Grandma

Well, obviously I grew infatuated with making these single-letter-minis, I love what happens when they are combined to express something, and I love how each letter is an individual.

Well, here is a little story:
A very dear person (slightly older than me and feeling very young, mostly) once told me: You are a 

!! So. I must admit, at that point I was a bit thinking: what the hell ...?? , means: I didn't feel particularly flattered, considering the fact that I don't even have children and I don't feel so very old (mostly), only being a bit over fifty....
( I love these lines in "To Kill A Mockingbird":
"Nome, I mean the folks on our street are all old. Jem and me's the only children around here. Mrs. Dubose is close to a hundred and Mrs. Rachel's old and so are you and Atticus."
"I don't call fifty very old," said Mrs. Maudie tartly.)

So, we couldn't clarify all implications right at that time, but maybe this very dear person will shed some light on this remark one of these days...

So well, - I hope something like this was implied, that would be nice, because I can absolutely relate to these rules:

http://www.nnhs65.com/NNHS-NEWS-B/SGT-grandparents-house-rules.jpg

Magical

"Our Bookshop Manifesto

WE BELIEVE IN THE BOOK. We believe in quieting the noise and listening to the stories. We believe in traveling far and wide between paper pages. We believe in touching the words, scribbling in the margins, and dogging the ears. We believe in surrounding ourselves with books long finished and books not yet read; in revisiting our younger selves each time we pull old favorites off the shelf.

We believe in five-year-olds inking their names in big letters on the flyleaf. We believe in becoming someone else for four hundred pages. We believe in turning off the screens and unplugging the networks once in awhile. We believe in meeting the author, reading the footnotes, looking up the words and checking the references. We believe in holding our children on our laps and turning the pages together.

We believe in standing shoulder to shoulder in comfortable silence with our fellow citizens before a good shelf of books; we believe in talking face to face with friends and strangers in the aisles of a good bookstore. We believe that together, readers, writers, books and bookstores can work 

If you believe, please join us: SAVE THE WORLD. BUY A BOOK."

Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle's Children's Book, Mendocino

http://www.gallerybookshop.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gallery-Bookshop-in-Mendocino/295139709224

I've been to this Californian bookshop twice, for the first time in 1987, and then again some months ago, and all I can say is that they really live up to their principles which are written down on their website as this manifesto. I have quoted it here and took the liberty to emphasize the word "magic" ...  which it truly is when - as they say - readers, writers and bookstores work together and combine their efforts to establish a garden which then stands in full bloom. It is always worth a try.

Letters

These are some of my three-layers-mini-quilts showing letters so that they can be grouped to form individual messages. 

They are 8 x 8 cm / 3,14" x 3,14", the letters are appliquéd, it's machine and hand sewing. Each quiltie has a small loop at the back, so it can also be fixed onto a pinboard for example. 

I came across this quote here just at the right moment :-)

"Writing for the page is only one form of writing for the eye. Wherever solemn inscriptions are put up in public places, there is a sense that the site and the occasion demand a form of writing which goes beyond plain informative prose. Each word is so valued that the letters forming it are seen as objects of solemn beauty."

James Frenton

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/letters_4.html

What Fabrics Can Do: Christo

The BIG AIR PACKAGE by Christo in Oberhausen, Germany:
I had been there and it's marvelous.

You are kept away from everything outside and enter a room which consists of light entirely. The brightness of the light depends on the season, time of day, weather. This BIG AIR PACKAGE sits inside an old tower, an industrial monument from the time when coal-mining was an important economic sector in this area.

This creation is more beautiful than words can say. For me that is exactly what I wish for art to be: moving, touching and uplifting!

Outside of the package - but still inside the tower - you can touch a sample of the fabric used for this installation, it is surprisingly soft on the inside and strong and rough on the outside.

Gorgeous!

Here are some pictures:

Three Ladies - Young At Heart

"I'm very happy with the way I look. I wake up some morning, catch myself in the bathroom mirror, and go, 'hey girl, you're alright'." 

Cameron Diaz

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/hey.htm

Sooo.... these girls here may say the same each morning, and each real girl should!! :-)

So I made these wallhangings as a humorous reminder to say something encouraging to oneself, 

on a daily basis,

no matter what!

They are completely made by hand, dimensions are 28 x 32 cm (11"" x 12") without the hanging sleeves, the batting is light wool. A selfmade button is attached to the hair, which is made of woollen threads.

