Curiosity

Quilting is a passion of mine, but at the same time, it is a calming and meditative activity for me. I sometimes listen to favorite podcasts while I'm in front of my sewing machine. Other times, as I've mentioned in a previous blog post, my time spent quilting gives me time to think about all kinds of topics. Quilting in combination with listening and reflecting often leaves me with new insights.

I have been sewing a lot lately, working on a new quilt top. It's a simple pattern using only three fabrics, so it's been a perfect time to ponder topics that come to mind. 

Curiosity has been at the forefront of my consideration in the past few days. My husband and I recently attended an event where the theme was curiosity. Although the speaker for the event was pleasant and personable, I felt he didn't cover the topic of curiosity in a very convincing way. What the event did, however, was to spur my own thinking about this subject.  

Just the word curiosity takes me back to my teaching days. What I wanted most for my students was for them to become life-long learners. I truly believe that maintaining a sense of wonder and curiosity fuels a desire for learning during one's entire lifetime. On occasion, I asked my students to find and share a few "wow facts" which were facts that made them stop and think, "Wow, that's amazing!" As these wow facts were shared, there were a lot of wide eyes filled with wonder and curiosity (including mine). This assignment gave me insight into the topics that engaged my students' curiosity. 

As we know, curiosity seems to come naturally to humans. We can witness this natural curiosity in toddlers and young children as they explore their world and ask many questions, including the famous "Why?" that many young children continue asking until their understanding is satisfied. As children grow older, it seems that some of that natural curiosity gets drowned out with other parts of life sometimes getting in the way. The question then becomes how we can rediscover our natural curiosity as adults. I have a few suggestions:

• Slow down and take time to allow for wonder.
• Show interest in others and their pursuits.
• Know that there is always something new to learn.
• Make a point of being around others who voice their wonder, curiosity, and amazement.
• Find activities or hobbies that spur creativity and innovation.
• Spend time in nature where it's so easy to be amazed by awe-inspiring sights and sounds. (Many of those wow facts shared by my students related to nature.)

To close, I will share a few quotes about curiosity:

The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

                                                        --Albert Einstein

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

                                                       --Walt Disney

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

                                                       --e.e. cummings

Not 1, Not 2, But 3 Quilts!

Fabric, so much fabric! That's how I feel since I bought fabric for a quilting class and then decided not to take the class. I have found from experience that it's best to choose a quilt pattern and then look for fabric that fits the pattern. However, this time I'm doing the opposite. I have been perusing my patterns and pattern books trying to match patterns to all the yards of different fabrics I purchased. I'll have to say that I have had fun throughout this search and match process. It has reacquainted me with the quilt books and patterns that I own, and for the most part, it has been a creative endeavor as I try to imagine how the fabrics would look put together in certain ways. It has also been a bit of a mathematical process as I've calculated the yardage needed versus the yardage I own of certain fabrics. If I've calculated correctly, I will be able to make not just one and not just two, but three lap size quilts out of the fabric as well as two bonus table runners!

I decided to make one of those table runners first. I was delighted to find a pattern that uses only two fabrics since I have quite a bit of a teal batik and a coordinating cream and teal batik print. Below is a picture of the completed quilt top on my design wall. I still need to layer the batting and backing, quilt it together, and add the binding. 

Pattern: Toast Points from Let's Do Lunch by Anderson Designs

My next project will be one of the lap size quilts using the same fabrics as the table runner but adding a third coordinating fabric--a lighter teal with dark teal dots. The fabric is cut, organized by  into ziplock bags, and ready to sew. 

The other lap size quilts will use a variety of fabrics rather than just two or three different fabrics. Similar in color to my first two projects will be a quilt that will use a batik focus fabric swirled with teals, greens, and purples. 

I am modifying a pattern so that it showcases the main focus fabric, but it will also feature blocks of pinwheels that include these coordinating fabrics.

My third quilt will have quite a different colorway of corals, greens, and grays. I will most likely use a quilt pattern that I have used before when I made a quilt for my daughter. It's interesting how some fabrics and patterns just seem to be made for each other! After making this quilt, I should have enough fabric left for a simple table runner. 

