Search Results for: dream quilt

I finished tacking my quilt Autumn Oak Leaf yesterday.  It’s already sold, going to writer and artist,  Rachel Barlow, one of our Common Thread Give-a-way artists. (Click here to see one of Rachel’s really funny cartoons, but only if you want to laugh). She told me if she were to make a quilt for herself, it would look like this one.  That pretty much tells me that it belongs to her.

This is a close up of the back of the quilt.  I had a big piece of the horse fabric and cut it into three pieces to design the back.  I added the two other pieces of fabric picking up the colors and breaking out of the grid on the horse fabric.

This is how the quilt began, with the blue square on the tea-stained hankie which has one of Lenore’s bandana’s under it. (same as the red, brown and white flowers in the bottom left corner).  For just this piece, I tied my tacking yarn in the front to make the knots.  I was thinking of my dream of the small oak tree and the leaves going in the four directions.

It’s that color of some oak leaves.  Not red, almost pink, with some of that oak leaf brown.  This weekend I felt like hibernating.  It was cloudy and cold.  We had plans to go out both days, but decided to stay in, with a cup of tea and book, a cat on the couch, both wood stoves glowing. But those oak leaves, the softness of their color compared to the blazing oranges, yellows and reds, they speak of  gentle warmth and comfort.

At the beginning of the winter I decided I was going to try and experience the change in weather as if it were happening for the first.  Without the dread of dreary November and the expectations of being perpetually  cold and craving the sun.  Then I had a dream.  It was of a twig of a tree, about two feet tall.  On it were four oak leaves, representing the four directions. The leaves were velvety soft in texture and color and when I touched the one closest to me, pollen came spilling off it into my hand.

That’s what I was thinking about when I designed this quilt.   The other piece that I made with the drawing of the tree, called Hibernation,  which I wrote about earlier this week, will be the beginnings of another quilt.  I found that they didn’t actually work together, but are two separate pieces.

So my new quilt is called  Autumn Oak Leaf.   All the solid reds and tans are corduroy, making it warm in color and fabric.  The icy blues remind me of the cold winter air.  It has pieces of an old patchwork pillow sham in it and tea-stained Vintage Hankies.   Lots of the pattens on the materials I chose just happen to be leaves.

I’m waiting for some batting to come in the mail then I’ll back it and tack it.

My brain just isn’t  working.  I went to bed at 9pm last night exhausted from I don’t know what.  I woke up tired, forgetting what I was doing from one moment to the next.  In my studio I tried to make some potholders, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.    I stitched a girl on one and just stared at it, not knowing what to do next.  I tried a bunch of different things and nothing worked.  Or if it did I didn’t know it.  Even writing this now, I’m  stopping and staring off into space.  I feel like an old machine that needs to be cranked up to get started, then I wind down and need cranking again.

I looked to my Shibori Quilt, almost finished, just a quarter of it left to tack.  But the thought of doing it made me want to sleep.  Sleep, more sleep, curled up under a blanket in a dark room, like a worm in a cocoon who doesn’t know about someday.  I curled up in my pink chair, the one Jon bought for me years ago, the one I brought over with me from my old studio.  I closed my eyes, not willing to give in, to give up, and let my mind drift.  After a while, I don’t know how long, I heard the crank, someone was turning the crank again,  I got up and opened my sewing box with Laura’s appliques.   This my brain could handle,  my applique pillows make no sense anyway, that’s just where my mind is at.

I found the pink fabric with the white flowers and turned it over,  the stitched flowers a skeleton of the themselves on the front of it.  The grey poodle, perfect with the pink, slightly off center and the leaping antelope above it.  The rest came and went, moved, and came and went until it stayed.  Except the yellow Mardi Gras  mask, which always knew it’s place.   The three white poodles came last, after lunch, like puffy clouds or dreams.

I just loved all the ideas  everyone wrote about this quilt.  I do have a thing for fabric from the 70’s.  For the longest time I just thought it was awful, but now I’m able to see how wonderful it really is.  Bright and colorful, optimistic and there’s often something hopeful and child-like about it, like opening up a children’s book.

So back to all the comments, I found them all very interesting, but Peg’s idea of the  Dream Pocket really hit me. (Thanks Peg and may your troubles turn to dreams)  I think because it sums up all those things I just wrote about 70’s fabric.

