Healing Comfort

I was commissioned to make a get well quilt for a brave friend battling cancer. The commission was for a soft and warm quilt. I asked about color choices. Modern favorite is black and white sophistication. NO WAY!! Make it cheerful and comforting. colorful and pretty. I thought about what would be nice to cuddle under, something that touches and has tactile interest. Something to ponder and day dream under. A meditation mantilla. Something with the chakra rainbow colors, to aid in visualizing healing. Softest quality flannel, front and back. The image that came to mind first was a hummingbird. "Ancient Aztecs recognized hummingbirds as brave and courageous fighters. It was admired because, despite its size, it showed great strength and power to fly. Its beauty, color and accuracy were highly prized qualities." I love the idea that bravery comes regardless of facts to the contrary, that despite lovely facades, a steely reserve can abide. The feathers are iridescent, prismatic. With amazing accuracy they dip into flowers larger than they are, and lap the nectar with their tongues. Their favorite are red flowers, such as honeysuckles and hibiscus. I drew up a pattern for a 3 foot hummingbird. The wings and tail would have rainbow colors. I decided to make a rag quilt with fringe on the top and smooth underside. In a style like foundation piecing I put the hummingbird together. Then I built the flower, red, pink, and orange with a yellow center sewn around the narrow beak. I imagined the hummingbird in a sky of blues. Beneath it a garden of greens. I pieced it together with pink and yellow on the back. Pink to symbolize cancer awareness, yellow as a cheerful warm sun. As I sewed I prayed and visualized healing miracles. I sewed love into the quilt. I put my heart into the quilt, and spent many hours creating a labor of love. As I held it up to look at it, I saw the world from a hummingbird's perspective. They don't consider bravery. They act on instinct. Wise beyond imagining, they migrate each year to the same feeders, the same gardens, and the same lovely humans who are so fond of them. If you chirp at them, they will chirp back. Their songs communicate to their young, their mates, warn adversaries, and sing for joy. Here is my quilt, front and back.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

I have several projects in progress and a serious to do list, but I couldn't resist starting and finishing a new project: a life sized salmon fiber sculpture/pillow.  I used batiks and some lovely new Gradient print from Moda. I used a copy of this pattern which was well written and illustrated by JanLee Irving, who is an Alaska resident. She knows her fish. This one has all of the fins that a wild Salmon has. Hatchery fish have their dorsal fin clipped for identification. They may be kept, while the wild ones can only be gently caught and released.

36" from nose to tail. My name tag is on the belly. 

Pattern for sale in my etsy shop. Written by JanLee Irving.

"

You can see the embellishment details here: ribbons and rick rack. 

The fins are made from interfaced ironing board fabric, the metalic shiny gold stuff. 

One detail I'd edit: the original placement of the eye (see stitching lines?) looked odd. I used my seam ripper and moved the eyes forward. The mouth stitching also had to go.   

The gills are dimensional. The head is velvet remnant from a Sue Spargo tote that I made and wrote about in May of 2013. The center of the eye is black pleather, also from a remnant, from a Cat-woman Halloween costume I made for Caroline over a dozen years ago. See? It is important to save those cool remnants. They are still good. There is even a fancy word for that: mottainai, a Japanese word that means too good to waste. It is a beautiful term from Buddhism that is central to the mindful upbringing of most Japanese, (notably the elder, traditional people) that honors the preciousness of things.

Synchronicity. As I wrote this blog post , my sister, Pam, who is touring Japan, saw this at the Amuse Museum. 

This pillow looks great in our living room area, which has a Steelhead Quilt on the wall and a cotton fish blanket draped over the couch. For those of you who are not Idaho natives, Steelhead and Salmon are two types of fish that are anadromous. They hatch here on our Salmon River, migrate to the Pacific Ocean, and return to spawn. They have to navigate 4 dams and a serious assault by sea lions. It is no wonder their numbers are dwindling.

I have been working on several other projects, one a special commission. Someone in quilt club asked me a few weeks ago if I sew every day. Yes, I do. I am a lucky woman.   

Happy to have the Holidays Behind Me

   I did a lot of holiday sewing. Various pillowcases and a couple of minky quilts, some tote bags for hauling quilts, and then pillows, quilts, and more quilts. One project was a cross stitch patchwork angel pillow, the embroidery done by a friend:

I made it to accompany a quilt my aunt asked me to make, using some of the left over fabric. She sent me a Henry Glass flannel quilt kit, and wanted double thick washable wool batting, which made it super fluffy but was like quilting a sleeping bag on my domestic machine, lol.

The individual pictures are very cute.

I then made Mr. Thimblepie a flannel pillow with a pattern from Sew Fresh Quilts. I chose a critter that lives along our Salmon River, a big horn sheep. I used black pleather for the eyes. The pillow fits our cabin home decor perfectly.

And then, I wanted to make something fun to acknowledge the Fiona the hippo craze I have shared with my daughter, Ainsley. Fiona is a baby hippo who was born prematurely at the Cincinnati Zoo last summer to mama Bibi. Fiona is very friendly, having been bottle fed and reared by zoo keepers. When animals interact with people they develop interesting communication skills.

I asked Lorna, of SewFresh Quilts to adapt her hippo pattern to make mama and baby, and she did! Here is my finish, with some tweaks. I added 3-D flannel ears with tiny tucks so that the hippos would have wiggly ears, and again used black pleather to give the eyes shine.

I posed my little Steiff toy hippo with the pillows, and tucked it in the gift bag. That toy is 55 years old and was one of my favorite toys as a child.