Fabric by Moda Fabrics

I believe my search and match process has provided me with enough projects to last for a while. It's fun to plan and to blog about planning, but it's even more fun to sew! That means it's time to get back to my sewing machine. Stay tuned to see how my planned projects progress. 

I have received no compensation for the mention of fabric, patterns, or companies in this blog post. All opinions are my own.

Linked with: Over the Moon, Wonderful Wednesday, Linky Tuesday Freemotion by the River, Needle and Thread Thursday

Word Play

Do you like to read or write? Are word games like Scrabble your favorite? Do you find the humor in puns, plays on words, or limericks? Do others look to you to edit their papers or essays? If so, you may be high in verbal intelligence as part of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences. 

Howard Gardner is the John H. and Elisabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is also an adjunct professor of psychology at Harvard University. Gardner may be best known for his theory of multiple intelligences where he challenges the assumption that there is only one kind of intelligence. Instead his widely accepted theory states that there are at least eight different intelligences. 

Howard Gardner

Let's get back to all those questions at the beginning of this blog post that relate to verbal intelligence, one of Gardner's eight intelligences. Verbal is not my strongest intelligence on the multiple intelligence quiz, but it scores a close second. I really enjoy words, and my latest quilting project reflects that love of words. 

For an annual fee, I subscribed for a few years to a quarterly newsletter from the fabric company Benartex. The newsletter came along with some new fabric samples from the company. The fabric was always cut into charm squares (5 inch squares), and the newsletter contained information about new lines of fabric as well as one or two patterns that could be made using the charm squares. When I received a packet of charm squares a couple of years ago named "Word Play" I set it aside knowing that one day I would make a small quilt from the squares. Well, the day has arrived to make that quilt and use some of that fabric in limbo that I mentioned in a previous post.

The pattern for this fabric featured in the newsletter is a little scrappier than I usually make, meaning that the colors don't necessarily coordinate the way in which I usually choose fabric. There are browns, blacks, grays, whites, creams, and greens among the squares. The common bond among the fabrics is that they feature words having to do with quilting, and since I love words, I'm going with the scrappy pattern that is featured.

I start by cutting each of the charm squares in half to make what quilters call a half square triangle (HST).  

Charm Square

Cutting Half Square Triangles

Hafl square triangles cut from "Word Play" by Benartex Fabrics

Following the pattern, I mix and match the HST's to lay out small quilt blocks all around my sewing machine. 

Then I begin to stitch the HST's together, and after that I sew the individual quilt blocks together. 

So now the quilt top is ready for the backing, quilting, and binding. It has been such a pleasure to combine my love of words with my passion for quilting by using this Word Play fabric. 

What about you? Do you believe yourself to be high in verbal intelligence? Or is another of Gardner's multiple intelligences one with which you identify? Does your work or your hobby reflect one of your intelligences? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

I have received no compensation for the mention of fabric or companies in this blog post. All opinions are my own.

Linked with: Freemotion by the River Linky Tuesday, Over the Moon, Wonderful Wednesday, Needle and Thread Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things

What Do You Do on a Snowy Day?

You sew, of course, on a snowy day! I used my indoor day to complete a tote bag and make new throw pillows for my sofa. If you will recall, I spent quite a bit of time at the end of this past year making multiple items for a fall craft show. That left me with an unfinished project from early in the fall when my husband and I traveled to Sequoia National Park. While visiting the park, I bought some souvenir inserts for a tote bag, but I didn't get a chance to start the tote bag until just recently. I chose green fabric for the main part of the bag. 

I have made a few tote bags through the years, but the souvenir inserts came with directions for a bag. 

I used the directions to make the front of the bag, accenting the green with a couple of brown strips. Patterns are not created equal, however, so I ended up using my tried and true directions for the remainder of the tote bag. And here is the result! (To see another tote bag that I recently made, visit my friend Debbie's blog here. By visiting her blog post, you can also read a great book review.)

The majority of my sewing time today was used to make new throw pillows. I pulled out some of that fabric-in-limbo that has been waiting in a drawer for a while. I will use this fabric not only for throw pillows but also for a new valance for my family room. 

It has been a long time since I've used home decor fabric. Since I mostly quilt now, I almost always use 100% cotton. I will say, this drapery weight fabric was nice to use for a change as it doesn't wrinkle as easily as quilting cotton. Most pillows I've made recently have had a pieced front where I have combined several fabrics such as in this pillow below.

