Tag Archives: quilting

Quilting

Why would anyone in their right mind cut perfectly good fabric into a million pieces and then sew them back together again.  Think of the waste!  Our pioneer foremothers  would probably roll over in their graves at the thought.

Well, that was downright rude, I realize.  I’ve recently been instagraming with Luke Haynes.  He is an amazing artist and quilter.  I’ve enjoyed Joe Cunningham’s articles and quilts in magazines for years.  Ricky Tims is an accomplished quilter and magazine owner, writes articles and…..his Dad is a quilter.  Men are huge in quilting.

I’ve seen a lot of quilts in museums made from the usable parts from worn out pants, dresses and shirts…..even from military uniforms made of wool.  Some are beautiful works of art and others are obviously inventions of necessity.   Some are sewn by machine and others are sewn by hand.  The stories that accompany many of these quilts are fascinating.

I was inspired by several magazine articles about Anna Williams.  She lives in Baton Rouge.  She and her quilter friends have developed their own art in the form of scrap quilts.  When I read about how they sewed strips of fabric together and then took their scissors and cut through them…..it seemed so reckless, I just had to try it.  What freedom!  No worries about matching seams or corners.  No worries about planning out the whole quilt before construction begins.  Just the adventure of seeing how the whole thing will evolve.

The two pictures are small sections of the larger quilt.

AW quilt 001

If you’re a quilter with a ton of scraps, this is a great way to make use of them.  It made me feel so thrifty!

 

 

Why Keep All The Books?

I’m a book collector.  Every room in my house has a bookcase with no more room on the shelves.

Book collector sounds serious.  It’s not like that.  I’m not talking first editions, just areas of interest.  The books I’m reading are stacked on end tables, night stands and desks.  The ones I love after reading go on a shelf.  The ones I don’t go to the Salvation Army or Amazon for resale.

I can look at my books and recreate my life.  When my kids were babies, I was into parenting and health books, cake decorating and gingerbread house making.  Cookbooks are a huge section.  They include my idols:  Paul Bocuse, Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Pollan, and Jacques Pepin.

The art and quilting section, the religion and alchemy section and the novel section have all become a reference library.  They’ve passed their active studying phase and are now waiting for the occasional use.  Then, there are the “how tos”.  How to make wine, cheese, kefir, yogurt, sour dough and canning are subjects everyone is passionate about.  Right?

In the past,  if I had a question, I went to the shelves.  Today, I google.  It’s so immediate.  So the question:  why keep all the books?  The last time we moved, I got rid of stacks of books including two sets of encyclopedias.  It’s not like I’m not trying to thin the herd.

The thing is that I use them.  I love holding them in my hands, turning the pages, even smelling them.  I love paper.  I love ink.  I love the fact that like anything you’re passionate about, you can lose yourself in a book.  Your imagination is sparked by reading a book.   Your life is enriched just by reading a book.

“Books can be dangerous.  The best ones should be labeled “This could change your life.”–Helen Exley