Quilt's I'll never forget

Last night was the February gathering of the local quilt guild. We had a speaker, Mavis Rosbach, of Quiltbird Studio. She gave a presentation titled "Three quilts you've probably never heard of, but I hope you'll never forget." Three fascinating stories. I'll tell you the first one now.

The first was about Elizabeth Gurney Fry.

A well-to-do British woman in the 1700s who decided not to live a life of leisure, but rather one dedicated to others. She trained some of the nurses who went with Florence Nightingale to aid the soldiers in the Crimean War, but she is better known for her work to improve prison conditions. Elizabeth worried especially for the welfare of women prisoners, and worked tirelessly to improve their lives. One of her most interesting and innovative, even ingenious projects involved teaching female prisoners to quilt. She gave them the supplies they needed to make a quilt when they set sail for the penal colony now known as Australia. The hope was that they would use the four months at sea to sew a quilt that they could sell upon arrival. Giving them a bit of dignity and a means to support themselves in this new land. One quilt survives to do this day, called the Rajah quilt, named for the ship the women sailed to their new home.

Here is the label on the quilt:

I have really not done justice to Mrs. Fry, but you can learn more here.

Loose ends, old and new

Here is the heart block for the quilt guild. We meet this coming Tuesday. I'm happy to have something to bring to the meeting.

And here is the fabric I'm using for the next project (It was a birthday present from my Grandmother. )

It's from the Attitude Girls by Mary Engelbreit for Moda Fabrics. I've always been a fan of Mary Engelbreit, and used to really follow her work. I thought I'd outgrown her, but when I saw these fabrics I had a stroke of inspiration . . . We'll see if I can sew into the quilt the image I have in my mind. That's what I love about quilting, afterall.

Lastly, the smallest member of the family is having a little tummy trouble. Here is her dinner plate for tonight. I was hoping to find something she could eat and make her, and you, smile:

I love this guy

Another quote from G. K. Chesterton about Mothering:

How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.
G.K. Chesterton, ”The Emancipation of Domesticity”, What’s Wrong with the World (1910)

I'm thinking I might need to read this book. Once again I found this on Solstice Letters. I haven't exactly figured out that blog, but it is full of great quotes.

To learn new things

In January I joined the local quilt guild. I think I was one of maybe four ladies who don't get the senior citizen discount, but that just let me know there was enough experience in the room to help me learn something. And that is what I want. I've cobbled together my quilting skills over the years starting with the sewing my Grandmother taught me and then adding to it with the internet and a few books.

At the meeting they handed out instructions for a quilt block with the idea that everyone makes a block, brings it to the next meeting and then they raffle the blocks off to a few people who then have most of what they need to make a quilt top. I hope they do this every time. Since this blocks incorporates a couple of things I've never done before it is a good way to learn new skills.

This is what I have so far. Sort of a basket weave. It will attach to two appliqued semicircles to the sides to make a heart shape. At the top of the photo you can see another one of these blocks. I had to do it twice to get the pieces to line up. The second time worked out fine. So, you see, I am learning something. Maybe I'll use the first one to make a potholder.

The disappointing news for me, is that the fabric bundle I'd decided to buy to make my next quilt with is out of stock. Hmmm . . . . what to sew?

Where I've been all this time . . .

I found this great quote from G. K. Chesterton over on a new-to-me blog, solstice letters (my first embedded link!):

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

So much of my life is repetitive and monotonous. I didn't think anyone, anywhere would want to read about how many diapers I changed today, or how I washed the same laundry I washed just last week. As much as I'd like to, I don't always have creative projects on the cutting board or in the sewing machine. Sometimes my life is about kissing boo-boos and cleaning bottoms or a myriad of other surfaces. I sometimes have to remind myself that boo-boo kissing is a legitimate line of work. That although they may not realize it, everyone in the house is grateful for a clean potty to pee/poop/barf in. That just being present for my children is important in and of itself.

Then I read this quote, and I think there are mothers all over the world who feel just like me. And maybe just commiserating and celebrating our work here, on the internet, might be enough to help us keep our own daisies growing.