I remember reading a book about two sisters who had a box and whenever something was missing it would show up in the box. Or how about the Secret Garden.  I’ve always found small spaces magical, whether it’s the rooms of a doll house or the cupboard under the stairs.  So a dream pocket, where you put all your troubles and dream them into something else, that’s right up there with the secret passage that takes you out of your life and into another.

And that was a fantasy of mine for years, and then about 5 years ago my life long fantasy came true.  I got out of my old life and into a new one A life of  love and creativity and fulfillment.   I had to do more than just dream about it, I had to make it happen, but eventually it did.  And here I am making quilts about it.

Naming this quilt has been like interpreting a dream, sometimes you have to say it out loud and let someone else see it, so they can let you know what it’s all about.

So, Dream Pocket is about 60″x60″ and is $250 + $20 shipping.  If you think you might want to snuggle up with it, just email me at [email protected].

Barbe came to my studio today to pick up her Harley Davidson Quilt.  It’s an anniversary gift for her husband (three of the best years of her life).  We got to know each other a little and she’s the kind of person I like to be around.  Creative, fun, ambitious, determined and upbeat. (oh yeah, and she loved the quilt).

She’s one of those people who has changed her life for the better.  She found a good man (after lots of hard work on herself and  making a list of the 10 things she wanted in a relationship and didn’t settle till she got them all) and is now in the process of making another life long dream come true.  At the end of August, Barbe is opening Shabby-Chic-Boutique, a consignment shop on Main Street in Hudson Falls NY.

She told me of the piles of clothes she’s sorting through (including 100 pairs of jeans) and the renovations that are going on in the shop.  A week after she signed the lease, a thrift store opened up across the street.  But she wasn’t discouraged, instead she’s going to work with them and other consignment shops in the area to make them all a destination.   I saw photos of her hand made earring.”Nothing serious,” she said ” I  just like making them.” (They looked like more than “just fun” to me) and her dogs (which won’t be at the shop).

Barbe is also a writer.  Until now, her writing has been mostly cathartic, but ourshabbychic.com will soon be Barb’s new website and blog.  She said my blog inspired her, but just from meeting a couple of times, I know Barbe has a lot to say.  I have a feeling her new boutique and blog are going to be inspiring as well as a great place to shop. (I could use a new/used pair of jeans)

I’m so glad I agreed to make the Harley Davidson Quilt for Barbe.  I learned a lot making it (as well as got to keep the extra t-shirts, I see a Harley Davidson II Quilt in the future) and got to know Barbe.  One of the happy people who has taken responsibility for her life and is making her dreams come true.

When I woke up early this morning, I was alone in bed.   I went downstairs and saw Jon sitting on the living room floor wrapped in a quilt with Izzy’s head on his lap.  Over the past year, Izzy had become my dog as much as Jon’s.   But on the last day of his life, Izzy wanted Jon.  You could see the love and  trust pass between them.  I imagine Izzy was looking at Jon in the same way he did  years ago, when he decided to be Jon’s dog.

Izzy was my dream dog.  The kind of dog I’d always wanted but somehow never had, maybe I didn’t think I deserved to have such a great dog.  I started taking him into my studio about a year ago when Frieda became Jon’s writing dog.  He was perfect for me.  He would find a corner in the studio and sleep while I worked.  Once or twice a day I would look down and see him staring at me.  We would snuggle for a while ( I always felt like he knew I needed a break) then he’d go back to his corner.

I never had to worry about him, he didn’t barked at the mailcarrier and if the UPS man came to the door, Izzy was happy to see him.  When we went for a walk or did yard chores, I never had to worry about him running off.  He was always there, paying attention but not needing constant attention.

Izzy had become my dog. That’s how  I knew there was something wrong with him when, on Monday, he slept too long under my desk and had a hard time walking on the path and I felt the strange lumps under his chin. When we found out he had cancer I had no doubts that he should suffer as little as possible and it was best to let him go. And I knew he shouldn’t be cremated, but buried in the shade garden in the front yard where he loved to sit.  When I planted the flowers on his grave, I felt so good about being able to do these things for him.  I’ve always seen Izzy as a spirit dog and believed he’d have a smooth transition from this life to whatever comes next.   I cried for the three days before he died knowing that death is the most natural thing in the world and thinking I would find some relief when he was no longer in pain and knowing  that we had done everything we could for him.

