Her Royal Majesty

So Pearl the Squirrel has been quiet because I've been away. My husband had work in Ireland and I tagged along, first Belfast, then Dublin, then the west country (Galway, Roundstone, Westport). The Irish people were incredibly friendly, the Irish food (especially the seafood) delicious, and yes, it did pour rain a few days, but we still had a bit of good weather to enjoy the countryside, which was indeed a lush green.

The downside of the trip was that I got sick the very first day and it wasn't until the day before we came home that I felt anything close to myself. That first day I stayed in bed all day long, and the bright spot was that it was the last day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee festivities, covered minute-by-minute on BBC television. I was totally enthralled with watching the Queen go from activity to activity, in coach and carriage, with her son and daughter-in-law and without her husband (who was in hospital, also sick). I was amazed by her stamina, amused by the announcers who kept trying to attach emotion to her nearly unchanging expression ("She seems to be missing her husband." "She seems touched by the crowd's attentions."), and struck by the fact, watching everyone curtsy and bow to her as she left the church, that we curtsy and bow to no one in the United States. Her citizenry seem to genuinely love her—many slept out overnight to be able to stand and watch her coach pass by them on the Mall or to see her wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

There were myriad souvenirs of the event to be had—I got a lovely bone china mug from friends, so I can honor the Queen with my daily cuppa— but one of the best has to be this limited edition color guide to the Queen's 60 years of perfectly coordinated outfits, created by Pantone and Leo Burnett London. For more information, including an explanation of the meaning behind a few of the Queen's color choices, visit Pantone's blog.)

God Save the Queen!

A Peek at OTHER Cool Blogs

When I'm conducting research for various articles I come across amazing blogs, websites, and projects. Much of what I research is for articles that won't appear in print for another four to six months and I can't share what I've found without scooping the magazine—a no-no. 

But I've decided that on an irregular basis I'm going to share those with you that I can (without scooping publications, of course), and include links to sites and projects that I'm intrigued and inspired by—kind of my own personal Pinterest. 

How I get to these sites is often a mystery to me—you know the way one thing leads to another and another and another on the Internet and suddenly it's 2 p.m. and the neighbor kid selling fruit to support his show choir trip knocks on your door and you've still got bedhead and are wearing 10-year-old pjs and no make-up and are sure he'll tell his mother about the crazy shut-in who bought 50 pounds of grapefruit and you'll be the talk of the neighborhood? Yes, sometimes I'm that person and sometimes that's how I find these sites. At least someone should get something useful out of my questionable neighborhood reputation, right? 

So here's a blog I came across today: Clover and Violet. First—Jenny and Clara are a mother-and-daughter team who drink coffee, sew together, and have the most perfect, matching white teeth ever. (Am I jealous? Yes.) But I'll forgive them because they share lots of fabulous tutorials and embroidery info on their blog, as well as have an Etsy shop where they sell their patterns. Although I don't have a Kindle, I was especially taken with their clever Kindle cover that uses the currently on-trend hexagon. Check them out!

Quilt Market Take Two

Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! shares quilts from her new book

Can't believe it's been nearly a week since we left KC and Quilt Market. I spent some of the time writing a post for Etsy about a quilting icon I had the good fortune to meet at Market and it should be posted sometime late next week.

Until then, here are a few more shots from Market. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Dear Stella reps take lots of orders

Echino creations

Codi pauses to soak up a bit of that Montana vibe

A bit of embroidery at Anna Maria Horner's booth

Denyse Schmidt talks at Schoolhouse about the quilts in her new book

Moda's Ducky with the quilt she whipped up (appliqué and embroidery) just before Market

Love this Creative Sewlutions pattern (left) using David Butler's Parson Gray fabrics

Quilt Market round-up

Quilt Market was a real joy, for many reasons, and its location in Kansas City was certainly one of them. My traveling companions and I loved the old buildings with intricate stone and metal work, as well as the new public art interspersed amongst them.

Jacquie Gering of Tallgrass Prairie Studios signs her new book. Such a treat to finally meet Jacquie in person!

Former architect Carolyn Friedlander & her amazing quilt

Market also was a pleasure because I got to see so many old friends, as well as meet face-to-face some of the people I've had an email relationship with this year. And my traveling companions, Codi of Home Ec and Greta, a new designer for Marcus fabrics, were delightful, as well.

So here are a few random photos of KC and QM. I'll post a few more next time around.

Detail of Carolyn Friedlander's quilt

Love Cluck, Cluck, Sew's crisp patterns in clear colors

So great to meet Vanessa Christenson in person. She's showing off her gorgeous new fabric, Simply Color

Denyse Schmidt shares quilts from her new book at Schoolhouse

Tiles in a KC park

Anna Maria Horner talks about her new fabric, inspired by birds' migration routes & a moth infestation

Weeks Ringle surrounded by modern quilts that use unexpected fabrics

Weeks' and Bill's quilt mixes David Butler and Jo Morton fabrics

Feed Sacks, redux

Feed sack crazy quilt

At the same time as the Kalona Quilt Show is Michael Zahs' feed sack show at the Ainsworth Opera House. I learned about feed sacks just last year, and they proved to be the perfect topic for an Etsy post. Mike told me that in some homes every piece of fabric was once a feed sack, and that sack manufacturers realized the value of making their sacks of decorative fabrics—it took three sacks to make a typical dress and women often encouraged their husbands to buy more feed, in order to complete a frock.

