Culture Shock

I am working in Australia this month.  I have been here before and survived the "Vegemite Initiation."    My friend and colleague, Brenda, is working here for the first time.  It was my responsibility to introduce her to Vegemite.

I presented her with Vegemite and toast at breakfast this morning.  She did not look very excited:

 She tentatively took a VERY small bite:

She thought it was DELICIOUS!!!

OK, maybe not.

She thought that her husband, Randy, needed to eat some Vegemite, too.

He was enthusiastic and took a big bite:

Does he like it?

Still deciding...

I think the Anderson breakfast table will remain free of Vegemite indefinitely.

Blog Silence: Explained

My blog has been quiet for over a week.  I have a really good (excuse?) reason for this:

I am in AUSTRALIA!!!

I just finished teaching at the Australasian Quilt Convention.  

I taught four full days at the show.  I enjoyed my talented students and they enjoyed the Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen machines! 

I learned so much from these ladies and will treasure this experience forever!

Gifts! A quilt for Jenny

Jenny is a talented young lady who went to college with my son.

She got married in a really huge snowstorm in February.  My son was snowbound and could not attend the wedding, but this quilt made it to the new bride eventually:

This is one HUGE quilt:  88x108!

I really enjoyed quilting this quilt:

The front is pretty, but check out the back:

Am I terrible if I say that I had a little trouble giving this quilt away?

Congratulations and Best Wishes to Jenny and her new husband.  Enjoy your quilt!

The Meaning Of Life

According to the Social Security Administration, I can expect to live to be 84.6 years old.  Since I am over 40, my life is about half over.

I started to consider what I have done with my first 40 years and how I will spend those remaining.  I asked myself, “What is the meaning of life anyway?”

I am an avid reader and believe that great truths can be found in great works of fiction.  I started my search for the meaning of life by reading some great novels.  I read my way through the works of Jane Austen and Tolkien.  I found romance and adventure and ‘the triumph of good over evil,’ but not the meaning of life.  I hoped to find the answer when I read the Twilight series, but no.  The Hunger Games series disappointed as well.  I finally found my answer in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  According to Douglas Adams, the meaning of life is “42.”  I was relieved, but this answer did not fulfill me.

As a modern woman, I decided to use technology in my quest for the meaning of life.  I grabbed my smart phone.  “Siri, what is the meaning of life?”  She answered, “All evidence to date points to chocolate.”  Chocolate?  Chocolate!  Something within me resonated with this and I was certain that Siri was pointing me in the right direction.

As wonderful as that answer is, “chocolate” is still a little broad.  What form of chocolate, specifically?  Chocolate candy?  Chocolate bars?  Chocolate cake?  Cookies?  Pie?  Chocolate brownies?  Chocolate ice cream?

For help in narrowing this down, I turned away from fiction and started to read histories.  Marie-Antoinette, wife of King Louis XVI of France, has been credited with dismissing the peasants’ lack of bread with a callous, “Let them eat cake.”  Many historians have discredited this popular myth.  They suggest that Marie-Therese, wife of King Louis XIV might have actually said this, several decades earlier. 

Between Siri and Marie-Therese, my search for the meaning of life has been narrowed down to Chocolate + Cake. 

This is small enough to be manageable yet large enough to bring hope.  My research into how chocolate cake can bring meaning to life began.  I travel around the world for a living and have eaten chocolate cake on three continents thus far.  When a server in a restaurant asks, “What will you have for dessert?” I answer, “Chocolate cake.”  You would be surprised at the variety of dishes this answer brings to my table.

I have received flourless chocolate cake.  This dense chocolate dessert is rich and thick.  It is full of flavor but has not satisfied me.

I have eaten chocolate brownie cake.  This is served with ice cream (and I do not like ice cream) so that’s one point against.  It typically contains nuts (also not my favorite) so that’s another point against.  Chocolate brownies are good in theory, but lose something in reality.

I have tasted chocolate cheesecake.  Whether New York style or Italian, cheesecake does not serve up enough inspiration to carry me through the next 40 years.

I enjoyed chocolate pudding cake.   It is warm and comforting and wonderful, but somehow falls short of the meaning of life.

I attempted Red Velvet cake.  No.  Just no.

Most often I receive chocolate lava cake.  This is usually served with ice cream (enough with the ice cream already!). It is served warm and chocolate goo springs from the center.  Interesting concept, but it did not bring meaning to my life.

My search for the meaning of life in chocolate cake stagnated. 

