More about Sue

I did my last posting about the Sunbonnet Sue blocks and then sent the link to it to Deb Rowden, telling her I'd love it if she or someone she knows would like to have these blocks.

Here's her reply:

Lawrence, Kansas is no place to send Sunbonnet Sue blocks! We do terrible
things to them (see this blog entry:
http://debrowden.blogspot.com/2011/03/sue-makes-appearance.html

send them only if you dare!
deb

So here's where you find out what a sick sense of humor I have, in case you hadn't already guessed. I hit the link and before I knew it, I was laughing so loud the neighbors probably thought I had finally lost my last marbles. In her posting is another link to a quilt index. I went there and laughed more...and more...until my sides ached. Truth be known, I find Sunbonnet Sue annoying, at best, so to discover someone else shared my feelings and took it to a next level really made this day!

Thanks to Deb for letting me share her posting and this photo, which I copied from her blog without asking.

I think my Sunbonnet Sue blocks are now headed for the chopping blocks...or is it cutting boards...LOL... of some of those wickedly talented quilters in Lawrence, Kansas.

Preserving little pieces of our histories

About ten years ago, I worked part time in the little mercantile in Arroyo Seco. I "rescued" some old, hand pieced, quilt tops, along with many hand pieced blocks that had never been assembled into a quilt. I'm guessing, from the fabrics, that most of them are from the 30s and 40s.

One of the tops I rescued had been pieced onto papers from the Daily Oklahoman (1942). I didn't realize it until I got it home and unfolded it...it had just been in a small wad, shoved in a shelf, and I knew it needed to be taken home. All these years later, I have finally found the perfect home for it...and sent it to Deb Rowden, in Kansas, whose blog I've followed most of this past year. I couldn't be more delighted.

What's next? I have a set of 22 of these hand made Sunbonnet Sue blocks. Judging from the fabric, they may be the same era. I am going to find a perfect home for them, as well...and keep these historical items in the hands of those who appreciate them.

I had to laugh this week when I saw that Cathy at Orange Sink was musing about what to do with some blocks that are so similar, they might have come from the same maker. I guess it's spring cleaning time, for sure!

Stopping to smell the flowers

Somehow these last three weeks here in California have not given me enough good quality time with my grandson. A couple of days ago, we walked around our neighborhood. There are so many flowers blooming at this time of year that it's hard to go far without the scent of flowers in the air. The colors are wild and wonderful. We love stopping to discuss plant names, colors, and bugs. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to view all these things with fresh eyes...those of a child.

A great read

Everyone couple of years, I remember how much I love listening to unabridged audio books while I do my hand work. This week it was "The Help"...a best seller by Kathryn Stockett (Penguin Audio). It's been out at least a couple of years, so perhaps you've already read it.

One of the last of the Oprah shows was one celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Riders and their efforts to break the back of segregation. Her studio was filled with as many of those brave people as she could locate. There were many first hand accounts of their actions, along with old videos and a discussion of how those protestors were well schooled in non-violence before embarking on this journey. One young black man, who had escaped a burning bus, had been severely beaten by a white man. Oprah's show actually reunited these men, and gave the attacker a chance to apologize. It was a powerful hour. While I lived through this time period, I admit to being a very self-absorbed teenager, and because matters of world news were never discussed in our household (not much of anything was), my knowledge of these events comes from things I've seen or read. Once again, I was blown away by the ugliness of prejudice.

Fast forward to this week...if you haven't read it, "The Help" is a fictional slice of life as a black domestic in Jackson, Mississippi during the sixties. I didn't grow up in the south, nor were we a family of the means to even consider hired "help"...so this book was not only an eye opener for me about life with household help, it was yet another indictment of how people could treat each other, in the worst sorts of ways, through the veil of prejudice and ignorance. It was also uplifting, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. The movie is going to be released on August 12, and after seeing the trailers on line, it looks like they've done a good job with it (although I almost always prefer a book to the movie). If you haven't read the book...I highly recommend it. In fact, the readers on this audio (which is 15 CDs) were so perfect, it's even hard for me to imagine having read it in print, something I would rarely say.

What do 15 CDs equal in terms of handwork? Lots of hand quilting on my blue and white quilt, and a decent start on this Karen Kahle pattern called "Sentimental". It was a great break from the reality of everyday life; and now, to find my next "read".

Productive weekend

Except for a quick trip to Los Angeles yesterday, I've been holed up here in the house having a blast.

Inspired by a quilt I saw on someone's blog, I picked through my stash of 30s-40s reproduction fabrics and selected colors to start a quilt for Maddy Rose, our new grandbaby. Talk about easy...I cut a selection of 10" blocks and laid them out in a checkerboard fashion on the rug (I don't have room for a design wall). Then I cut and sewed on little blocks of different colors, leaving 1/4"-3/8" raw edges, so once the quilt is finished and washed, all those edges will fray out and look old and well loved. At least...I hope they will. If this project is a big bomb, at least I had fun doing it. I finished the top in only two days and hope to get its back made and have it all put together by the end of the week.

Thursday brought the UPS man, and my new hooking frame. I think I mentioned the other day that I missed my hooking out here in CA on my last trips, so now I'm set up to hook here. I have a linen pattern ready to start this week, and wool and my wonderful Bolivar cutter, which will have to travel back and forth with me because it's too expensive to buy a second one. I found this frame on Etsy, although I think the makers primarily sell from their own website. I'm really pleased because it can adjust to be tall enough for me (I'm 5'10" these days) and the top can tilt so I don't have to hover directly over it, which kills my neck.

Last, but not least...before I left Taos, I saw a blog posting about someone making a "toothbrush" rug. I immediately looked it up and decided I'd love to learn to do that. I ordered the instruction booklet and the tool, but for the life of me, couldn't figure how to do it from the booklet (I learn better by watching someone). So...off to YouTube I went, to search for videos to help. Along the way, I found a couple of good videos about crocheting rugs from rags...much easier for me, since I love to crochet...so now I've been madly ripping up some of that fabric I've dragged around for too many years and am making a rug with it.

I just wish I was this passionate about exercising. Hopefully I'll get inspired this week...you know... new month, new plan, new diet for summer...ha ha ha...

Hope you've all had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend!

A recipe for perfect day

Ingredients:

• one great friend
• perfect weather
• great lunch

Procedure:

Meet your friend, go for a walk along the boardwalk, have lunch at a fun diner. Season with great conversation, laugh a lot, and keep counting your lucky stars you get to have this life. It's a guaranteed success.

PS: If you get lucky, you might meet a local like we did today.

"The woman on the path"

Some of you will already know this is the name of this mat pattern, purchased a couple of years ago from Deanne Fitzpatrick.

I just loved working on this piece; it gave me lots of time to think about the women in my family and in particular, my mom. While we didn't live in the Maritimes, she adored the Pacific ocean and it was her greatest joy to be able to live there the last years of her life. I remember when head scarves were always worn...whether to protect one's "do", keep warm, or cover up those ghastly curlers once common in most of our bathrooms.

Seems the older I get, the more I see one or both of my parents in myself. Today it is my mom, anxious to return to the beach and see the grandchildren. And now...off to pack so I can get back on my own path tomorrow.