The pillows I made today went quickly since I only used one fabric for the fronts and the backs of the pillows.

Stitching the back of the pillow

Finished pillow back

It's nice to freshen the decor in my home a bit on such a snowy day. 

My next project will be making that matching valance, and maybe even a coordinating quilt for the back of the sofa will be in the works sometime this year so that I can use more of my fabric-in-limbo.

Sandpiper Bali Crackers by Hoffman Fabrics

Linked with: Wonderful Wednesday, Linky Tuesday Freemotion by the River, Needle and Thread Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things

Recap of 2017

Quilting terms to know before reading this blog post:

• Stash--fabric that is leftover from other projects or fabric that is bought without any particular project in mind.
• Fabric in limbo--fabric that was bought for a particular project or quilt that has not been made yet. This fabric is  stored until the project is started.
• UFO--unfinished object. More specifically, this is a quilt or project that is only partially complete. More work has to be done for the UFO to be finished.
• Design wall--a place where quilters put fabric to arrange quilt pieces, compare colors, or organize completed quilt blocks. Design walls are usually made of felt, flannel, or other types of fabric that will allow cotton fabric to stick to it without pins or other fasteners.

Toward the end of each year, I like to look back at sewing and quilting projects that I completed during the previous twelve months. Another year of sewing and quilting projects is almost complete, so I am ready to review my 2017 projects. Before I continue with my year end review, I must say that my goal for 2017 was to use much of the fabric in my stash and/or my fabric in limbo. Let's see how successful I was in that endeavor.

The year began with a few small quilts. I made a tea themed quilt which used my favorite technique--paper piecing. View an earlier blog post here to see details about this quilt. This first quilt of the year did not use any of my stash fabric. I decided I wanted to use the tea cup paper pieced pattern, so I visited a fabric store to find tea themed fabric.

My next few quilts of the year were made from stash fabric that had been in a drawer for a year or so. I bought the fabric at a favorite quilt store of mine in a little town called Burnsville about 45 minutes from my home. Unfortunately, that special quilt shop has now closed. At the time, I could not resist the muted reds, taupes, and greens of one fabric line and the bright primary colors of the French Country fabrics. I wasn't sure at the time how I would use these fabrics, but it's part of the fun to pore over quilt pattern books to find the perfect pattern for specific fabrics. All of these fabrics ended up as table runners or as a table topper. 

 

Using additional fabric in my stash led to this more modern quilt featuring bright colors accented with black and white. I'll have to say that even though I started this quilt early in the year, I still only have the top of the quilt pieced. The batting, backing, and binding of the quilt have yet to be completed. Even though I enjoy piecing the top of quilts more than doing the actual quilting, I still enjoy the satisfaction of completing an entire quilt. Therefore, I rarely have UFO's around my house. I probably will not finish this quilt before the end of the year, so it will be my only UFO of 2017. You can see this partially completed quilt below on my design wall.

I took a break in my quilting for most of the summer as my husband had major surgery. His recuperation became my first priority. However, toward the end of the summer I began to sew items for a fall craft show in which I would be a vendor. This was a terrific way to use fabric from my stash. I made multiples of fabric bowls, wine totes, bird seed totes, inspirational throw pillows, and more. It was good to see my stash dwindle, but I found that I would rather work on individual quilts than multiples of small items. 

As I open the doors to my fabric storage chest, I notice a real difference in my fabric stash. In addition to all the projects I made using my stash, I also donated some of it to a quilt shop in a neighboring county. The shop made special pillows for hospice patients so my stash fabric was put to good use.

I reached my 2017 goal of using fabric in my stash, but what about that fabric in limbo--fabric I bought for a specific pattern or purpose? Well, using my fabric in limbo is a goal for 2018! Stay tuned to see how I reach this quilting goal for the new year.

Linked with: Freemotion by the River Linky Tuesday, Wonderful Wednesday, Thursday Favorite Things

A Holiday Aspiration

How do you capture the wind on the water?

How do you count all the stars in the sky?

How do you measure the love of a mother?

Or how can you write down a baby's first cry?

