Mini-neighborhood of Love

 

"Mini-neighborhood of Love for Paula"  2021,  47" x 58"

Made for me by:  Kimberly Rolzhausen, Adva Price, Sam Hunter, Jean Necheles, Mary Beth Shimkus, Melissa Kirk, Megan Null, Barbara Montejo, Alice Ridge,
Kim Lapacek, Flaun Cline, Chelley Black

My friends secretly banded together and made this wonderful sampler of houses for me.  I love looking at the detail in each block, and I can feel the love from each person involved.   

Here are some close-up pictures:

I can tell just by looking at them who made these!

 

This group of quilting friends came together about 10 years ago, and we have made many quilts together to support each other.  However we have not been very active in a while, and honestly, I didn't think they would come together for me. 

I enjoy very small paper piecing,  so my friends were told to make small houses. 

The variety is inspiring! 

Then Adva picked some background fabric and 'improv-style' pieced the top together. 

Kimberly quilted it with some very colorful variegated thread. 

That pieced binding by Flaun is just perfect! 

I'm so overwhelmed by this gift. 

Here it is in its new home: 

I moved to a new apartment in March 2021 because I found out my husband is in a relationship with another woman.  35 years and he choses not to 'work it out'.  I've been vague about this on social media until this post.   This is not a happy time for me, in fact I'm devastated,  but I'm putting one foot in front of another and have managed to land in a lovely apartment with a balcony.  I have the incredible support of my children and so many cousins and friends.  

This quilt encourages me to see how much love I can have in my new home. 

Thank you friends 

Keep the Birds in the Air

"Keep Birds in the Air"  12" x 8.5"   Machine pieced, and fusible applique,  Hand embroidery,  pulled thread 'feather', machine quilted.       

Completed on 2/23/2020 for Project Quilting challenge "Birds in the Air"


The lady's hat industry in the late 1800's caused or nearly caused the extinction of multiple beautiful bird species.  In 1896,  the near extinction of the Snowy Egret caused some high society women to petition for legislation to stop the killing.  This lead to the Migratory Bird Act.

more information at this article at Smithsonian Magazine:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-two-women-ended-the-deadly-feather-trade-23187277/


Now about this project:

The challenge requirement was to use this traditional quilt block: 

There are many ways to set this and use it, and of course, I wanted to find a political message for my project.  I thought about birds, and had recently heard a podcast about the black market trade for particular bird feathers - in this case they are being used for fishing lures, but the real decimation of our bird populations happened because of ladies hats. 

I started with some images of lady's hats like these:

I traced off a hat shape, then added the quilt block behind.    Notice that the "Birds in the Air" blocks change color when forming the hat (brown and tan)  than when they are in the background (blue and white) 

Next I pieced the larger triangles of the block and created a background that looked like this - again, notice placement of brown/tan  vs blue/white: 

I knew I didn't have the patience or the precise sewing skills to piece all the tiny triangles, and I've been enjoying using Lite Steam-a-Seam 2,  so I started laying in all the small triangles and then the contours of hat like this: 

Once that was all done, the hat was not really visible, so I embroidered an outline and then started embroidering the feathers.  After 3 days.  the resulting feather was SO unsatisfying that I decided to take it out.  But here is it (as promised) for posterity: 

                             

Going, going.... 

Gone! 

What I really wanted was a large white feather,  so I appliqued then machine quilted this feather, and it was almost right: 

On Sunday morning, drinking my coffee before binding the quilt, I saw an online tutorial for making fabric feathers, and I was thinking, 'man!  my sister would love those'.   Then I headed to my sewing machine to wrap up the quilt - because the post was due in an hour.  But those feathers!!   

I tried doing it, but didn't have the right fabric.  I resigned myself to just binding this and finishing and then it HAPPENED. 

The right fabric poked its head out of the piles I have sitting on the side of my cutting table  (my VERY  neat, VERY  organized, VERY ………  oh who am I kidding .... the mess I have all over my sewing space )    So I did some quick fabric feathers,  sewed them down, and voila!   FEATHERS! 

