Friday, February 11, 2011

American Quilts

American Quilts is an amazing book. I checked it out of the library last week and keep going back to it. I may just have to buy it.
The author, Robert Shaw is so insightful and I don't even think he is a quilter! My favorite passage from the book is:

"Quilts are the most intimate and personal of American objects. They connect us with each other and directly to the primal ground of the bed-the place where we spend half of our lives; where we are born, have sex, and die; the place where we replenish ourselves and dream our dreams; the place of nurture and healing; where we retreat in sickness and fraility; and the place where we receive comfort and care of those that love us. Quilts also connect us to the the most basic of senses, touch - the first and most direct way we communicate with each other, as parent and child; as partners in love; life and marriage; as caregivers in sickness and age. Quilts embrace us at all stages of life, offering protection and warmth and connecting us symbolically with the remembrance of mothers' loving encircling arms. All these meanings reasonate within quilts, connecting us with the deepest meaning and most inituitive levels of our existence and humanity."
"Quilts bear the record of our most vital experiences..."
Wow and a lot of people think of them as just  "bed spreads"! There are also lots of good pictures in this too.

This has been a slow sewing week. I have been getting some applique blocks ready in anticipation of a quilt get away weekend with my Penn Oaks Quilters guild. It took me all day to get 5 blocks together.


Amost there...



I am coveting this beautiful arrangement of moss and ferns. I cut it out of Better Homes and Gardens last spring. Does anyone know how to do this on a cake plate so that I won't kill it?

There is a sew along to do this pattern which I have loved for a long time.....I really don't need another project......but I really, really like this one...I keep telling myself I can make only 1 block and if I don't like it I have a pillow. We'll see how long I hold out!

Kelly
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7 comments:

  1. VivianFebruary 11, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    I too loved Shaw's book! I also originally read a library copy but later bought the book because so many of the quilts were so inspiring.

    One of my favorites and a future (I hope) project: the Mariners Compass quilt on page 48. I found a Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum cheater cloth that replicates all those cream and CW print triangle squares making it easier to try to do that one and would give me a chance to try MC blocks.

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  2. Mary KeaslerFebruary 11, 2011 at 9:22 AM

    That is a wonderful book. I just had to buy it. Great to have in your own reference library.
    Good luck with the greens. One of the reasons I love fabric, is because I can't "kill" it like I do with plants. (Grin)
    You are making great progress with the beautiful applique blocks. Keep going girl. And in the mean time, go for it on the DS quilt/pillow pattern!

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  3. AlexisFebruary 11, 2011 at 10:43 AM

    I loved that book when I checked it out of the library too! I want to get a copy for my quilting library. Your applique blocks look lovely. I would try tin foil under the terrarium. So pretty!

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  4. NancyFebruary 11, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    Hi Kelly, How do you prep your appliqué blocks. Are these blocks stitched or are they just prepped? Your fabric choices are some of my favorite.
    Nancy

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  5. RachaeldaisyFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    Thanks for sharing that excerpt with us. He's summed it up so wonderfully!! I'll have to check out that book. I've got a book from the library of antique quilts that I just keep borrowing, i really should buy it! i think the trick to keeping the fern and moss in a cake stand would be lots of misting, but not over watering because there's no drainage.Or have them in a low planter that just sits on the cake stand. I love your applique blocks!! I was tempted by the single girl but decided I had too many other projects, but it'll be fun watching everyone elses.

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  6. Ann ChampionFebruary 12, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    I love that book! It's one of my favorites.

    Your applique blocks are gorgeous.

    Moss grows in our yard here in the Summer. The key is humidity, so the dome would have to be kept on the cake plate I think? :)

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  7. Betty BlandFebruary 25, 2011 at 6:55 AM

    Beautiful quilts and wonderful inspiration! Boy I'm glad that Bonnie Hunter posted the link to your blog on her website!

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