These are the opening lines of my favorite holiday song, Candlelight Carol. This carol, written by London composer and conductor, John Rutter, has been sung by choirs and individual singers. I first heard this song while listening to a holiday CD by my favorite singer, Neil Diamond. While the entire carol is beautiful, it was the first few lines that captured my attention and my heart. 

Each year now, I try to simplify throughout the holiday season. Trying to honor family traditions during this time of year while not getting so caught up in having all the preparations take over one's life can be challenging sometimes. The message of our culture's focus on the hustle and bustle of shopping, decorating, and preparing for a "perfect" holiday season surrounds us during the last two months of each year. 

The first lines of Candlelight Carol remind me that the most important parts of this season, and of life in general, are those things that cannot be measured. The words of the carol are also helpful to me on days when the turbulence of the world seems overwhelming. May each of us be able to focus on the mystery and the immeasurable parts of life throughout the holiday season and beyond.

The Latest Trend

Butterflies Galore

As I visited fabric stores and viewed fabric online recently, I noticed what must be a trend. Many fabrics now feature butterflies. I even decided to use butterfly fabric to make a fabric bowl.

A while back I bought a fabric jelly roll, which consists of color coordinated precut 2 1/2 inch strips of fabric ready to use in a quilt or project. I had fun looking at different patterns trying to decide how to use my jelly roll. Then I watched a YouTube video by Jenny Doan of  Missouri Star Quilt Company as she described a new butterfly quilt pattern.

When I found that the butterfly pattern uses a fabric jelly roll, my decision was made. At some point in 2018, I hope to made a butterfly quilt out of my jelly roll of purples and teals.

Galaxy Pixie Strips jelly roll by RJR Fabrics

Fascination with butterflies goes back as far as ancient Greek culture. In our culture, butterflies are often symbolic of transformation, life's transitions, hope, freedom, or beauty. Butterflies have a way of bringing both children and adults to a standstill. When coming upon a butterfly in nature, a sense of delight prevails. It's easy to become silent and wonder-filled when observing butterflies in a butterfly house or an active butterfly garden. 

Our fascination with butterflies extends to literature as well. Eric Carle's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is a classic book popular with preschool and elementary school teachers as well as parents of young children. Its vivid colors and engaging text introduce children to the life stages of a butterfly. This lovely book has inspired fabric designers so that many fabric stores now carry a line of The Very Hungry Caterpiller fabric by Andover Fabrics. 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Andover Fabrics

While speaking of butterflies and literature, I would recommend the novel, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. This book extends the enjoyment and knowledge of butterflies through an intriguing story.

Many of us may associate butterflies with spring and summer when we are aware of their presence and beauty as they flutter from blossom to blossom. However, fall is an important time as adults of the eastern population of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico, flying up to 3,000 miles. In the western U.S., monarchs migrate to groves along the coast of California. 

Monarch butterflies overwintering in California, Source: Science Photo Library

According to BBC news, in 2004 an estimated 550 million monarch butterflies arrived at their usual wintering ground. But 10 years later, in 2014, there were just 50 million - a decline of about 90%. Some scientists believe that these sensitive butterflies are victims of climate change, and these same scientists are watching the plight of the butterflies as an indicator of a warming earth. I know local environmentalists who are encouraging the planting of milkweed, the monarch larvae's food source, in backyards and community gardens. This is one strategy thought to help increase the population of these beautiful creatures.

Purple Milkweed

I have found plenty of inspiration for quilts and other fabric projects featuring butterflies. On a recent trip to the North Carolina Arboretum, my husband and I visited a small butterfly house. We watched a few varieties of butterflies, including monarchs, as they flew through the enclosure, stopping momentarily to sip nectar from the abundance of butterfly friendly plants. 

The Arboretum's quilt garden is one of my favorite places. Colorful plants are arranged in such a way as to mimic quilt blocks. There are steps nearby which allow visitors to look down upon the quilt blocks to see the entire quilt garden display. Much to my delight on this particular visit, the quilt garden was full of butterfly quilt blocks. It truly must be the year of the butterfly!

Are you a fan of butterflies? What do butterflies symbolize for you? Please leave a comment and share your thoughts.

I have received no compensation for the mention of books, fabric, or companies in this blog post. All opinions are my own.

Linked with: Over the Moon, Freemotion by the River