it would be an understatement
to say how really proud I am
to have such a great team to participate in the BookBlog Tour
for
nevertheless
without further ado
let me introduce you to the lineup
01 March - Natalie Barnes + WELCOME
beyond the reef
www.beyondthereefpatterns.com
www.beyondthereefpatterns.com
WE HAVE AN UPDATE!
02 March - Victoria Findlay Wolfe + CONTRAST
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
www.bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com
03 March - Teri Lucas + COLOR
Generation Q Magazine
www.generationqmagazine.com
04 March - Julie Herman + COMPOSITION
Jaybird Quilts
www.jaybirdquilts.com
05 March - Jenny Wilding Cardon + COLOR
Martingale
www.blog.shopmartingale.com
06 March - Rose Hughes + COLOR
Rose Hughes
www.rosehughes.blogspot.com
07 March - Amy Smart + CONTRAST
Amy Smart
www.diaryofaquilter.com
08 March - Carolyn Friedlander + COLOR
Carolyn Friedlander
www.carolynfriedlander.com/blog/
09 March - Latifah Saafir + COMPOSITION
Latifah Saafir Studios
www.latifahsaafirstudios.com/blog/
10 March - Amy Ellis + CONTRAST
Amy's Creative Side
www.amyscreativeside.com/blog/
11 March - Angela Walters + COMPOSITION
Angela Walters/Quilting is my Therapy
www.quiltingismytherapy.com
each day, a friend will give a shout out to the book
A Modern Twist
and will speak a little, from their perspective, on one of the three main topics in the book
COLOR + CONTRAST + COMPOSITION
each day I will post my own introduction to the "quilter of the day"
each friend will ask you to leave a comment on their blog
the random number generator will select a comment on March 15
and I will send that person a copy of the book
signed by both myself and Angela Walters
who not only quilted the quilts in the book
but contributed a chapter
about
COLOR + CONTRAST + COMPOSITION in quilting!
let me just say one last thing
I firmly believe that we all stand together
in this community
called
quilting
I value what it is that each and every one
of these folks is doing in their own quilting life!!
while I am over the moon about having my very own book
I am equally delighted
to have this community of
open, sharing, positive, quilters
come together
here...
now.
it is, after all, THEIR blog....and I am honored
to be included!
so, I hope you will enjoy the next ten days
for now, please leave me a comment about the
most giving moment
you have experienced in your quilting life
for a chance to have a signed copy
of
A Modern Twist
it's Monday, and time to start your week off with
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
for now, please leave me a comment about the
most giving moment
you have experienced in your quilting life
for a chance to have a signed copy
of
A Modern Twist
it's Monday, and time to start your week off with
Victoria Findlay Wolfe
head on over to her post
for some of her own notes on Contrast
be.do.create
natalie.
50 comments:
At Christmas I make up baskets for the ladies who bind my quilts. Although I quilt their quilts for free and they bind for me I still love doing little gifts for them on special occasions.
It's always hard for me to choose "the best" or "the most". When I read your question I thought of the most recent experience I had that really touched my heart. When dear friends lost a twin pregnancy I was heartbroken. So much love already for those little babies. So I made two small "NICU quilts" and decided to take them to our local Ronald Mc Donald House, thinking there will be families there without quilts for their infants because the stay was unexpected. The RMH has a special place in our family because my sister stayed at one with my nieces when her infant daughter was struggling with a congenital heart defect, which eventually caused her death.
I went to the Ronald McDonald House on the anniversary of Beth Anne's death, carrying the two little quilts I made in honor of the twins, wishing I'd thought to take a picture of the quilts for the babies's mom & dad. And there, in front of the building, was the perfect spot: a statue of two small children sitting on a stone bench. I put a quilt across the lap of each statue child, took a picture, and then brought the quilts inside where a friendly guy in his early 20's was volunteering. I imagine there is a story there, too.
I'm working on the next batch of quilts to go to the RMH--bigger ones, this time, for teenagers who find themselves there because they have sick family members. Our family is experiencing a lot of loss right now and it's good to remind myself every time I sit down at the sewing machine that I'm not alone in this and that I can do something to ease the pain of others. Some people may think it's corny, but my grandmother taught me that is how to make the world a better place, one person at a time.
I was the recipient of the most amazing quilting giving when my original quilt teacher's brother asked her if she knew anyone who would appreciate the sewing machine he was looking to Give away. An amazing Viking that I could not have purchased for myself. I still get teary when I tell this story. My committment for being on the receiving end of such generousity is to make plenty of charity quilts with that baby. And I donated my third for the year at my guild meeting last week.
