Inspiration for Vintage Linens

One of the quilt guild ladies coordinated a class where we could learn about using our vintage linens in new ways. An instructor was invited from "the west side" who has created some beautiful patterns and made samples up to show. She also taught us how to select and choose vintage linens for projects. Here are some of her beautiful creations.

Do they inspire you? I hope so. I love her work and how she combines colors, textures, and fibers. The meld of old with new has such charm!

BOM's for Charity

BOM's for Charity is a project that our quilt guild has been working on over the past year. We meet monthly to sew and quilt. Karleen and I coordinated a monthly "block of the month" project, giving instructions for a different designed block for each month of the year. Guild members stitched two of each block; one to keep and one to donate for charity quilts. Some had so much fun sewing them that they stitched more than their assigned "one". 

At the end of the year we had a drawing for project participants. The winner won a gift basket that we filled with homemade items, gadgets, pretty things, and quilters tools.

We had enough blocks for 12-plus quilts. But, of course all those blocks needed to be stitched together into quilt tops and then quilted and bound. The group decided that we should meet for an extra sewing day each month and dedicate that day to working on our charity quilts.

It has been so much fun! We start bright and early. There's a lot of chatting happening as we sew. The production line plan has worked well. We break for sack lunches and ice cream, and then get right back to work.

Each quilt will be large enough for a double-sized bed. And everything is made from scraps donated by guild members. Thus, each quilt is different and has a characteristic all its own.

Here's an example of one quilt top that's made up of some of the "extra" blocks. I think this one is my favorite!

And this is an example of a BOM or "block of the month" quilt that represents each month of the year. This shows what the other 10-plus look like.

The quilts will be given to individuals in our community who are ill, homeless, or victims of a house fire. The guild members are generous and give freely from their hearts. I am most blessed to know them!

The Teapot Quilt Hop

It was a beautiful, sunny day! After days of torrential rain, it was wonderful to see blue skies. Karleen invited me to drive to take a day trip with her to a lovely town in the midst of wheat and wine country. She was running a simple errand; taking a quilt to a shop for machine quilting. She asked if I would like to ride along, and of course that meant the teapot too.

Karleen's quilt is vibrant and colorful! Blue, yellow, pink, and green create a kaleidoscope effect in fabric.

There was a Sunbonnet Sue quilt on the quilting machine, but they spread Karleen's quilt on the edge where it perched all pretty-like. There it was measured and much figuring was done.

It took awhile to figure out which pantograph design to use for the quilting. The little traveling teapot was stuck in a bag, just waiting for permission to peek out and see all the action.

Finally the time was right and the teapot made her appearance. She posed so beautifully on that colorful quilt. And she waited patiently while the ladies went through a bin of thread colors as they tried to find just the right thread for the machine quilting that would stitch the fabric sandwiching the cotton batting.

A choice was made and it was time to move along.  We decided to go to lunch, but discovered another little quilt shop along the way. Of course we dropped in!

The traveling teapot was dutifully introduced and a student learning to sew quilts perked up her ears and said "I'm a tea lady" and gave a happy smile. Her name is Elizabeth and she has a collection of more than 100 teacups. She shared about a recent afternoon tea that she enjoyed in the Bahamas and talked about how much she enjoyed tea at The Empress Hotel in Victoria as well. She was so much fun to talk to!

The shop owner joined right in, telling about a wonderful tea event she attended in Indonesia. She loved the tea and the sugar cubes they served with the tea so much that she stocked up and brought packages of it home with her. It's amazing how "tea" influences so many and how the little plum teapot becomes the impetus for sharing and discovery of common bonds.

Eventually we arrived at our lunch destination. Amber, immediately after being presented with the traveling teapot, offered to take the teapot to the kitchen and fill it with tea for us.

She was quite interested that the house teapots were exactly the same as the traveling teapot except smaller in size. She brought one out to pose with our little plum teapot.

After lunch and tea...

 ...we decided to hit one last quilt shop before heading home.

This shop was a busy place with all the latest trends in fabrics and patterns. After introduction, the plum teapot was given permission to pose wherever she wanted. She was very serious about her task as ambassador of tea.