But now, after all that,  I  still can’t stop crying.  Because Izzy opened something up in me when I finally  allowed my self to have and love the dog I always wanted.  And now he’s gone and I’m wide open, feeling emotions I’ve never felt before and don’t have words for.

Inbetween taking orders for Jon’s notecards (they’re Sold Out) I pieced together my latest quilt.

This is the one whose colors I dreamed of.  It  came to life when  I was given bags of fabric by a friend.  Like the potholders, from the same batch of fabric, it came together quickly.  In my dream the colors glowed like stained glass and the pattern was that of a turtles back. Dark lines contrasting and surrounding the glowing color.

In a recent Tarot card reading a turtle card was drawn.  “Slow down” it read.  I keep thinking of The Tortoise and the Hare.  Slow down and look around you, the Tortoise sees everything.  And although it came together quick and easy, and it also speaks of shadow and light, I think of it as the Turtle Quilt.  Or maybe it wasn’t quick, just easy.  Maybe the slower you go, the easier it is.

The Full Moon/Waning Moon/ Letting Go Quilt Sale continues. Below are the last two additions to the sale. All the quilts are $150 each + $20 shipping. If you’re interested or have any questions email me at [email protected].

This one is “Black, White and Red All Over”. I was inspired by one of the Gee’s Bends quilts were I noticed that the ties were just as important as the fabric it was tacking. I wanted to make a quilt that did the same thing. I named it “Black, White and Red All Over” after the joke that asks “What’s black white and read all over?” (The answer, of course, is a newspaper.) This one is all about color and texture, and has lots of slow details. It’s measures about 85″ x 64″. SOLD

This is a detail and below is the back of the quilt.

The last quilt for sale is called “Victorian Trashy” It’s inspiration came of a dreamy state of mind. I was thinking of all those small spaces in nature where fairies might live, tiny, protected moss covered areas, the spaces under leaves or between rocks. Jeanne’s bottle (from the old TV show “I Dream of Jeanne” ) was also on my mind. As a kid I loved the inside of her bottle where she lived before being released. I always wanted one of those pink, circular couches. “Trashy Victorian” has pockets and buttons and some vintage fabric from the 1950’s and 60’s. I think the mix of fabrics and textures along with the “fleshy” colors give it the “trash” in “Trashy” It’s about 86″ x 61″.  SOLD

Below is a detail.

I know the full moon was on Monday, but I just don’t want to wait for the next one. I guess it’s really a Waning Moon Quilt Sale, which makes sense too. So I’m starting something new with my business and my art and it’s time to move some of the my quilts to make space for new ones. Some of these I’ll have a hard time letting go of (humm maybe it’s a “Letting Go Quilt Sale”) but the original intent of my work is to connect with people and if someone want them, that’s were they should be.

The following quits are for sale for $150.00 each + $20.00 shipping. If you see something you like contact me at [email protected].

The first (below) is one of my favorites, “Spanish Moss”. Lots of vintage 70’s fabric and ties. I called “Spanish Moss” because when I look at it I keep trying to figure it out, like looking at spanish moss hanging from trees and trying to understand why it grows in the directions it does.It’s about 58″ x 45″.

This one I saw in a dream. It’s called “Red Square” because that’s the title that came to me on waking. There are layers of fabric under the white. It’s a subtle and quiet quilt revealing itself slowly. There is also a detail photo and a photo of the back. It’s about 51″ x 68″.

The last one for today is called “Feed the Hunger” the title comes from and Indigo Girls song. The lyrics are “starve the emptiness, feed the hunger”. That’s what I’m doing whenever I make a quilt I’m feeding the hunger. This started as a monochromatic quilt (the center) and gets gradually bolder. I remember debating which way to take it once I laid out the blues. But once I put the red and yellow down, I knew there was no turning back. I love looking at the subtle change of color in the yellows and the different patterns in the reds. It measures about 56″ x 67″.  SOLD

Enjoy looking and let me know if you see something you like. I’ll post a few more tomorrow.