A Birthday Visit: new discoveries

    Joe and I drove to see the grandchildren and celebrate their mother's birthday this past weekend in NYC. I put the quilted portable sewing books (see my June 10 posting) in the children's hands and they got busy stitching.


(Click on photos to enlarge.)

     The card we picked out for Beth was from Papyrus, down the street from The City Quilter on 25th Street. I returned to buy four more cards to show my friends what fun it would be to make cards on which we sew fabric and bead. Check out these examples!

      The next day I hit some museums: Vuillard at the Jewish Museum on 92nd and the Met. Looking through books I realized that Paul Klee, the painter, made paintings that would be perfect for quilts. And Gustav Klimt has patterns in his paintings, in the landscapes and portraits, that fit in with our discussion of Zentangle at the last week's blog posting. I Googled the name of the artist and quilts and clicked on Images to find I was not the first person to find paintings a rich source for quilters.

      On the way home, I read the HILARIOUS book Help! I Married a Quilter by Mark Hyland. I wanted to share my finds with you.

Valentines stuffed: Hearts and crafts for a very cold day

(Click all photos to enlarge)

      

      When I go to New York City, I love to drop by Purl Soho and The City Quilter to collect ideas and good fabrics. The other day I Googled something like stuffed fabric Valentines, checked Images and may have added blog to the search words. I found a variety of hearts and thought I would start off with what looked like the simplest. Nothing is simple, I always find out! The Purl Bee site offered my first effort and Molly's instructions are super:  http://www.purlbee.com/valentine-heart-pins/  Thrill yourself with other ideas at this site.

       As an elementary school student I was permanently impressed by the idea of assembly lines. And as you can tell by my photos, I cut out lots of hearts to sew and opened DMC floss to cut both ends of the opened loops to create 18" threads for my embroidery needle making sure the eye was big enough for the thread and the point sharp enough to penetrate the felt.  I used pinking shears, a sturdy needle threader and stuffing. I found I could make these hearts in 10 minutes, stuffed, with safety pin attached from the one 18"thread. There will be enough string left for some x0x0's and I (heart) U. Wish I still had an elementary school student who would enjoy passing them out to classmates. I watched old movies while I stitched this coldest day in years in Boston. Abby taught me it is also good to listen to Craftypod.com, craft podcasts, while I work.

    The last big snow day I cooked ebelskivers, filled with dollops of applesauce, but I was more restrained today. The are deliciously puffed and stuffed as well!

Fast work: Postcard journal quilt, Dora summer dress

Sometimes you like to surprise people. You want to make something to thank. This week, as you know, I made 8 quick fabric postcards and mailed; and they arrived the next day in the Boston area. I don't know yet if they arrived in foreign posts. I had found this postcard fabric on my last visit to The City Quilter in NYC, often arriving in the city at Penn Station (I wish Jackie could have saved it as she saved Grand Central), relatively convenient to son's home. I wanted to post this journal quilt before beading today.

Also, I want to show you the quick summer dress I made after my grandchild's date with me. I wanted to take her to my haunts, a quilt store and bead shop and then create something. We found the Dora fabric (as well as Minnie Mouse and Fancy Nancy) all smocked, sold by the inch, and needing only ONE stitch from hem to top to make it ready to wear. Double fortunately, we found a one yard remnant, also 50% off. When we got home I stitched it up (still too big) and then went in another inch and it held up own its on. Erika wanted straps, so I pulled out some yellow bias tape, quickly stitched the sides, took a fitting and finished the piece which she wore to the neighborhood park concert last night where she climbed and ran around while I was instructed on U2's music. (click on both photos to view larger)

Wreck Miss: a journal quilt

Last Friday we drove to New York City; and highways were packed with cars, probably returnees from a long July 4th holiday. A car in front of us in the fast lane went out of control, moved across the other crowded lanes as all dodged it, into a guard rail, spun around and went a forceful head-first into the ditch. Debris was thrown onto my windshield. We phoned 911 and articulated the exact location. In the city I became more conscious of the zooming cars and less fearful of flying.

In the New York we swooned dining at La Bonne Soupe near MOMA; saw the Otto Dix show and ate Austrian goodies at the Neue Gallery close to the Metropolitan Museum; and viewed the Charles Burchfield watercolors at the Whitney. Of course, I did not miss The City Quilter on 24th. A drive back through New York State and western Massachusetts was much prettier and calmer.