POETRY, CHUCKLES, AND MARY LOU!

Littlebit poetry -

Today I Choose to Let Go

When you...

and...

to what is...

you can experience the...

that was already there!

(clap clap, wiggle dance of joy)

Here's my favorite tote bag...

and my two latest collages...

quilted!

And here's the hawk, 
who hangs out at our bird feeder quite often, 
reminding us to fly and reach for the sky!

Jim and I had a "date" in Seattle.

After the Seattle Art Museum,

we stopped at Undercover Quilts.

This was the funny chair out front...

Ha!

Another laugh...

here's the Seattle sun...

I know, 

it's hard to see it.

On a totally brighter note,

Mary Lou Weidman,

a quilter love-o-mine,

was the speaker at the QA guild this month!

Sue and I spent a fun day together in her workshop.

She was selling some of her quilts.

Here's a close up of a chicken on a quilt, 

bought by one of the workshop participants.

Sue and I 

(in our Mary Loonie tees)

made

some Mary Lou style angels...

Here's my finished Mary Lou style quilt.

Mary Lou called it, "imperfectly beautiful"

LOVE that!

Here's Mary Lou's Christmas quilt.

She graciously let me take photos to post here. 

Enjoy!

Mary Lou 

was my very first big-time-quilter crush.

Who do you admire?

AS FALL BEGINS, MORE OPPORTUNITIES OPEN UP

Fall...

time for hibernating...

 or...

turning every day 

into an opportunity for 

more indoor sewing!

 Most Fridays

I sew with 

Judy, Opal, and Dorothy, 

plus other ladies who drop in.

Judy's studio tends to have 

a steady stream of delightful ladies

stopping by to wallow in the creative energy!

Here's what Shirley made in Freddy's class!

And here's Shirley's shirt she gave away to Opal.

It's a "Jams" shirt

and the question is...

will Opal wear it, 

or cut it up for a quilt?

Dorothy's herringbone...

Elaine's postcards  from a class at Aunt Mary's!

My next class is November 30th

at Calico Creations

Jan Mullen's Catz

and liberated trees!

Here's a few trees

and one crushingly large flake

from the last trees class.

I tried this pattern from Kathy Doughty's book.

Love it!

I think I'll border it in blue

and find the veteran it was meant to go home with!

I've also been collaging Freddy style!

As I was making this collage

I was thinking of my dad,

who passed away twenty nine years ago.

He often said,

"I'm as strong as an oak tree."

I also had thoughts of

my mom.

This will be our third holiday season without her.

My youngest, now twelve,

came in and

kindly "fixed" the collage

while we fondly reminisced about

special times with Gram.

In the moment...

nothing but connected

joy!

I so loved the ease of this process

that I tried another

(so excited I couldn't waste the time to fully press!).

Tomorrow

is an opportunity to sew with Mary Lou Weidman!

More pics soon!

PURE HAPPINESS = FREDDY MORAN!

Ahhhh

pure happiness is...

Freddy Moran!

Here's some pictures

of her forty quilts

on display at Island Quilter on Vashon Island.

Of course,

she is famous for her houses...

and her Lady of Guadeloupe works of art...

whatever the theme,

there is always a vibrant happiness!

I arranged to have Freddy come teach a two day class.

Sixteen lovely and quite creative ladies

gathered at Aunt Mary's

for a simply splendid

soaking in of all Freddy had to offer.

Here's the welcome basket I put together

with some of my precious Freddy scraps!

Also included were bubbles, a happy noise maker,

polka dot pencil, Curly Girl stationery, and tissue.

My husband recently returned from a trip to Guatemala

where he bought some worry dolls, so

I attached one to each basket (in a house of course).

Just in case any lady had a worry...

she would have a way to release it!

Freddy shared some of her ideas on creativity.

I took some notes

and would like to share what I heard her say

(a mix of what she really said with my own memory twist). 

 You think you don't know how to do it,

but you do!

The hardest part is getting started.

So, take the part (block) you like the most...

make a few...

put it on the design wall...

or make some strata...

or just start sewing some pieces of fabric together...

pretty soon...
 the parts (blocks) will start to tell you

what it wants to be...a medallion quilt, a row quilt, etc.

Here's Freddy,

without a ruler,

making a liberated star.

Here's Freddy,

(with Carrol in the background)

talking about contrast

(of course!)

Contrast can be light and dark,

curvy and straight, etc.

BUT,

contrast can be a difference in mood!

Ahhh....

Here she has three bolts she felt conveyed a different mood.

She said it's not only the color,

but the way color is used,

and most importantly,

THE VALUE!

                  Freddy believes that the success of her quilts

is probably due to color,

BUT...

because she learned VALUE,

the colors can be seen!

AHA!

            

Here's Freddy

searching through the ever generous

Marta's glorious scrap collection.

She demonstrated some of her parts department

and then she demonstrated how she makes her collages.

Collage is her new favorite creative play.

Watch the magic...

Freddy said quilting should be

a total joy

and

each one of us

has the potential

to find that joy.

I think...

for me...

the best thing about Freddy is that

she is all about 

living life to the fullest

doing what your love

fearlessly

that's a great philosophy

not only for quilting

but also for life!