Here are a few photos from this year's show. Mike had some new purchases he was especially pleased to share, including the feed sack crazy quilt (top photo) he had hanging by the entrance. Feast your eyes on a few of the this year's offerings.

Tablecloth with feed sack appliqué, plus blocks and pieces for Grandmother's flower garden stacked in a shoe box

Dresser scarf crocheted from the strings that held feed sacks shut

Bias-tape cardinals adorn a feed sack towel—one of my favorites

Feed sack fan quilt

Examples of embroidery patterns stamped on feed sacks

Beacon feed sack circa 1948

One small part of the display

Back of a paper-pieced feed sack quilt with the paper still intact

A few of the Zahs' feed sacks

I'm off to Quilt Market in Kansas City this week and the next post or two will be from there. Looking forward to all the eye candy and an opportunity to see some of my Market buddies, to boot. Cheers!

Antique quilts from Kalona

I managed to fill the last couple of weeks with a big ol' project that put blogging, sewing, knitting, etc. on hold. However, one of my regular assignments was due at the same time as the big one and required that I go to the annual Kalona Quilt Show, so not only did I get a break, but I got to look at quilts.

Norwegian Girl 1930-40s. We thought some of them looked a bit demonic

Delectable Mountain

My friend Holly and I went out one evening after a meeting and because I was shooting photos for a magazine story, Brenda Herrington, one of the organizers of the show, the owner of the Kalona Antique Company, and a long-time friend, let me go up top and shoot some photos of the whole thing. Compared to many sales, the Kalona show has a "rustic" feel, as quilts are strung in somewhat haphazard rows from clotheslines tightly strung above the gymnasium floor. As they sell, they're taken down and another quilt takes its place, so attending more than once means you'll see something new each time. Every single quilt, old and new, is hand-quilted.

Amazing hand quilting. This quilt was purchased for Kalona's Quilt Museum

While all the quilts are lovely, the old quilts truly are my favorite. They ranged in price from several thousand dollars for Amish crib quilts (people are willing to pay so much because they can use them as art on a wall, as opposed to bigger quilts) to a couple of quilts for less than $200.

Holly's quilt and her kitty, Primo

As happened last year, I managed to buy a quilt, even without Marilyn Woodin there to encourage me. Holly got the best one, a postage stamp Irish chain done in sweet feedsack tones that are punched up with a red border and keystones. She sent me this picture of her kitty, Primo, enjoying it the very next morning.

My starry quilt—1930s-40s feed sacks

Mine is quite different from the graphic, dark-toned one I got last year. But it's orangey shades go well with the walls in the room where I write. I'm planning to use it in the summertime and the other in winter. (Last year's was stitched in the 1880s, this year's in the 1930s-40s.)

Iowa-made Log Cabin 1880-1910

 Last year Marilyn told me that the quilt I bought was the perfect one to start my antique quilt collection. I told her I didn't intend to start such a collection, but I may have been wrong. Brenda assured me that it's not a collection until there are three. So I'm safe, unless I decide that bed also needs quilts for both fall and spring.

Love the border on this Dresden Plate

Sewing with Friends

Sewing days with friends are a great way to kill two birds with one stone (a rather harsh analogy for such a pleasant way to spend an afternoon). When life is so busy I find the only time I see my friends is if I've got something on the calendar with them. A case in point are my two book groups and Scrabble group, in which the main point of the gatherings is catching up with dear friends and knowing that I'll see them at regular intervals, even if we haven't made time to go to lunch or grab a cup of coffee. I love books and playing Scrabble, but the contact and conversation are the important bits.

Regular sewing dates can be equally as satisfying. For awhile my friend Kristin and I were planning monthly sessions and it was not only wonderful to chat with her about life in general and sewing in particular, but we both kept projects on track when we knew we had a day set aside to work on them. Sadly, I got busy with work and they fell by the wayside.

Nearly three months ago Codi and I had a sewing afternoon and it was a fantastic reminder of how fun and productive it can be to set aside sewing time with a buddy. I was working on my first quilt with my Featherweight (it's a gift, so I can't show it yet...just got it back from the quilter) and Codi brought several projects she'd started but not quite finished. I can't remember how many she whipped through, but I thought you'd enjoy seeing some shots of her mini-quilt, a project she started more than a year ago when we had a little quilting group meeting at Home Ec. (It's where I started my triangle corner scrap quilt.) I love the big stitching on the red background (and the way her polka-dot sweatshirt perfectly complements the fabric in the leaves).

Now that I've written this post, I think I need to call up a friend and get another sewing date on that calendar! Here's to sewing with friends!

Modern Quilting and Practical Housewifery

My sewing has been so sporadic of late that I was delighted to finally cut into a pack of Lotta Jansdotter's fat quarters and start working on a new quilt. The pattern I chose is from Sweet Jane (and how I chose that is another story, but I strongly encourage you to check out her designs—fantastic!).

So I'm excitedly cutting out the prints and suddenly I realize that what I have and am intending to use for the background is a solid—solid white. I have a big chunk of solid white that I'd bought for another quilt-in-the-making, so it's not as though I'd never considered using it. But this time I was struck by how it would feel to use a quilt with so much white...When I make a quilt I want it to be used, and all that white would stay clean for about two minutes at my house (or at anyone's house who has children, animals, or eats in bed).

I went out into cyber-quilt-land and checked out the work of a couple of my favorite quilters, Rita at Red Pepper Quilts and Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio, and sure enough, they're not afraid to use white.

So here's the question. Do you make quilts with a white background?  Are they ever clean? Am I just plain silly for worrying about this?