A brief recess to remember a wonderful soul

In addition to the extra time I've lately devoted to my new job, we were called to New Jersey on Labor Day weekend because of the sudden illness and then death of Jim's wonderful younger brother, Scott.  That's Anna, above, with her Uncle Scott  in 1989 when we all gathered to see Jim's Dad receive an honorary degree from Seton Hall Law School.  Scott was a librarian, so he and Peanuts and I had lots in common.  He began as a school librarian and then rose to be in charge of several law libraries for a large law firm.  He loved Harry Potter and mysteries, so we shared lots of good talks about books.  His nieces and nephews were devastated by his passing as were all of us in his family.  He will be greatly missed and sadly mourned.  Thanks for visiting the blog.  More posts when time allows.

Quilted Librarian has a new library

I know it's been almost a month and I haven't even posted my Chicago pictures yet, but it's been some wild ride lately.  I am now happily ensconced at a new school.  This one is elementary, so I am going back to the little folks and I'm loving it.  When things settle down a bit, I will catch you up.  For now, here are some views of my sweet little library and some of the new plants and tea set planters that I've added.

"Steppdecke für Katz"

I know I promised, but the Christmas elf made me do it.  I never know what to get my mother and it occurred to me that she's always cold now, so a nice lap quilt might be in order. Our family heritage is German and as a youngster, Mom was called Katz--short for Kathleen.  Steppdecke is the German word for quilt , so this is the quilt for Katz.

This is the fabric pull.  The fleece for the back is in the foreground of the photo and was the color inspiration for the rings.

The final nine pieces are being fussy cut here.  My mother loves roses, so I pulled several fabrics with large rose designs.  You can see the turquoise tone on tone fabric that I'm using for the background of the rings.

The bias binding is all made, too.

The fabric plot is finished and the first quarter of a ring is laid out.

This is the second quarter of the ring.  I always try to include large and small scale designs as well as a mix of florals and abstract designs.  I want your eye to move around the rings when you look at the quilt.

The first ring is finished.  It's so bright compared with my woobie, but I'm liking it.

Speaking of my woobie, it's in the hoop and I'm hand quilting it in the living room.

Update: August 8, 2011

Three rings finished.

"Each Pink Triangle Has His Own Story"

Rudolf Brazda, the last survivor of the so-called "Pink Triangles," men who were interned in concentration camps by the Nazis because they were homosexual, died this week at 98.  It is so important that we remember all of those affected by the Holocaust, so I thought this would be a good time to share some photographs of an old quilt of mine titled "Each Pink Triangle Has His Own Story."

Made in 1994, it was inspired by a dear friend of mine who had learned he was HIV positive.  He was a long-term survivor, but we lost him in 2004.  I chose the pink triangle as the primary symbol because it was being used then and now by ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an organization devoted to educating people about AIDS.  The playwright, Larry Kramer and the artist, Keith Haring are two of its more illustrious members.

Because the aim of the Nazi system of labeling people was to remove their individuality, I decided I wanted to make a large pink triangle composed of lots of little individual ones. The equilateral triangle is very cooperative in that way.

I used lots of non-traditional quilt fabrics like brocades, lamé, satins, and suit knits, along with the cotton fabrics.  Some fabulous fabrics were essential.

This is the label on the back.  I chose the title because a gay man's story is the unique narrative of his life journey and is something he shares with his friends and family.

Making curtains

Anna recently painted her office which was an odd purple color and she asked me to make some new curtains to go with the new soft blue color.  I went to Hancock's last week and scored this gorgeous Kaufman decorator fabric that was regularly $40.00 a yard for $4.00 a yard.  She has two windows side by side and wants short, café style curtains.  The panels are all sewn together (I usually make the curtain about two and a half times as wide as the window.) and I've made 400 inches of single bias to finish the edges.

Like the curtain I made for my studio, Anna's will be lined.  They wear much longer and have a more substantial look if they are lined.

This is a detail showing the bottom edge finished with bias and a little look at the lining.

Anna's curtains will be more in the style of the one I made for the kitchen window that faces the front yard.  She's like me and likes lots of light to come in the windows.

The binding is sewn to the front side and then brought around to the back to be hand sewn to the lining.

This is the first line of sewing to create the channel for the curtain rod.

I taped the Ruby Beholder to the machine to mark one and a half inches from the needle.

The first panel is all finished.  I'm off to Safety Pin Studio to finish the second one.

Basting when it's beastly

This is the back of my woobie quilt that I pieced this morning.  (In the background you can see the roll of gorgeous Kaufman decorator fabric I scored at Hancocks.  I'm making some café curtains for Anna's office.  More on these in a later post.)

The big table on the screened porch is great for basting large quilts, so even though it's supposed to be 98 degrees today, I'm anxious to get started.  Thread basting takes a lot longer than pin basting, but with a quilt this large, thread basting is a must. I can work for about 20 or 30 minutes, then I have to go inside to cool off and drink gallons of water. And, yes, it is hot enough for me.

The upholstery needle doesn't show up in this picture, but that's what I use.  I'm planning to do the quilting pattern that Denyse Schmidt designed for the Single Girl pattern.  I got a thread that is in the same color family as the little dots on the background fabric--a sort of brown gold.

