Journal Quilts for memories

    Except for one tv segment on Boston's The Good Day Show, I don't believe I ever quilted until I saw an enticing sign in the Cambridge Quilt Shop advertising a journal quilt workshop. Geri Barr from Australia had our group layering fabric backing, batting and top to commemorate a memorable or significant event each week in our lives. If you type "journal quilt" in the search area in the top left of this page you can see I have written many times about these. Better still, my website has two very long pages of these journal quilts.

     I missed making these small, 2- hour 8" x 8" quilts that start out as 10" x 10." I hope to get back to them...one a week. This week I am remembering 8-year-old Hannah's asking me fairly recently if I got my ears pierced:
"No, Hannah, but if I ever get up my nerve, I'll have you and Erika go with me."
"Oh never mind," she said. "Don't worry. You only have about ten years left and it would just be a waste!"
"Only ten years?" I asked.
"Oh, or twenty," she recovered, a bit red-faced.

      After layering and adding ideas, I pin the three layers together to quilt them. Next, I place the "sandwich" under a posterboard frame, the center of which is 8" x 8," draw and sew along the markings. I then cut off the edges with pinking shears. Fiskars work very well. After making do in the past, I finally got good markers: Sewline yellow fabric pencil for dark fabrics and The Fine Line blue marker for light fabrics. Both markers rinse out immediately and beautifully with water. Remember to only spend 2 hours on these. They are "sketches" or fodder for something else. If you spend much more time on them, you may cease to create one a week.

        I wanted 3-D flapping ears and the flying clocks. I use multicolored thread for the writing hints. I have two suitcases full of these soft quilted memories and am starting a third.

Myopia mealtime: a lovely day

   This morning, graphic weather reports suggested rain and lightening, and a cancellation of the polo match at Myopia. After two 100 degree days I was not too excited about sitting in the sun for 5 hours at an outdoor gathering and polo match. And last night we had picked up Stilton and Brie, crackers and wine, grapes, cherries and an apricot almond tart as well as two green chairs to sit by our car on the edge of the polo field.

click to enlarge

     However, optimistic Joe went to the attic for our seldom used (these days) picnic baskets and I found in one, outdoor gear collected/created for one of my TV segments on The Good Day show, back in the 80s.  I had appliqued a tablecloth with what I think is called Ripstop nylon. Not only was this lightweight waterproof "tablecloth," all set, folded up neatly in a little bag of the same color, but a Swiss Army knife was also there with its wine opener and other helpers. How handy this is to have and I am ready for more picnics. I wanted to share my find with you. Granted, it was not as fancy as the champagne buckets and real flowers at other tables.