Postcards from April and May
A visual journal of Spring
In April, I finished this scrappy log cabin quilt for my uncle. He’s been having a tough year, and I wanted to make him something that would remind him that he is loved.
My uncle and I have always shared an unspoken bond between us; we are both “the quiet ones” in the family. When I was little, he would often find me away from the rest of the family, and, neither of us speaking a word to each other, he would weave me a flower crown with clovers from the yard, or knit me a lariat necklace out of a stray piece of yarn in his pocket. I haven’t seem him in nearly 11 years, but later this week, I fly to Minnesota to deliver this quilt to him.
Spring has arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and aside from planting fistfuls of veggies, flowers, and ferns in my garden, the warm weather makes me wish I had more breezy summer dresses to wear. Every year I make a pledge to sew a voluminous caftan for the summer heat (like this one or this one), but inevitably I get distracted by my undying love for pants.
This year was no exception. In April, I sewed multiple pairs of Brier pants, the latest pattern from Daughter Judy (details here), and I have at least 3 more summer pants projects in my queue: the ubiquitous Pomona pants, a pair of wrap trousers, and perhaps some overalls for digging around in the ferns. The caftans will have to wait.
Earlier this month, my studiomate Candace and I took a ceramics inlay workshop from local artist Kelsey Ayala of Unit 65. I brought my encyclopedia of quilt blocks as a reference, and we enjoyed a few hours of quilting in a different medium. Fingers crossed these survive the kiln!
Candace and I also volunteered for the Moon of Bethlehem Community Quilt for Gaza, organized by Roberta Cummings. Quilters from around the world are making blocks that will be assembled into a quilt inspired by Palestinian Tatreez embroidery, then auctioned off via Makers4Palestine to benefit a Palestinian aid organization. Here is my block, right before we mailed it off to join up with its sisters:
This week, I’m visiting my mom in Washington, DC. She is a talented quilter and taught me how to sew over 30 years ago. I took her to see the Pattern and Paradox exhibit of Amish quilts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It’s a stunning exhibit, but the real highlight was seeing it with her. We stuck our noses as close to the quilts as the security guards would let us, trying to decipher how they were made. We were in good company as I noticed that every other group of visitors in the gallery were doing the same.
A personal highlight this month was seeing Northern Lights for the first time. I snapped this photo from Mt. Baker just south of the Canadian boarder last week. My husband challenged me to sew a quilt inspired by the colors and shapes we saw that evening. I have yet to accept the challenge, but I have always wanted to sew a translucent quilt, so perhaps this is a sign—quite literally—from the universe.
Until next time,
Stacey