A Place For Breathing More
Breathe in...Breath out...in and out
It's a good thing we don't have to think about breathing.
Leonard and Margaret Ford, my parents, 1993
In my last post about breathing and quilting, I mentioned my wonderful mother and how she started me on my quilting journey. (To read that post click here.)
Along with my mother's help, I have a sister that is a quilter. Well, she used to be. She machine pieced her quilt tops and hand quilted them. She did some wonderful work and her goal was to create the tiny stitches our grandmother stitched by hand.
Speaking of our grandmother (and I know there are pictures somewhere and this would be our maternal grandmother), she made quilts and then some for each of my 8 siblings. When my husband and I got married, the wedding gift from my sister was a quilt from the pieces Grandma had cut for my quilt before she died.
Dresden blade pieces are from our grandmother
and the quilting design and quilting by my sister. 1983
I know that hand quilting was NOT for me! I'm more about gettin' it done! I love to create, but I don't have the patience for long, long-term projects. We clothing sewists, love to see our projects done and being worn. I wanted to get quilts done so they could be used!
The funny thing is I enjoy picking the colors and fabrics as much as I love the rest. And I don't just pick the colors, I love to pick the colors and fabric to match the person. Especially if I know them well. It wasn't long before I had quilt fabric and patterns picked for each of my siblings. Shamefully, I still haven't done most of them.
I did finish a quilt for one of my sisters that helped to inspire me in quilting, but she no longer knows who I am. I have given that quilt to one of her daughters and that same quilt adorns the header of this website front page and several other pages in her honor. My heart aches that I never got to the 2 other quilts for the 2 other sisters that have passed on. The fabrics will be made into quilts for their families one day.
The embroidery designs for this quilt struck my attention since I did A LOT of flower garden work at our home in Alaska. This set of designs is courtesy of Crab Apple Hill Studios. I love their designs!!
The handwork was admired by another of my sisters and on a whim, I threw it together into a quilt for her. It was a simple lap size. As far as I know, she loved it. She passed away in 2016.
In 2010, my husband and I moved to Hawaii where one of my brothers and his family has lived for many years. We moved here to care for my parents after my dad retired from the ministry.
During our time in Hawaii both my parents passing away and the previously mentioned 2 sisters. One of my brothers nearly died and I've had back surgery. It's been a wild and crazy few years.
I've had my quilting space set up in the master bedroom at first. I couldn't sleep in there after dad died. Then I moved it to the dining room for the time. Finally, we moved our bedroom into the master bedroom and my sewing went into the remaining 2 bedrooms, dining room, and living room. Now, I’m fully set up in our garage. Everything in one place!
I started quilting in earnest by this time. I definitely needed to get air back into my lungs.
How about you? Do you go to your quilts for air and peace of mind? I’d be thrilled to hear about your quilting space!
Thanks so much for dropping by!
Much love, Carolyn