I had to look for other sources of inspiration.  I considered my would-be paramour:  a giant green ogre named Shrek.  He has many wise words, but none apply to chocolate cake bringing meaning to life.  His sidekick Donkey put everything into place for me when he said, “Everybody loves cake!  Cakes have layers.”

Layers!  Layers were missing from the unsatisfying chocolate cakes I had eaten.

After this epiphany, I quizzed the restaurant wait staff about their cake.  “Can I tell you about tonight’s specials?” they would ask.  “I would rather hear about your chocolate cake,” I would answer.  If they said “flourless” or “lava,” I knew their cake would not bring meaning to my life.  If I they said “layers” or “frosting,” I was willing to sample their cake, hoping it would bring enlightenment.

If you plan to join me on this quest to find the meaning of life in chocolate cake, avoid Applebee’s, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, and TGI Friday’s.  They have no cake.  Olive Garden has a chocolate cake, but it is not served in all locations.  Ask about the cake before ordering your dinner.  If that location has cake, just order salad for your diner.  If it does not have cake, order a full meal; there is no need to save room for dessert.

Choose instead to visit:

Red Lobster.  Their Chocolate Wave is served with ice cream, so remember to ask them to throw that part away.

Charlie Brown’s.  Their slice of chocolate cake is larger than a human head.

Cheesecake Factory.  They have two chocolate cakes and I make them show me a slice of each to be certain I am getting the right one.

Bertucci’s.  Best.  Chocolate.  Cake.  Ever.

Denny’s.  (but only if you are desperate)

You can continue this search at home.  I started with King Arthur’s Flour website.  I made rich chocolate cakes, vegan chocolate cakes, gluten-free chocolate cakes, and ended up with Betty Crocker.  It’s pretty good!

On my deathbed, I will be able to sum up the meaning of life in one succinct statement that future generations will plaster on their car bumpers.

Until that day, I will agree with Audrey Hepburn who said, “Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does it for me.”

Gifts! For Savanna

I have a new snuggle-bunny baby.  Her name is Savanna.  She is every bit as pretty as her momma and as strong as her daddy.  She lives less than two hours away from me so I was excited when I finally got to meet her.

I couldn't meet her empty-handed, so I made her a quilt:

With a scrappy back:

I cannot wait to see her again!

Gifts! corn pillows

When we saw our family at Christmas, they subtly let me know that their corn pillows were getting old and if I were interested, they would like new ones.

I took the hint:

For the un-initiated, a corn pillow is filled with feed corn and heated in the microwave.  We use them to keep us toasty warm!

Gifts! Just because

A dear friend of mine wanted me to make her a quilt.

"Are you graduating from high school?" I asked.

"No," she answered.

"Are you getting married?" I asked.

"I'm already married," she answered.

"Are you having a baby?" I asked.

"I've already had five," she answered.

"Are you planning on a serious illness?" I asked.

"Um, no?" she answered.

"Then you don't get a quilt from me," I stated.

This conversation has been replayed many times over the years.

I finally made her a quilt, just because.

All reds and pinks:

With a scrappy back:

Love ya, dear friend!

Gifts: Jackie and Andrew's wedding quilt

Another young couple is starting out their life together.  This one was delivered only a few months after the wedding -- I must be improving!

I found a stack of mostly finished star blocks when I was sorting through some UFOs.  I pulled them out, finished the blocks, sashed, bordered, quilted, bound and poof:

A finished quilt!

I took a closeup of the quilting (I think the photo is upside down but I do not know how to fix that -- sorry.) I quilted feathered wreaths in the blocks and ribbon candy woven through the sashings:

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Gifts! a quilt for Jonathan and Allie

Many of my children's friends are getting married and they all need quilts!

Jonathan and Allie are a lovely couple.  Jonathan has used his graduation quilt A LOT (picnics, the beach, etc.) so I made them another quilt meant to be used. 

A scrappy front:

And a scrappy back:

I am not sure if you can see the quilting, but it was a digitized pattern by the wonderful Karlee Porter!

This quilt was just about one year late:  Happy Anniversary to the bride and groom!

Rubbing Elbows -- John Kubiniec

As I am packing to leave for quilt show season, I have more love than ever for my quilt industry family.

John Kubiniec is a quilter, quilt designer, blogger, and a dear friend.

He designed a quilt that is in the March/April 2013 McCall's Quilting Magazine:

There is a free downloadable lap quilt pattern available.