I love making quilts for kids' charities. I feel so much love and pleasure while making them and I hope the recipient feels the love too. Twice, my machine quilter gave her services for free which I did not ask for or expect. That was very special to me. carolann427@aol.com
The first quilty giving thing that came to mind was when my friend Jean & I talked to my Adult Ed quilt class about the Painted Turtle camp when it was under construction. The Painted Turtle is one of the Hole in the Wall Gang camps started by Paul Newman for kids with catastrophic illness. They can attend camp and enjoy all the camping activities without regard to their illness. My quilt teacher also talked about it to her other classes and in a few weeks time we had over 20 quilts to donate for their camper's cabin's beds. It was amazing.
My fist sharing moment was when i went in for my radiation and i took 10 skull caps in to the giving basket and a fella got excited about the purple skull cap i made...Made my hole day.....happyness04431@yahoo.com
After my mom died, I found an old quilt my grandmother made. The batting was all wonky, so none of my brothers or sisters wanted it. I took it home, replaced the batting and made a new backing and border so that I would not disturb the original work. It now sits on my guest bed and makes me feel connected to the generations of creative women who came before me.
Hi Natalie, Congratulations on your new book! The one thing that seems to bind (no pun intended!) us quilters together is the joy of giving a piece of ourselves, our creativity, our compassion and our love to others. They are not always in need, sometimes it is enough to just give. My proudest moment was when a mom of a preteen faced with cancer was so very moved by the quilt I made for her daughter, she became a quilter herself! She wanted to give back and spearheaded our "chemo cozy" quilt program. Our local quilters have now made thousands of chemo cozies! Not only did I touch her life and her daughter's life, but it snowballed into an amazing community effort of giving!!!! The creativity and friendships are as important as the "giving" itself.
Schorer.k@ gmail.com
My guild regularly makes quilts to donate to Victim's Services in the community. There is nothing better than the warm feeling that you get from being wrapped up in a handmade quilt. At the time of crisis, victims are in need of these types of hugs.
silverthimble@shaw.ca
I made a quilt for my son's best friend's mom when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The quilt now belongs to my son's friend, the daughter of the recipient of the quilt. Now I am making a quilt for the foster mom of my other son's 3 month old baby. When we receive custody of the baby in the next couple of months, I'll give her the quilt as a thank you for the wonderful care of our precious grandson.
I attended a 12-hour sewathon at a local quilt shop to make quilts for the local women's shelter. The group ended up making a total of 25 quilts to be donated. It was an awesome 12 hours.
When I worked at The Calico Horse one Christmas all of us that worked there decided to adopt a family rather than exchange Christmas gifts. A friend/shopper/quilter who worked at our local hospital knew of a single mom with a newborn in the NICU. We all contributed necessities including a quilt for the baby and mom and it was quietly given to the mom before Christmas. We put our first names on the card but not the shop, it wasn't about shop recognition but giving at Christmas. It was a great gift to give!
I can only think of a recent event that made me feel good about giving. I donated a quilt to a nursing home. I had already talked to the director, and she knew a woman who was very lonely and had no family to visit her. They were going to give the quilt to her. But when I walked into the building, another resident wanted to see the quilt and remarked how pretty it was and how she wanted one. I know this one was earmarked for another resident so I told her that I would make one just for her and asked what her favorite color was. She said red, and I had just made a red quilt the week before. I had no intention of donating that quilt, but I had no plans for it either. So the next day I came back with my red Hearts and Holsteins quilt and gave it to the lady, LaTanya was her name. She was so happy! She showed it off to everyone around her and seemed more proud to receive it than I was making it
That made me feel good to see her so happy
I love sharing my big 8' x 8' table with anyone who needs to pin baste a quilt.
We have a local group that makes pillow cases for kids with cancer. I had lent my serger out and it came back all messed up - unthreaded, missing needle. I tried to get it back in working order, unsuccessfully. A friend came over and spent a long time working with it and got it back up in running order. I sat down and had 3 new pillow cases made in minutes. So much faster than the french seams I'd sewn with the serger out of commission. My friend's generosity with her time and skill will be paid many times over with the pillow cases I'll be able to make and donate.
the most giving moment I had was when I made an autograph quilt from those people who attended my son and DIL's wedding. I enjoyed seeing their faces so much when they saw the quilt.
A group of us come together each month to sew quilts to raise funds for our local cancer support group - my way of giving back in thanks for the care my father received
I recently made a quilt for a young friend who has given of herself for about 8 years to others in China and Vietnam. She is most certainly a hero in my eyes.
The time I spend with my mom sharing our love of quilting and our love of each other. She is 83 and I value our time together.