This week I am in Seattle. I went to the Seattle Art Museum and spied this hippo mask in the African mask display.

Another fun finish was 2 grizzly bear quilts, each 60"x70" from a Moda Big Sky kit. I had some extra Big Sky fabric, and managed to get both quilts from the combination. I quilted them in wavy lines with my domestic machine. The eyes are appliqued. I gave one to my cousin Marc, as a surprise. He loves to photograph grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park, and has followed one mother bear for years who had 4 cubs a few years ago. The other bear quilt is for my daughter Diane, who chose the name Ursula for her SCA (historical reenactment) persona.

pink and brown minky

NE Patriots, a commission

T shirt quilt, 80"x 90"

 These chintz bags are from an old pattern. I especially like the 2nd bag, with the puppies and kittens on the fabric.

I am still not a wild fan of kits or T shirt quilts, but they each served a purpose, and the recipients were all thrilled. Phew! The holidays are over, and now back to some selfish sewing.

Word for the Day

I have been committed (yes, it's true but this time I mean MY intention, not other peoples') to daily writing ala  The Artist's Way. But my faithful and patient blog, named after yours truly has been sorely neglected for a very long time. I have been waiting for just the right inspiration when I know it happens in the writing, not so that I will be inspired to write. I have been writing longhand every morning and coming up with ideas. The discipline is in the doing. Procrastination comes from perfectionism, waiting for everything to be JUST RIGHT. I still struggle with artistic anorexia, avoiding the creating while wanting to have created. Sometimes I get epic shit done despite my best avoidance.

Here are some of the projects I have been working on since my last post:

I finished two UFOs this spring and entered them in the Palouse Patchers quilt show in Moscow in April. Some of us took a road trip to see the show. This is "Strawberry Ice Cream," my wonky churn dash made from blocks I received when I was in Stash Bee, an online block exchange. I quilted it on my domestic machine with lots of straight line grids.

Wearing a glove so that I can touch the quilts: I chose a fancy satin dress up glove. 

 The silk folded log cabin quilt was hand pieced by someone's grandma in the 1940's and 50's. These were the throw away ugly blocks. I can't resist a challenge like that and laid this blocks out in a streak of lightening pattern. Some colors are both lights and darks. The silk was pieced onto flour sacks and I hated to cover them up. One sack had a harvester carrying a sheave of wheat. But, it had to get covered up to become a quilt. I hand quilted the hell out of this quilt and it glows with inner light. Kaffe artisan fabric made a perfect binding, blue grey with wild bright flowers.

Here I am with the one that almost got away.

This little charmer is a study in purple. I have always liked the Chinese Puzzle block. I made this from leftover half square triangles. I put a flanged binding on it to use a teensy strip of mustard for neutral pushing. I love the effect. Here is a simple tutorial for flanged bindings. Super quick and easy way to bind.

Another creation that doesn't want to be adopted out.

Truly Scrumptious.

I held my second Spontaneous Outdoor Quilt Show but was preempted by Mr. Thimblepie, who had to water the garden. I was crushed. Couldn't it have waited a few hours? I loved seeing how prolific I have been, my inner artist was thrilled.

I learned a new word: ootheca. It is the egg case of praying mantis. Mr. Thimblepie redeemed himself by noticing and calling me out to witness this hatching. The little guys scatter so quickly, and we won't see them again until they are at least double that size. A hummingbird came nearby to watch the hatch but I needed some photos so no snacks for him.

About 4 mm long.

What is happening in your neck of the woods?

Dash and Dart

A pregnant doe has been here by Squaw Creek, which borders our property. She had her fawns close to the garden two nights ago. Yesterday morning Mike found them hiding in the tall grass.

So small and still.

Curled up on a bed of warm rocks.

   I couldn't help myself, I petted this one as it played statue. So sweet. (Petting is discouraged, however mama will come back and lick the human scent off...)  Late in the day they wobbled around and moved up the hillside. No sign of mama. We worried and tried to stay away... Deer will leave young fawns for 12 hours or more. Unless they are obviously dehydrated, or injured it is best to leave them be.
   Towards twilight a deer came to the yard. The fawns approached and the deer kicked one of the fawns. He wandered off bleating and both babies hid in the tall grass. He cried for a while. But then...  mama showed up. She was bigger than the other deer, very healthy with a full udder. She laid her ears back, lowered her head, and attacked the mean deer, then stood with her ears up, listening, and here came the fawns, cautiously at first then pell mell to mama. Happy Reunion! They were so little that they could walk under mama's belly. Their little tails wagged as they got full tummies. She licked and nuzzled them, and listened for danger. Mr. Thimblepie and I watched from the bedroom window, transfixed.
   After about 20 minutes she started to walk up the hill and the babies wobbled behind her, stopping her for topping off every few feet.
   I walked to the front porch to see them walk up the hill toward the mahogany grove. Suddenly mama was running, being chased by a barking hound full bore. I hollered for Mr. Thimblepie, who hollered to our neighbor to call off his dog. Thankfully the hound had a shock collar on, because we heard the hound yelping as it ran back home. The babies laid down, and they were fine, safely hidden.
  During the night, under a nearly full moon, mama probably moved the babies up to the grove or down to the creek bottom. What a magical series of events.
   When I was a child, one of our favorite books was Dash and Dart by Mary and Conrad Buff.

Written in 1942.

 

Daddy read this book to us many times. 

   Living in the mountains where we can see wildlife... it is really a dream come true.