You should definitely make this quilt!

Gifts! A very special wedding

This post should be titled LATE!

My brother-in-law got married in the summer of 2010.  I knew that I wanted to make them The Wedding Quilt, but I asked his bride about size and color.  She wanted it BIG (120 x 120 inches!!!) and with a touch of blue.

Less than two years later and mere weeks before their first child was born, I finished the quilt!

That is one way the quilt was late.  The other is that it took another year to post a photo of it here!

I wish the happy couple many years of joy!

Got Popcorn?

I was cleaning off my desk today (scary!) and found a few old plane tickets from when I flew to the Australian Machine Quilting Festival last fall.

One ticket read:

• Battleship
• Snow White and the Huntsman
• Lockout
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Brave
• Mirror Mirror
• Avengers

The other ticket read:

• The Lorax
•  Prometheus
• Gladiator
• Hunger Games
• Sapphires
• In Time
• Men In Black 3

Yes, I watched 7 movies flying to Australia, and 7 movies from home from Australia.  If you have not had the joy of flying from the United States to Australia, it is really, really, really, really far away.

I will fly to Australia again in April, this time to teach at the Australasian Quilt Convention.

Will I see you there?

I wonder what movies I will see in April?

Modern Quilt Movement

I have been meaning to write about the Modern Quilt Movement for quite a long time.  This is finally happening because I was asked to write a review about a new e-book Modern Quilt Patterns from McCall's.

You can download this free e-book here.

My thoughts on this e-book

• I am a big into "use what you have on hand" and these would all work with either yardage or left-over bits from other projects. 
• I am thrilled that the publisher gives you permission to make and display the quilt as long as the pattern is cited.  Sometimes I make a quilt and want to show it, but have to track down permission to do so.  
• I like the instructions for quilt-as-you-go. 
• I wish that they provided quilting pattern drawings.  The descriptions are there, but images mean so much more when a quilter gets to the "but how should I quilt this?" stage of the quilt.

I would recommend that new and experienced quilters download this e-book.  Free is free, right?

*****

My thoughts on the Modern Quilt Movement have been scattered for quite a while.  Let me try to put them in some order here.

I made my first quilt in 1986 when I was pregnant with my first child.  I had a lot of experience making clothes, but did not know how to quilt.  My first quilt was made with scraps from my clothing projects, the block pattern was drawn on cardboard, I cut the fabric with scissors, I used a 5/8-inch seam, I used a sheet on the back of the quilt, and I tied it all with embroidery floss.  After my second child was born, a neighbor taught me about rotary cutters, 1/4-inch seams, and other contemporary quilt-making techniques.  I taught myself to hand quilt, machine quilt, and longarm-machine quilt.

I started hand quilting for customers in 1994.  I started longarm quilting for customers in 2000.  I started to teach machine quilting as my job in 2005-2006.  I am now an experienced quilter who is curious about the Modern Quilt Movement.

I have been a member of a traditional quilt guild for nearly two decades, First Dutchess Quilters, but decided to see what the Modern Quilt Guilds were about.  I joined the NY Metro Mod Quilters in early 2012 and the Hudson Valley Modern Quilt Guild in late 2012.  I am now a member of three quilt guilds, and they are all very different.

My traditional guild works to bring in speakers, educate its members, and promote the art of quilting.  The modern guilds have a more "do what you want with your quilt and see what happens" approach.  While I have learned and mastered many techniques over the years, I have never considered myself an artist.  I love the freedom to try (and fail? -- gasp!) that I get from my modern quilt guilds.

I have always been and probably always will be more of a quilter than a piecer. I think my experience with the modern quilt guilds has made me more of a risk-taker.  I am learning to play with fabric and thread again.

Gifts! A wallet

My sister-in-law sent me a special request:  a fabric wallet to match her new purse.  The actual text read:

"Hi!  I moved my stuff to my new purse ;)  all the compartments are gr8!  The purse is perfect and so cute! i was wondering if you had anymore of the fabric from the purse you made me?  If so, would you mind making me a small wallet like the one in my last purse?  Let me know how much it costs and I'll send a check.  Thanks so much."

She does not sew and has no idea that a quilter will spent 100 hours on a quilt to give it away but will not sew for any amount of money.  (OK, I actually do sew for money, but that is a different matter.)  The fact that she specifically asked if I could make her a purse for Christmas, and then wanted another wallet is payment enough.  I love when the people that I give gifts to enjoy them.