Drhodes9@cox.net
Wow...where to start. i teach basic machine quilting pro bono for my guild, I make donation quilts for the guild as well, and then of course there are the gift quilts...what occasion doesn't call for a quilt? For example I have a friend whom is going through a terrible cancer right now and surprised her with a gift of a quilt. The note she sent back made my day...i only hope the quilt can somehow brighten all those difficult cancer treatment days for her.
A friend's sister was struggling with MS and the prognosis was not good. My friend asked me to make some hearts to cheer her sister up. I made several small embellished stuffed Heart ornaments. I called them "Hope Hearts" as the embellishments included words of encouragement. This small act of kindness gave her sister joy and comfort before she passed away.
Making kid comforts quilts.
My most recent giving moment which brought me joy was giving a "Sindy Rodenmeyer" inspired quilt I had made to a dear friend on her 84th birthday. She had just survived a life-threatening bout with this year's flu and I wanted to surprise her with a lap quilt which was both colorful and meaningful and a birthday gift. It involved heart-shaped chickens and abundant scraps left over from a Riley Blake project I had just finished. She lives 4 hours away and we talk every day and she always mentions "her" quilt. I an glad I could tickle her heart!
My Mom passed away from ALS a few years ago and as I was cleaning up her craft room, I came across several unfinished quilt tops. After talking to my Dad, we decided that he would get them professionally quilted from a friend who had a with a long arm machine. I picked out suitable backing and binding fabrics and batting and she went to work. We were able to create another 4-5 quilts all made by Mom after her passing and now my Dad has that many more to share with friends and family.
Ok-maybe this isn't very dramatic, but it was certainly a challenge for me. I sat a whole weekend with "that person" who is pain in the neck, too loud, too self centered. People quietly asked me if I was coping okay with her. You know what, at the end of the weekend, I actually cared about this person and overlooked her quirks. Everyone has value.
A few years ago I donated a quilt to a charity auction. The woman that had the highest bid sent me a thoughtful note thanking me for donating and also later called me to thank me again. It was wonderful to know that a donation could be so appreciated! Even though I don't always receive such a great response, it reminded me that someone somewhere is loving a quilt that I may have donated to a good cause.
As anyone can imagine, I was totally stunned when I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Even more stunned to discover that I have a genetic mutation that predisposes me to other cancers. Faced with big decisions and needing to find someone who might have some experience with what I was facing, and at the urging of friends who volunteered with the American Cancer Assoc, I stopped by a local office seeking support, solace, answers. As soon as I walked in, the woman working that day began finding scarves and hats and wigs and brochures and phone numbers - all the while offering verbal reassurance. I was there quite awhile trying on various wigs and such and had just turned to leave when she stopped me. "Oh! Would you like this, too? It's the last one we have." And she placed a lovely blue and yellow lap quilt in my hands. It had been made and donated by a local quilting guild. As a quilter I knew how much time and work and care went into the making of the quilt. And I was overcome to the point of tears at the generosity of someone giving something so precious to someone they don't even know. It's been a long winter, but that quilt has kept me warm on many long and dreary and troublesome days. Thank you quilters everywhere who give so generously.
I had made a feather quilt and brought it with me to show it off to my daughter. My granddaughter who wasn't yet two just appropriated it for herself. I was so happy that something I made had resonated with another person. Even though I hadn't planned on gifting, I gladly handed off the quilt.
anndunn24(at)gmail.com
I have been part of a group that made "fidget" quilts for dementia patients at local nursing homes. I got to give back after my mom had received one when she was in care.
I had the opportunity to make a quilt for a friend in the last stages of cancer. His wife recently told me what comfort he got and she still gets from that quilt
I have made lots of quilts as gifts for family or for friends for special occasions, and they have all been appreciated. Just recently, though, I made a voile and velveteen quilt for a dear work friend who was recently diagnosed with a rare but manageable autoimmune disease. It causes her periods of pain and general ill feeling. I wanted her to have something to wrap up in that feels like a soft, warm hug as she had a particularly hard year last year. She was so surprised and happy, saying no one had ever done anything like that for her before. I was so happy to have done something to make such a difference for her.
As an elementary teacher (retired 4 years now), I promoted books and reading into all my lessons. As a quilter I was excited when a friend told me about Storybook Quilts. Together she and I spearheaded a project for our guild where we made quilts to complement books. They were wonderful and teachers and schools could 'check' them out from us and use them in the classroom. The children loved them and truly enjoyed the lessons that were derived from these lovely books and quilts.
I had the honor and challenge of sewing together tshirts, pieces of clothing and squares of muslin with loving messages on them for the family who lost their teenage son because of diabetes. It took awhile to combine all these different elements but I was blessed when I saw how much it meant to this family and how it is still cherished.
