Luck O' The Irish

Happy St. Paddy's Day!! Here's a touch of traditional quilting in green for the holiday this week. This pattern was so fun, I'd love to do it in wilder, more modern colors.
My Irish ancestors came through the Steele family. We're actually the orange of the Irish flag, but since the Orangemen that came after my family formed the IRA, I don't mention it too often. The Steele's migrated to the USA in the 19th century. John Steele was said to ride his horse wearing a cape with purple lining and practice medicine and negotiate with the Native Americans. His wife, Mary, was a long time midwife. The women in my family have a long history of helping other women. I love that legacy.

Brown & Blue

I saw the main brown in this picture on a sale rack and I really liked it. It's not my typical fabric style, but it was soft and artful and it drew me in. I bought a couple of light blues to go with it a year later. This week I pulled it out of my stash and found a few other pieces that I liked with it. I don't have a pattern for this either (suggestions welcome here, too), but the group just looks so lovely and peaceful to me.

Monet's Dining Room

Mom, Me & Tracey in France 1999

Dear Blog World, it's time to share that my mother has terminal cancer.

Me in Front of Monet's Home

Skipping on the drama, I will say that when I turned 21, and was going through a difficult time myself, I went to Monet's home in Giverny, France with her and Tracey. (Leslie had just had a baby and we missed her a lot.) My mother is a very talented watercolor artist, and she loves all things art. I enjoyed being there with them to take in all that his house and gardens have to offer. This last weekend was the first time I've visited my mom in Portland since we found out the cancer had spread and become terminal. Her studio has many reminders of that trip, including a little shadow box of a miniature set of Monet's china I brought back for her when Paul and I went a few years later. And so, I've decided to do a quilt based on his dining room in honor of my mother.

I wanted to do something to honor her and all that she is, but frankly, she's a fairly complex person. I'm glad to have this idea of a symbol of something we both love. When life gets hectic or stressful or emotional, my first response is to quilt, I don't know about you. People ask me how I quilt so much and there's my secret. I have to.

Looking For Patterns

I don't usually scan the internet for quilt ideas. Not that I don't want to, I just know there's so many out there, I may never come out. However, today I set a timer and started looking for a pattern that would work for a quilt I'd like to do in honor of Monet's dining room at Giverny. (Ideas welcome.)

I found this cat lady's blog and I LOVE the letter piecing she does. Here's a little sample. Very liberated, as she says. What a treasure!

Mia's Before & After

This is Laura's old baby quilt. I cut it apart and saved the sweet pieced squares that were salvageable, and redid it. She wanted me to combine her husband's baby blanket, too, so the Sesame Street in Mia's quilt is from his. Laura's squares were well-loved, so I bought sheer organza to go over the top and sort of protect the older fabric. It was a nice idea, but I should have done those squares slightly larger, because they're so slippery and the fibers are looser so it comes out of the seams easily and is driving my nuts. I did the same overall pattern, and added these sweet love birds to a larger border and Amy Butler on the back.

Laura is really terrific. She's got good instincts and Mia's disposition is sweet and lovely. A mother and a daughter are a beautiful thing in this world. Mia is an absolute doll, and it's so fun to see my old friend being such a great mother. Being a first-time mom was so hard for me for the first few months. So much to learn and be afraid of.

I remember one night my milk was upsetting Rory and I didn't know why. I ate a quick banana around 1am because I was of course, starving. The next feeding later that night/morning he drank reluctantly, then immediately threw up banana-like barf all into my chest and nursing bra. Since I was so engorged, my bra made a nice pocket inbetween my rare mountains and I walked all the way down to the kitchen with nothing dripping out. Gross. Neither he nor any of my other babies have ever done that again. And it took me a while before I could look at bananas the same, I'll tell you.

Fig & Plum

This is a Moda pre-packaged kit. (I still have one left if anyone wants it.) It was on my goal list for 2009, but I never got to it. It's funny how this week I was in the mood to use these fabrics, and I enjoyed it so much. As I quilt, I try to add a little something different to my collection with each new quilt. I have a couple of Fig Tree's quilts, and I love them. This pattern was fun and well written.

I had the opportunity to meet Joanna Figueroa at Quilt Market a few years ago. She is an acquaintance of my sister, Leslie. Her booth was by far my favorite. Lots of creams and butters mixed with the kinds of tones above that we've all come to know and love. She is truly a beautiful person and I love that this comes out in her fabrics.

I think it's interesting how we "wear" our life choices. In contrast to Joanna, I have a neighbor who is coming back from a very dark, drug and prison filled life. Over the last couple of years, her countenance has truly changed as she's made better life choices and worked to understand why she's made her life the way it is. I admire how she decided she didn't want her old life. Her eyes have the white back in them and she looks more her age now, instead of a much older woman. We truly do reflect where we've been by who we are now.