Camp Fisher: Missing its younger campers

When our children visited recently, I gave everyone one of these t-shirts.  They come from a great little company called Inkpixi.  We all have Fisher University shirts from them as well.  It characterized this visit-- relaxing, easy-going, family fun.  Right now, we older campers are really missing the younger ones. Craft fun is still going on in Safety Pin studio, however.

My birthday pennants have now taken up residence in the studio to keep me company. I couldn't put them away yet.

My "Single Girl"(design by Denyse Schmidt) woobie is all pieced and I will try to brave the heat to baste it on the screened porch tomorrow.  

Still hot...still cooking

Well, it's still hot, so I'm still cooking.  We had this wonderful savory summer pie when we were last with our great friends, the Penlands.  I've had all the ingredients in the pantry for weeks, but when we got such fantastic German Johnson tomatoes at the Farmers' Market, I took the plunge and made it for our lunch yesterday.  The recipe is from this month's issue of Our State magazine and they kindly shared it online.

The only thing I did that was different from the recipe was to use Pepper Jack cheese because that's what our friend Noni did when she made it.  Yummy! if I do say so myself.

Where I Sew

Just read a post from Nova who blogs at a Cuppa and a Catch up, and I got in on Pink Chalk Studio's  Where I Sew virtual tour. (Nova was one of the organizers of the Single Girl Quilt Along.)  It's a great chance to see the work spaces of other quilters.  My link will take you to a virtual tour of Safety Pin Studio.
With the temperatures still hovering at or above the century mark, I've spent lots of time in the studio the last few days. Thanks to Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Studio for the great idea.

Beating the heat by staying indoors

The forecast calls for 99 degrees that feels like over 100 here in the Piedmont today.  It's been one of those weeks when you thank your lucky stars you have AC.  While we got lots of porch-sitting in while Anna and Dan were here, I've been holed up indoors today... cooking!

First, I put a turkey carcass on to make stock.  I use Julia Child's basic stock recipe for fowl.  It smells heavenly and will probably become turkey soup with brown rice later.

Next, I put some red potatoes on the boil for potato salad to go with our Reubens at dinner.  Jim loves potato salad made using the Fannie Farmer recipe.  The panini press that Jim got me for my birthday is terrific and we made panini several times while Anna was here.  It also means we don't have to heat up the oven and thus the kitchen.

To those of you who are also experiencing this heat,  stay cool, and drink plenty of water.

Dana's new woobie: yet another Single Girl quilt

I know what you're thinking: When is she going to move on, already?  There is something very seductive about this Single Girl pattern that I'm finding hard to let go of, but I promise I am going to make other quilts.  The fabrics I chose for this quilt will go with the one I made for Jim.  There are even some repeats.  Fabrics from Anna's wedding quilt are also included.  Above is the first quarter of the ring. It's got a Liberty print and a great conversational fabric with pens and calligraphy on it.

This is the second quarter. Note the owl fabric.

Here's the third quarter.  It's got the Big Ben fabric and several fabrics from Anna's wedding quilt.

Now the final quarter which features a Paula Nadelstern fabric, fish fabric, and the background fabric from Jim's woobie quilt.

The first ring is completed.  I love using batiks for the background fabric because of the variance in color.  It makes such great visual texture.  No more now until it's all done, I promise.

Back in the saddle...er, studio...again

Jim and I had a wonderful visit with Dan and Anna, highlighted by a trip to the International Civil Rights Museum and watching the last (sigh) Harry Potter film together.  We cooked together, watched movies, sat and read on the porch (thanks to a break in the weather), played Sporcle on the computer, put puzzles together, and talked and talked.  It was beyond wonderful.

I cannot say enough good things about the International Civil Rights Museum--the exhibits are state-of-the-art, but at the the same time, actually walking into the Woolworth's lunch counter where the sit-in took place transports one back to the 1960's in a segregated country.  If you are anywhere nearby, you need to come and visit.

Millions of words have already been written about the Harry Potter films, but just let me say that I think this series of movies is a very special achievement.  They certainly don't replace the books, but they definitely captured the world that Jo Rowling  so lovingly created.  I'm happy that I will always have the books and the films to draw me back into that world.

Now that things are quiet again, I'm back to the studio to work on my woobie quilt and, hopefully, finish the Brownies quilt. Happy July to ya'll from the hot and steamy Piedmont.

A new sofa cushion cover

The sofa on the screened porch finally has a proper foam cushion and that cushion now has a cover.  Using a combination of a sale and a great coupon, I was able to get the foam for about half price--a huge help.  I found some decorator fabric at Hancock's that was a very close match to the pillows I'd already made, so I was ready to go.

With the fabric doubled and wrong sides out, I drew around the foam for the top and bottom pieces.

The side piece was cut and seamed so that it is like a ring.  I needed continuous bias binding and cording for top and bottom edges.  The Quilter's Strip Ticket provided the correct large square size.  Above, the square is now resewn and ready to be cut into a strip.

Cording goes into the bias binding and is then pinned to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces.

Using a zipper foot on the machine, piping is sewn to the edges of both the top and bottom pieces. All corners are rounded making application of the continuous piping easier.

Next, the side piece is pinned to the top piece over the piping.

Here's the top piece with the side piece attached to it all the way around.

Then the bottom piece and the side are sewn together, leaving the back open to insert the foam.

The foam is inserted into the cover and pinned closed.

Back seam is hand stitched closed.  All finished.

Dan was lucky enough to get to meet little Demos last week and took an iPhone picture of him and his lovely mommy with his new quilt.