We have a little home away from home down the Jersey shore which is almost a 2 hour drive for us. This past summer I made it my mission to crochet a baby afghan during each weekend drive ('course my hubby drives while I crochet!). It was such a good feeling to turn over all those afghans to our church to present to those in need. I know they weren't quilted, but I don't have much time to actually finish very many quilts. Thanks so much for the chance to win :)
Debby E
samtaylorcjsmimi (at) yahoo (dot) com
My most memorable and heart breaking quilt giving came from the heart. A dear family friend's baby passed away and I made a quilt for the grieving young parents and presented it to them at the burial in the snow. It comforted them on their way home.
I had inherited several quilt tops of my grandmother's that I hand quilted. I now have several quilt tops of my mother's that I also inherited when she passed away. Looking at these tops and deciding which one to start with and how to quilt it brings back all the memories of the wonderful tradition passed to me by these two wonderful women and what an influence them and the art of quilting has had on my life. I think of the earliest memory of learning to sew blocks together on a treadle sewing machine to now teaching my grandchildren how to cut and sew blocks together. I often wonder what influence quilting will have in their lives and the memories they will have in their futures.
I make bears from clothing of a deceased relative/friend for a cherished memory keepsake.
I taught a Beginning Quilt class for several years and it was the excitement and the proud moment for the women to finish a quilt project for the first time. They always amazed me and themselves and many have become prolific quilters.
I enjoyed giving my son a quilt when he was young and now am even more pleased that 40+ years later he is still using the quilt!
nicolesender(at)outlook(dot)com
Our county has a Baby Pantry for young mothers who are struggling. My favorite thing to do is make warm cozy baby blankets to be given away. It warms my heart to imagine those little babies all snug in a quilt, held in their mother's arms.
A few years ago, when life wasn't going well, I was the recipient of a quilt made from the block patterns I had designed or chosen for Block Lotto.com by members of that community.
the most giving moment - to my 83 year old mother who already has the quilted jacket, wallhanging, tote etc and declared she wanted nothing for christmas. I sent her 25 quilted cards - one for each day of the holiday season.
I used to manage a quilt shop. One day a new customer came in with a tiny swatch of fabric, semi-desperately looking for just 'a little bit' more so she could finish the project.
I knew that the fabric was soooooo last season ;-) Actually, it was probably 5 or 6 or 7 seasons ago. Of course my shop didn't carry it, but I recognized it as one I thought I still had. (Now, don't tell me you don't have 5 or 6 or 7-year-old fabric in your stash!)
When I was a home, digging through the stash for the fabric, my husband asked what I was looking for. After I'd explained the situation he said, "Well, of course you would [do that]. If you didn't try to help a quilter in need, especially if they're trying to finish a project, you wouldn't be a real quilter. I don't know if they're written down anywhere, but I think there are rules about that."
This from the man who still doesn't quite understand why I cut up perfectly good fabric to sew it back together again. But it made me realize that he saw generosity as a universal trait of a "real" quilter.
I recently donated a quilt to the local nursing home. While I was there a resident said she wanted the quilt (but it was earmarked for another resident). So I offered to make one just for her. It turned out that her favorite color was red and I had finished a red quilt that I had no idea what to do with it. So I told her that I would be back the next day. She was so happy when I came back the next day with a large red quilt in hand. She showed it off to all the nurses and the other residents :)
A local woman's group decided to have healing quilts at the infusion area for cancer patients at our local hospital. They put out a call for small 30 inch quilts - a friend with cancer asked me to do one. It was the best thing I have ever done although I am sure I could improve on my quilting but the feedback and involvement were worth a million.
The most giving moment I experienced in my quilting life actually happened last week. My daughter's family (including my 3 precious grandchildren) left for North Carolina - 1200 miles away. I have been extremely heartbroken. Although my daughter doesn't have a lot of money and needs the clothes for her children, she left me with bags of their clothes to make a memory quilt. I make them for my customers and she thought I might like one for myself. (She does not sew/quilt!). I know they cannot afford to replace these clothes and it was the most loving and touching thing she could have done for me. Little does she know the leftovers I have will be made in to quilts for them!
This sounds like a very helpful book to add to a beginners library.
I will always remember, when I had only been quilting for about a year. I made a quilt for my mother and gave it to her about 6 weeks before she passed away from cancer. She loved the quilt and I loved the fact that I finished it in time to give it to her.
For me, it would have to be when I gave my great grandmother (also a quilter) a lap quilt for her 102nd birthday. It was my first quilt and she was so proud to show it off at the nursing home.
Thank you so much - all of you - for sharing your good deeds and lovely heartwarming stories! This giveaway is now closed. Beth is our first book recipient - and because there were just too many great stories to be told, 49 comments, wow!! I have decided to have the random number generator select a second book recipient - - congratulations also to christinabean! Now I am off to email you both....
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