We are abusing our natural environment. We rape the land, the sea, the animals for our venal purposes and resist out of comfort, misguided sense of superiority, stubbornness, inertia any attempts to curb our consumption.   The land suffers.  The sea suffers.  Animals suffer - some all the way into extinction,  some to brink.   People suffer too.  We formed democracies to pull us out of the cruelty that is monarchy and yet are failing to truly consider our neighbors' pain in our life. 

Its just a hat.  Put something else on your head that doesn't cause such pain. 

Those feathers belong on the birds in the air.  Shoot them with a camera. 

Plastic bag bans are not going to kill us.  Start carrying a reusable bag.  Its LITERALLY the least we can do.  

Lets do more. 

Peace, 

Paula 

Blue Wave

"Blue Wave" - paper pieced, machine free motion quilted. 12"x12".  Completed on Jan 26 2020, for Project Quilting season 11 - Team Colors challenge 

My team is DEMOCRATS. 

I drafted my own wave pattern because I didn't want to use the traditional wave created with a snails trail  like this: 

They do look like waves, but I wanted a gentler angle (not 45 degree)   so I drafted something like this:   This is just my first sketch.  I don't have the final version because I used it as my foundation for paper piecing:  

After piecing, I machine quilted all over with the word 'vote'

I'm team Democrat in the upcoming elections - I hope there is a blue wave, but I also would be fine with squeaking by with a small majority.  Just win.  Watching the GOP obstruct a fair trial in the impeachment hearings, I want them all out.  

VOTE! 

peace
Paula

In Memory of cousin Pablo

Four quilts made from Pablo's shirts. 

Cousin Pablo passed in March 2019 too young.  I offered to make memory quilts for his wife Nancy, son Kelby, daughter Solange and mother. 

Nancy sent this box of shirts, and I got to work cutting them into squares and strips to be used to make blocks.  Mostly I wanted to preserve the sense of 'shirt', as much as possible, so I kept button plackets and pockets.

Once all the large squares were cut, I cut strips to be used in making blocks such as this one:

 

I also found a way to keep sleeve cuffs whole and attached only on the 'arm' end. 

Next I started embroidering a personal block for each recipient.  Solange sent me this phrase: "Remember to breathe so you can laugh" which was something her father wrote to her on her last birthday card.




Kelby called his dad "Papi", Nancy called her husband "Chuchi", and his mother called him "Pablito", each of which I transferred to fabric and hand embroidered:

This is the first time using Sulky Solvy as a way to transfer a pattern to fabric, and I really enjoy using this stuff, rather than writing directly on the fabric.  

Once all the blocks were created, I booked open sewing time at my local quilt shop - Gotham Quilts - so i could use their design walls.  These are batting covered walls to which you can 'stick' blocks for arranging a quilt top.  Here are a couple in progress: 

After sewing all 4 tops together and also creating backs for each (using left over squares from the front, combined with quilting fabric sections) I again booked time at Gotham Quilts, this time on their longarm quilting frame.  This was a marathon quilting session, where I spent 5 hours meander quilting all 4 quilts.

Then the binding.  I created over 1000 inches of scrappy binding as each quilt required about 250 inches (that's the measurement all around each quilt) 

As luck would have it, Nancy and Kelby came to visit NYC so I could deliver these quilts in person.  It was wonderful and emotional to have them see Pablo's shirts this way.  They can hide little keepsakes or notes in the still operational pockets and wrap themselves in the love Pablo had for each of them. 

"Pablito" quilt for Pablo's mom

Kelby with his "Papi" quilt:

 Quilt for Solange with "Remember to breathe" quote:

"Chuchi" quilt for Nancy

Nancy and I have been cousin-friends since I visited Argentina in 1978 when we were both teenagers.  She was learning English and was glad to have a pen pal in the USA.  In her early 20's Nancy's family moved to the US, and she married Pablo.  They had 2 beautiful children, whom I had the pleasure of knowing when they were young.  What an honor to be trusted to make these memory quilts after Pablo passed.  He was a sweet, smart, honorable, loving man.  He died too young and will be remembered forever. 

love, 

Paula