International Quilt Festival in Chicago

I had been to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago (Rosemont).
I had only time to attend on the Preview Night and the following day, but, oh, I had so much fun!
So many beautiful quilts on display!  I especially love the ones which are pieced and quilted by hand, so much personality and individual "handwriting" in them! And next to each quilt hung a written statement by the quilter upon why they designed the quilt in this special way: so many interesting stories were told!

At one booth I also talked to some charming ladies from the "Project Linus": they create and then donate handmade quilts to children in need, such a wonderful idea! On my next trip to the US I will bring a quilt, there are "Project Linus" groups and places to collect quilts all over the US and Canada!

I so much love the "Peanuts" cartoons, especially Linus who always carries a blanket, and this project is simply fabulous!

There is a lovely book by Jennifer Chiaverini about "Project Linus", the title is 

"The Giving Quilt".

And this is the website:

http://www.projectlinus.org/

And here are some more of my mid-19th century- style- bookmarks, I wrote about them in my post from June 4, 2013. I made them while I had been on my US-trip..... this is MY country for learning more about quilts, quilters, quilting books, quilting techniques, quilt-history and quilt projects! :-)

Bookmarks - Reminiscent of the Civil War Era

This is the first of a series of bookmarks I'm going to make in the style of American Civil War quilts. (Civil War: 1861-1865)
These bookmarks will show all the beautiful traditional elements of quilts of that era: 
the typical rich patterns, fabrics with a traditional design of flowers and diamonds and blocks and stripes, the autumn-like colors of quilts of that time: 
gray, olive, beige, a pale blue, brown, auburn, a warm yellow....  They should also have a certain "rural touch", represented by rough quilting stitches and a durable quality, that means for me: they shouldn't feel too soft or delicate.

Here is a picture of a typical Civil War quilt, it is from an exhibition at the New England Quilt Museum in Massachusetts: 

 (http://images.patronmail.com/pmailemailimages/1886/325649/articles_19.jpg)

An incredibly rich source of information on American Civil War quilts and many wonderful instructions can be found here:
 http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.de

Also: here is a very good article on Civil War quilts:
http://www.kellybutterbaugh.com/completecwquiltarticle.html

I think that the concept of "war" equals a declaration of bankruptcy and is a betrayal of all accomplishments that culture and civilization have given to mankind  -  
so I want these bookmarks to be reminiscent of that time but also in a way transcend the cruelty of war, so I give them the shape of a leaf....

My bookmarks will all be 21 x 6 cm (8,26" x 2,36"), they are sewn and quilted by hand, and they are filled with rough sackcloth (I love the smell of sackcloth: it reminds me of horses!). The back is a one-piece of a fitting fabric. I do each bookmark only once, and there is a small "M" stitched in on the back.

This is the one I started with, I will show the next ones here soon: 

Here are more:

"At the foot of their bed , she threw open the lid to the steamer trunk Uncle Jacob had bequeathed her and withdrew a quilt she had packed away for the summer. She draped it over the bed, sparing only a glance for the painstakingly arranged triangles and squares of Turkey red and Prussian blue and sun-bleached muslin, some scraps carefully saved from her household sewing, others shared by a dressmaker friend and others among her sewing circle. She folded the quilt in half length-wise, quickly rolled it up into a tight bundle, and tied it off with a wide length of ribbon she had been saving for her hatband. When she returned outside, Thomas had the horses ready and waiting. He watched, silent and perplexed, as she placed the quilt into the back of the wagon with his pack and provisions.

...

He shook his head. "It's too fine to take on the road. It could be soiled or torn or lost. Likely the army will issue us sturdy blankets with our uniforms."

"And if they don't, or if those blankets are delayed?"...

"I am thinking of the conditions you'll face." She felt wretched, helpless, but she fought to keep her voice even. "Take the quilt...."

... "Very well." He chirruped his horses. "You're right. If I don't take it, I'll regret it later."

(from the WONDERFUL book "The Union Quilters", by Jennifer Chiaverini, 2011)

Origami Butterfly

I'm not sure I really remember how I did it, I made it up and it is written down nowhere... :-)

Handbag

Just completed this handbag: 

it shows handmade quilting stitches, 

it's large (40 x 66 cm with handles) since I have no use for small purses, 

it is colorful and shows some of my self made buttons, 

it's robust and washable (it's all cotton, jeans fabric for the handles, filled with a polyester fleece).

I combined it with a smaller bag for items which would get lost in such a bag.

