on the opposite side of the picture wall, covered with one of Mom's prettiest quilts.  All stars...she loved stars.

 My grandmother made this quilt from all my mother's baby clothes.

 Then on other walls in the bedroom and throughout the house is the art.  My mom was an artist.

 Lots of her paintings are of mountains and roads.

 She tried her hand at just about everything.  She made this porcelain doll and the ceramic pieces are some of my favorite.

 The Victorian lady probably started my love of all things Victorian.  She's a jewelry box and the other lady is a vase...there's a hole in her hat.

 Not artwork, so to speak, but the way my mom arranged things was artful.  Some of the family gave her this orchid for her birthday last year.  1 year later and it's still blooming.  Daddy is doing a great job taking care of it..

Lots of Mom's little projects turned into covers to go on the back of the chairs.  I really like this one.

Of course Daddy has some of his things hanging around too.

This is my favorite of all Mom's paintings.  I feel like I'm walking right down that road.  I need a jacket on because the fall air in the Colorado is chilly.

I guess I just figured everyone grew up with art all around them.  Don't you think it's so boring to just hang one picture on a wall....cover those walls!

This was Mom's last painting.  She did it as a challenge with our pastor.  They each took a picture from the Smokey Mountains and did their interpretation.  I think her's turned out pretty good and not to hurt his feelings...but the best.

In the midst of her paintings is this one.  I was home alone and wanted to prove to her that I did in fact know how to paint, that I was paying attention to her lessons.  I had this hanging on the wall when she got home.  Not to be for a young girl.

But I did learn from the best.

She had so much talent no matter what medium she used.

This little wall is full of lots of "my firsts".  Mom seemed to think that every time I learned to do something new, she got the first project.  The cross stitchings, Indian woman drawing, and quilling are all my firsts.  Some of the others are from other family members.

I love when my son stops by to see what I'm doing.

I had such a wonderful childhood growing up here.  I was encouraged to try everything.

My house now.

I love that the back view is so completely different than the front.

Much like the backs of my quilts....always a little different.

I hope that I've taught my kids to try anything that seems to capture their attention.  To look at things a little differently and think "Outside the Box" (the name of the quilt).

So...now I just need a blouse so I can wear my new skirt.