Owl pincushion from Andrea

For some reason I never seem to have posted photos of this lovely pincushion made by Andrea. It's quite large, as you can see by the number of pins. I'm guessing 8-10 inches across, because I'm too lazy to measure.
Each owl was painstakingly hand made, you can find many of these across the interwebs. It's basically made of two cathedral-shaped pieces of fabric. You could also describe them as being similar to the shape of an iron. One is larger than the other by about 20%-30%. You sew the side of one to the same side of the other, until you reach the top of the smaller piece. Do the same for the other side, which will leave a gap at the top.Sew those two edges together and turn.
Fold the top bit down to form the owl's beak and stuff the body. Tack the beak down, add some eyes, Andrea created teeny-tiny yo-yos for these guys. Add details as you like, buttons for pupils, etc.
She did such a beautiful job, and no, you can't have it. It's MINE! :)

Two good things: ribbon and Sarah Vedeler

Grandmother's Choice Week 4 might still get done today, but in case it doesn't, here are a couple of quilty bonbons to tide you over.

Beautiful woven ribbons (saw them at Carrefour du Patchwork)
http://www.tendanceruban.fr/
They had a beautiful stand, but any website which promises an explosion of color ("Plongez dans une explosion de couleurs !") is ok in my book. 
Diane, there are a  couple of Sue Spargo owls under http://www.ruban.renaissanceribbons-france.com/fr/11-faune-et-fleurs

I also spoke with Sarah Vedeler at the show. Doing a bigger machine applique/embroidery project has been on my list for about a year now, and I took the opportunity to buy her design kit for her Jazzilicious quilt.
Here are my pictures of her Jazzilicious quilt from the show.

Grandmother's Choice Week 3: Union Square

My woman of the week is someone I've appreciated all my life, but many people don't understand. Dolly Parton.
In an age in which she would normally have lived a life in the hills, never making more than a hardscrabble existence, she made a career for herself as a singer. Starting as a child, singing on local radio stations, she eventually caught the eye of Porter Wagoner. She learned that people respond to caricatures and bigger-than-life stars, so that's what she made of herself.
While I never loved her for her looks, or the plastic surgery that made her a human Barbie doll, I always loved her strength and persistence, business sense, and yes, her music too.

Go enjoy some videos:

Multiple versions of I Will Always Love You:

• earliest
• with Burt Reynolds
• a weird modern version, but a little bluegrassy

 Coat of Many Colors (look at those fingernails!)
Dolly and Tammy with Stand By Your Man
And finally, 9 to 5

Here's the block I made. Even though I'm still waiting to fail miserably at this WEEKLY block, I am seeing that I'm building a little persistence of my own. Thanks, Dolly.

Also, I'm starting a separate page to show my progress on the Grandmother's Choice. Click on the tab above to check in and see how my quilt top is growing. (secret: look in the upper left hand purple square and see the man's face. I'm calling him Moses)

Sewing room quilt hangers

While I have been gallivanting around the German and French countryside, going to mini-retreats and the Patchwork Europe 2012 festival, my darling husband has been finishing his honeydew list (Honey, do this, please, then Honey, do that).  On the weekend of the mini-retreat he installed a new ceiling lamp.
When I walked into the room and flipped the switch, it was as bright as day, even though it was still dark outside.
Last Thursday, he took the Ikea curtain rods we'd bought, and installed a dual rail around 3 of the 4 walls. Now I have a delightful dual rack to hang quilts on.
Here are a few pictures, both before and after a few quilts have been hung. The Spring quilt is hanging in front of the roses quilt, and there's a little space to move them back and forth when I need to.
Now to just re-tidy my little things and move the sofa into the room.
This was the first time we'd moved the 830, which we put in the other bedroom so there was no chance of accidentally dropping a drill on my precious Kunnigunde.She survived the move and I've sewed again without problems. The machine wasn't nearly as heavy as I expected.

Here the dual rails

Here the lamp and see how nicely he hung the rails end-to-end?

Now showing one quilt in front of another

And the opposite wall

Women Vote 2: Amethyst, and about wearing purple

Amethyst is not only the block this week, but also my birthstone. Its beautiful purple color has always been a favorite color of mine.
I will fondly remember sewing this block while at a mini-retreat at the BFQ. I had just finished my Ula BOM top and planned for this block to be the next accomplishment. The block is a little wonky, but then so am I. :)

Jenny Joseph is a poet who helped me break through my family's cultural rules, and gave me my first ideas that older women can and should make the most of their power and experience.
Her poem "Warning" came out in the 80's in America, and Red Hat Societies were formed for women to support each other in their new-found freedom. 
From my earliest days at school, when girls were not allowed to wear pants, except on a very few cold winter days, to today, when I can wear any damn thing I want, "I shall wear purple" is a reminder to me to be fully and completely who I am.

Go read and listen to the poem. Now is a good time.

• http://www.wheniamanoldwoman.com 
• Reading her poem (Youtube)
• Read by Helena Bonham Carter (Youtube)
• Biography
• The poem at poemhunter

Ula BOM top done

Finally got the top done for the 2011 Ula Lenz BOM. Loved making it, even the challenge. Also enjoyed making the borders a little different from the star pattern, except for the cornerstones. The corners I machine-embroidered with a digitized version of one of the monthly blocks.

Love the top, and I'm looking forward to cuddling under the quilt itself.

Sometimes on a Sunday morning

The best thing you can do for yourself is play a few glissandi.

Women Vote quilt - kicking it up a notch

One of the reasons I wanted to do this quilt was the history. I'm a proud feminist, although many people misunderstand feminism. For me, it's the need to fight to make sure all women have the right to follow their hearts. Not "every woman must have a career" or "every woman must be barefoot and pregnant" but every woman should have the right to fight for her own success, however she defines it.
As to me, I'm satisfied with the path I've chosen. Working and having a family has been a surprise delight, and I wouldn't trade my experience for the world.

As these weeks of the BOW pass, I'm going to introduce you to some of the famous women I have used as role models in my life. That's kicking the quilt up a notch. At the end of the 49 weeks, I hope you'll have seen some pretty blocks and learned some interesting facts about women in history.

For Week 1, I'll retell my favorite story about Harriet Tubman.
She was tough, and wasn't afraid to do what she needed to do to get the people safely to the north. If she found people didn't want to follow her instructions, she wasn't afraid to force them at gunpoint to either do it or leave the group. She was also a master at hiding in plain sight. She might pretend to read a book, which would convince the hunters she wasn't Tubman, because Tubman couldn't read. Or she'd take a southbound train when someone thought she was escaping north.

Read more about her techniques here.
http://www.duboislc.net/read/TubmanEscapeTechniques.html 

Women Vote - Block of the Week?!?

Part of me says, What In The World Am I Thinking? Part of me is happy to improve my discipline of making steady progress on a work. Therefore, it is with medium trepidation that I enter the Block of the Week by Barbara Brackman, Grandmother's Choice, located here http://grandmotherschoice.blogspot.de/

The first block is the Grandmother's Choice block, a good natural choice.

Here's my block and my colors.