Plus there are three inner pockets to hold everything in place.
So now I hope for summer to come soon! :-)

This here has not much to do with quilts... but I love this picture somehow, I like how the figures seem to be in deep conversation, they seem to contrive a means of helping a friend in need...
I took this picture at an old greenhouse which is now used for workshops and for exhibitions...so lovely!
If you like: click on the picture for a better view.

Happy Mother's Day!

Manchmal findet man etwas wieder, das man schon lange vermisst hat, nach dem man lange gesucht hat....

"Gazing at the quilt that had so long eluded her, Sylvia resolved to gather the precious scraps of her mother's history and piece them together until a pattern emerged, until she understood as well as any daughter could the choices her mother had made. ...
She had found the New York Beauty at last, and with it, a small portion of her mother's history. ... 
'My mother made this quilt,' said Sylvia,..., knowing that in a moment, Claire would turn over the quilt to reveal the initials and date Eleanor Lockwood Bergstrom had embroidered so many years ago, as if she had known this day would come."

(from: The Quilter's Legacy, by Jennifer Chiaverini, 2003)

This is going to be my next big quilt,

it's a "pinwheel"-pattern, set on top,

but I like the name "windmill" better -

and it just comes naturally to me at the moment to use all these bold colors!

It's just like Pablo Picasso said:

"Why do two colors, put one next to the other, sing?

Can one really explain this?

no."

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/color

Conversation

I had been in conversation with someone recently about my quilts and he said, that using a handmade quilt which was sewn by someone who is a friend or belongs to your family, that this resembles the feeling you might have when someone reads a story to you aloud: you loved it as a child, you felt cozy and loved and warm and you dived deeply into the worlds of the stories which were read to you personally in a warm voice..., and you were lucky when someone in your family did that, ...
and silently you love (and need?) that also when you are a grown-up already .... 
The thing is, you don't really NEED that, there are easier ways to cover yourself when you are tired or you feel cold: just grab a store-bought blanket, and you are perfectly fine with reading a book by yourself or with listening to one of these perfectly made audio books, and anyway: daily life challenges are calling you ....but ... there is a longing for the personal touch...
I just listened and I could do nothing but agree wholeheartedly! 

Ich hatte letztens eine schöne Unterhaltung mit jemandem über meine Quilts und er meinte, dass das Benutzen eines handgemachten Quilts, genäht von einer Freundin oder einem Familienmitglied, dass das dem Gefühl sehr nahe kommt das man bekommt wenn jemand einem etwas vorliest: man liebte das als Kind, man fühlte sich warm und angenommen und man konnte tief in die Geschichtenwelten eintauchen. die einem ganz persönlich mit warmer Stimme vorgelesen wurde... wenn man das Glück hatte, dass jemand in der Familie sowas machte...
und ganz im Stillen mag (und braucht ?) man das, auch wenn man schon längst erwachsen ist...
Die Sache ist nur, man BRAUCHT das nicht wirklich, es gibt einfachere Wege sich zuzudecken wenn man müde ist oder einem kalt ist: greif dir einfach halt eine Decke, und es geht dir ganz wunderbar wenn du selbst ein tolles Buch liest oder du einem dieser perfekt gemachten Hörbücher zuhörst, und : die täglichen Dinge des Lebens halten dich genug auf Trab....aber... es bleibt ein leises Gefühl, dass man das Persönliche um sich haben möchte...
Ich hab ihm nur zugehört und konnte ihm einfach nur mit ganzem Herzen zustimmen!

Handmade

Since I love handmade things, "handmade" music also - and bookshops.... 

here is something very lovely: great music by "Mumford and Sons", 
recorded at a wonderful location, a bookstore, 
it's beautifully photographed also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Od0PJp6GI

Enjoy!

Cat

This cat is made after a quilt block in a Texan quilt from 1910-

I found an image of it in this wonderful book I found at an American antiquarian bookshop, the title is: The Quilt Encyclopedia Illustrated, by Carter Houck, 

Museum of American Folk Art, 1991, a very lovely book!

I like that motive of a pieced cat: I have seen lots of patterns showing a cat, but none was so lightly and playfully designed as this one. I can imagine, a quilt with such blocks in different colors for the cats would be a gorgeous piece for a cat lover; it's also a lovely pattern for a cushion top or a potholder...

This here is a wallhanging, three layers of cotton fabric, pieced and quilted and sewn entirely by hand, 30x30 cm, 12"x12".