Saturday Stories 01-09-16

When Diane and Marie returned from California at the end of WWII both their mother and her new husband were working full time.  It was necessary to find a caretaker for the girls.  For a while, Diane went out in the country to stay with her maternal grandmother and grandfather.  What help she was on the farm chores was minimal since she was only seven.  To keep her occupied, her grandmother, who was a life long quilter, gave her some squares of fabric and needle, thimble and thread, and showed her how to sew them together.  After about a week Diane had enough squares sewn together to make a quilt for her doll.  Then her grandmother took her to the grange quilting bee where she could thread needles for the quilting ladies and see how quilting was done.   Since her quilt was too small to put in a frame she put together the layers and used an embroidery hoop.  It was not a pretty sight with many blood stains and crooked stitches, but before taking out the blood stains Diane had to learn to bind her little quilt.  This was the most tedious part of making the quilt and probably embedded her lifelong dislike of the binding process.  Finally it was done and into the wash tub it went.  Somehow the blood stains mostly came out.  The trick of removing one's own blood from fabric by spitting on it was unknown to grandmother and her quilting friends.  Diane's mother was not please about the workwomanship shown in the quilt, but Diane cherish the quilt and used it for her dolly for years.
 
Finally her interest in her doll diminished and she went on to other things.  Meanwhile, with her grandmother's help, she made baby quilts and eventually her mother showed her how to use the treadle machine that had been her grandmother's at one time.  As a teenager Diane was no longer interested in the "homemade stuff" and quit making quilts.  Then as a senior in high school her friends started marrying and having babies, so she went back to making quilts for those new babies.  And from then on she made quilts when there was a special occasion until in her fifties quilting became an obsession and she helped start a quilters guild.  Now her life revolves around the quilting community.  That first little quilt disappeared into the flotsam of life and is long gone. 

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A wet week 01-08-16

We finally had rain.  Some places more than others.  No flooding or landslides in my area.  Just on and off  again rain.  It is lovely.  More is promised for next week.  Heavy snow in the mountains, especially the Sierra from whence a lot of our water comes.  Of course, the weeds are coming back faster than the lawns. 

I have had KoKo, that cute little Yorkshire Terrier, all week.  He is great company, but can also be a pain in the...  His proclivity for chewing up any paper is annoying.  Especially when he quickly runs under the table where I can't reach him unless I get down on my knees and then I can't get up!  We have played so much and, apparently, so roughly that I had to do another surgery on poor Froggie.  He developed a hole in his back and KoKo was pulling out little bits of stuffing.  I guess he ate them as I don't see them on the floor anywhere.  Hope he doesn't get stuffed up!

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Thursday Threads 01-07-16

I no longer do Christmas, but I still love Christmas ornaments, quilts, and decorations.  I donated most of my Christmas quilts to a guild auction, but there were a few I couldn't part with.  This is one of my favorites.

 

 

"Teenaged Reindeer"  Del Thomas 1993

Cotton fabrics, machine pieced, hand applique, machine quilted.

The shape for the reindeer came from the design on wrapping paper.

 

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Wordless Wednesday 01-06-16

 

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The passing of a quilting star 01-05-16

I have no idea how many students Blanche Young taught over her quilting career - hundreds?  Thousands?  - I imagine many of the long time quilters who read this took a class with Blanche sometime over the years.  Here is an announcement of her death.

From Helen Young Frost:My mother, and famous quiltmaker, Blanche Young died on January 2nd (she passed away peacefully in her sleep that morning). The funeral will be on January 15, at Forest Lawn, Cypress, CA. Mother knew sooo many people in the quilting world, so this is an efficient way of spreading the news.

Here's a short bio for those who don't know who she is.

Blanche Young, who passed away on January 2, 2016 at the age of 96, was an internationally-known quiltmaker and author. She taught at guilds and conferences across the country and Europe and Japan. She was the author of ten books on quiltmaking, including the best-selling Tradition with a Twist. She continued to travel and teach until she was 91. She was a prolific and generous quiltmaker, having made and donated more than 100 raffle quilts among the hundreds of quilts that she made in her lifetime.

If anyone would like to send condolence cards, they can send them to me and I will share them with the rest of the family.
 
The Family of Blanche Young
c/o Helen Frost
10237 East Rio de Oro Drive
Tucson, AZ 85749

 

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Monday Browsing 01-04-16

http://stegart.blogspot.com/p/free-projects-tutorials.html    Tutorial for a scrappy quilt.

http://aletteraweek2012.blogspot.com/   Inspiration for creating alphabets.  

Need some inspiration, check out the videos on eQuilter.com. http://www.equilter.com/news/videos/category/0/equilter-videos

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