Sadly, I did not have any more fabric.  I cut it all up to make a scrappy baby quilt.  I quickly ran to the Quilt Basket to see if they maybe had a fat quarter of the fabric left somewhere (it was old fabric).  I could not find a fat quarter anywhere.  I was about to give up hope when I found a bolt of one of the fabrics.  SCORE!!!

I pulled out my trusty Lazy Girls Wonder Wallet pattern and made up a matching wallet for her.  It took me a quarter-yard of fabric and about 30 minutes.

I snapped a quick photo with my phone before I tucked this in an envelope to mail to my dear sister-in-law.  I did not stage the photo so you can see some of the debris on my desk.  

Clockwise from top right:  a promotional ruler from brandyscustom.com, some lip gloss (of course!), the charging cord for my wireless headphones, the cord for my laptop, and the edge of my desk lamp (it's new and I LOVE THE EXTRA LIGHT!!!).  

I cannot find even 6-inches of clear space on my desk.  Sigh.

Rubbing Elbows: Susan Jungerheld

I love my job!  I love working with quilts, and quilt shops, and quilters!  I love the people I get to meet, many of whom become friends.

Susan Jungerheld is a quilter I met many years ago, and she has become a colleague and friend.

I was so excited when I received my Quilt Trends Winter 2013 magazine and saw her work:

There is a kit for this quilt.

Susan teaches at the Quilt Basket.  Go and meet her!

Gifts! Dinner Napkins

I buy very few items that are meant to be thrown away:  paper towels, paper napkins, etc.  I made this decision years ago partly because it was good for the planet and partly because we were rather poor.

I remembered that I had received some pretty dinner napkins for wedding presents and pulled them out to (gasp!) use.  I have received other napkins for gifts since then and also began making my own dinner napkins.

When my son and daughter-in-law lived with us, I apparently passed this along to them.  Now they only use cloth napkins in their home.

I made my daughter-in-law these pretty dinner napkins for Christmas because, well, you can never have enough pretty dinner napkins!

I bought the fabric at Sew Inspired in Simsbury, CT when I taught there last year.

Gifts! A purse (or two)

Do you have or have you seen the Claire handbag pattern?  If not, go and buy it now!!!

I made two of these bags for Christmas presents, one for my sister, and one for my sister-in-law:

The pattern is incredibly well written!  It uses 7 fat quarters, some fusible batting, and some fusible interfacing.  No expensive or hard-to-find zippers or fasteners.

My sister-in-law switched to this as her new purse the day after Christmas.  She loved the pockets and only had one complaint -- I didn't make her a matching wallet. I will have to get out my Wonder Wallet pattern.  Lazy Girls to the rescue!

My Quilting Sister

Have you ever met someone and just "clicked"?*  That happened the first time I met Teri Lucas.

I think we officially met in person at a modern quilt guild, even though we had been internet buddies for a while.

That day I showed one of my favorite quilts:

She liked it, too.  She made one in her own Teri-style as a sample when she was teaching at Houston last fall.

This week I had a wonderful time at lunch with her:

It was Krispy Kreme donut bread pudding.  You would have had the same reaction, I promise!

At lunch, she gave me a present:

She made me a "Bang Head Here" quilt!  I gave mine away and I miss my quilt.  This is hanging on my sewing room wall now, ready to help me out in case of emergency.

I can't wait to meet up with Teri again.  Watch for her machine quilting classes at some quilt shows this year!

_____

*  I know that the ? is technically supposed to be inside the " ", but it just seems weird to me so I choose to ignore that rule.  I am a punctuation rebel.

Gifts! Tablerunner

2012 was a whirlwind year of travel for me. One trip was 25 days long.  One trip was to Russia.  One trip was to Australia.  Most of my year was spent preparing to travel, traveling, or recovering from travel.  Because of this, some things slipped through the cracks.  Like my sister's anniversary in October.  And blogging (but we will not talk about that).

I made my sister a tablerunner for her anniversary, but I did not start it until 2 months after her anniversary.  I gave it to her with her Christmas present because I am a terrible sister.

The tablerunner was made with scraps from my Christmas Dresden Plate quilt, hence all the funky angles:

Maybe if I start her anniversary present now, it will be done by October?

Help!

I am joining another Quilt Along!

Amy Ellis is offering Dancing Stars as a free paper-pieced quilt along.  I am not a paper piecer, but this quilt is so cute I just had to do it!

Isn't this darling?