Things Change

 

Like Hazel Behling said, "Things change." And so they did. After many sew-a-thons and retreats and countless hours of fun, one local quilt shop closed its doors. A sense of sadness washed over me, reminding me of the moment I closed my own shop over 5 years ago.

 

I smiled again as I thought about what made the experience,  of owning the shop and attending quilting events, special.....the people.

 

So the location may change. We say goodbye to a way of being in one place and walk on to whatever is next. In this case a new location, a new way of being but with the constant of the people who are bonded together-

• over the love of cutting large swaths of fabric into small pieces and then sewing them back together again,
• over the love of color and pattern,
• over the excitement that a new project brings and the contentment of a finish,
• over the best food ever eaten over the course of three days both the old favorites and the brand new recipes,
• over the fellowship as life ebbs and flows, births and dies, laughs and cries.

 

So we had the January Sew-a-thon and marvelous things were created....

 

A Bonnie Hunter Celtic Solstice finish....



 



A wonderfully colorful scrappy block that turned this.....

 

Into this!



There were sea turtles....

 

And hearts and grandma's dresses sewed into memory quilts....

And a springtime braid that chased away the winter blues....

Snowflakes and birds and "possums"

And a little Merry Mayhem New Year's Day Mystery...

 

Shop samples...

 

Practice at machine quilting....

A famous quilter among us!!

 And fun fun fun!

 

Happy to have a new quilting home....

Snow Day!

Is there anything as pretty as freshly fallen snow on the trees?

 

 

Feeding the birds, coaxing the dogs outside for business and working from home while enjoying the scenery.

 

 

My mind is wandering to seed catalogs and planting and sweating to death wrestling weeds from the garden.

 

Sophie made quick work of being outside!

And then ran right into her crate and snuggled in a warm blanket!

January Barefoot Quilters Bee

 

I had a chance to get to the Barefoot Quilter's Bee tonight at the Dare County Library in Kill Devil Hills. I miss the day to day contact with my beach posse, and really look forward to when my schedule allows me to attend.

 

I get so inspired when I see what people are working on... this being Linus season down here there were some darling quilts for donation made from simple patterns and stash scraps that will keep a child warm and cheerful.

 

This one just reminds me of spring green erupting ....a nice thing to see with the predicted cold and precip predicted around here in the next few days.

 

 

This is a sweet little girl quilt with hearts and flowers and paper doll cut outs. It was made by a girl who just started quilting in the fall!

 

I think this one should be called "One World!" It just reminds me of something from Unicef ....hearts and kids, how could you go wrong??

 

 

Timely snowman quilts with sweet little snowflakes bonded and quilted into the wall-hangings. 

I wish the color on the camera did a better job with this picture...the colors on this table runner were crisp and gorgeous. !

 

Another sweet Linus quilt, almost an "I Spy" with all the little pieces of scraps. Cute, Cute, Cute!!

 

Not a Linus, a gorgeous Dresden Plate worked on a really pretty blue background and hand quilted.

 

Two little  challenge quilts completed with the orange center fabric. Many of us are working on them to be hung at the quilt show down here in March. Everyone is so creative with their fat quarter!

 

And finally a Linus made with a panel of Mary Engelbreit Mother Goose rhymes.

A nice time with friends. <3

Linus Quilters 2013

Here are the good works from the 2013 Linus group from the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Wool!

 Lately I have developed an interest in wool applique. I like to have something in hand to work on while watching football or movies, and hand quilting just doesn't do it for me. I found this little pattern  and started working on it before the holidays. Now the applique is finished and I will complete the borders and figure out how you quilt something like this!

 

Not  to bad for a beginner....I think its kind of cheerful modern.

I have also become addicted to the "10 minute" table runner. These quick little projects give instant gratification with endless possibilities for stash fabrics to turn into cheerful house dressing for all variety of holidays!

 

This beautiful collection of ladies and quilts is the local Linus group for 2014, that meets at Duck United Methodist Church in a Linus-appalooza from January through February making hundreds of Linus quilts. These are largely used locally for children in difficult circumstance via local police, fire and shelter officials. It is such a worthwhile project. I am so honored to have friendship with a lot of these ladies.

 

Quiltfest 2014!

It's hard to believe that something you look forward to all year can come and go so fast!! But alas another Quiltfest is in the can. I relish the time spent in the winter quiet of the Outer Banks with such a talented group of women, time to relax, time to stitch, time to EAT and time to laugh!

 

We admire each others work.....

 

 

We hand quilt....

 

We tackle triangles....

 

We make pillowcases....

 

 

And Linus quilts....

 

Did I mention we EAT!!

 

We make table runners....

 

We discover some cool projects that friends are making...

 

We make more table runners....

 

And we EAT!!!

And we EAT!!!

 

And then we go home.... :(

Happy New Year's 2014!

 

A new year, a clean slate, a turned page....so much significance assigned to the date. I found this quote and I like it....

 

 

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ― Neil Gaiman 

 

I guess that is a theme for me, being brave. Brave enough to try things that push me out of my comfort zone. Brave enough not to worry if I will look silly. Brave enough to risk failure in order to experience as much as I can while I am on this blue marble in the universe. 

 

Worked on Bonnie Hunter's Mystery today. She made the big revel at midnight and the quilt is really cool with movement and color. I sewed one of the blocks together just to see what it would look like. A bit of wonk, but I bravely sewed on. It doesn't matter if there is wonk. It just matters that sewing it, looking at the colors and patterns makes me happy. Isn't that really what making art is all about?

Happy New Year.