While the shop keepers worked...

...and serious quilters sewed

...the little plum teapot was finding places to perch and preen. 

Eventually the plum teapot found her comfort zone on a stack of Moda charm packs and next to a delightful quilt design book called "Tea Party". Quite appropriate, don't you think?

It was such a relaxing day. Textiles provide beautiful colors and amazing textures. They inspire and help one create so many pretty things. The little plum teapot enjoyed serving tea and listening to conversation all along the way. Teapot decided that going on a quilt hop made for an interesting day.

Quilt Guild & Teapot

This month I am hosting the traveling teapot, a project where like-minded women  host a teapot for a month and share of its adventures. The traveling teapot has been on the road for fourteen months now. So many have blogged about the teapots adventures. I invite you to meander over to that blog today and catch up on some of the interesting things the teapot has been doing. Below is the post I wrote for the Traveling Teapot blog today.

The little plum teapot went to Sassy Quilters guild meeting at the Grange Hall today. It was a busy sewing day, and the teapot did a good job as ambassador of tea.

The guild makes dozens of quilts for charity and gives them away to people in the community who are facing illness or who've experienced loss by fire. The guild recently gave four quilts to members of a family whose house burned down. Realizing that the quilt reserves were low, it was decided that we'd concentrate on building up the stash again. Someone had donated batik fabric to the guild, so it was decided to use it to make charity quilts.

The process is interesting, as these are truly scrappy quilts. Complementary prints were paired and stitched into 4-squares. Then, they were laid out on the floor and the ladies designed on the fly! Two queen-size quilt tops were completed in this fashion today.

Someone had also donated Sunbonnet Sue quilt blocks to the guild and Louise took them home last month. She brought them back today, stitched into two pretty baby quilts. They will go into the donor stash for charity.

And the Quilt of the Month blocks are steadily increasing as well. This month fifteen were added to the stash. So far we have enough for six charity quilts and we are only half-way through the year. By the end of December we are hoping for enough blocks to make a dozen or more charity quilts. Each month guild members are given a pattern for that months block. It is always fun and interesting to see what color and pattern combinations they create. Each seems to express the personality of each individual so well.

Lunchtime is always potluck. Today's theme was salads and the traveling teapot's story was told around the luncheon table. The tea today was Darjeeling.

I captured Beulah going through line. She is the gracious hostess of each month's business meeting where she always has snacks for the group. She also makes delicious cinnamon chip scones for each month's sewing day and potluck luncheon. Everyone loves her tradition!

Today they went so well with tea!

The little plum teapot today served a group of ladies who have inculcated altruism and exhibit it so well. They have learned that it really is more blessed to give than to receive. I'm so glad the teapot was able to serve them today.

Common Threads

When women create...they are tied together by common threads. Threads of friendship, service, and community. Threads of proximity, mutual interest, and appreciation for the materials from which they create. 

Our "show and tell" at this month's quilt guild meeting included many beautiful quilts. Mary's quilt was stunning! She's the one on the right. Her quilt's a Thimbleberry design and is called "A Quilter's Garden". It was my favorite.  Although she only brought one to show to the group, she's made another quilt just like it. She pieced two, one for her and one for a friend. Her friend quilted both. And now they each have one of these beautiful quilts. That's a cooperative friendship!

In the meantime...

Karleen and I are coordinating the creation of blocks for charity quilts from our guild. Each month, each guild member makes a block from an assigned pattern. The selected design is another one by Thimbleberry called "Month by Month". It consists of twelve blocks, one for each month of the year. Guild member have generously jumped right into participation! So far we've gathered quilt blocks for January through April and more than forty blocks have been turned in! At this point we have enough blocks for four full-size quilts. We hope to have twelve or more charity quilts ready to give away to individuals in our community by the end of the year.

I love April's block. The tulips remind me of all the pretty tulip pictures I've been seeing around blogland from tulips fields in Washington, Oregon, and Michigan. They've been stunning!

And for May, a sweet basket that's just ready to be filled with May flowers. It really does feel good to work on a project communally with other women. When women create, friendships deepen and generosity is shared. Common threads.