Quilting Life
March 28, 2015 9:02 pm 5 Comments
Did you know that March is National Quilt Month? So instead of talking about birds and sheep, I should be chatting about quilts. Again, just like my bird watching and sheep collecting, my quilting just happened. I didn’t start out in a family that quilted. I slept under some that came from somewhere, made by somebody, but nothing personal to me. They were just warm blankets with pretty designs to the child I was.
Then my husband and I went to Papua New Guinea. Wow, are there some missionaries who know how to quilt. There was even a quilt club at our linguistic support center. I was busy trying to get Nabak under my belt—across my tongue would be more accurate—so I stayed clear of the club, but now at least I was admiring them.
My granddaughter, Victoria, receiving a quilt
Then by God’s grace we finished the Nabak translation project and I was asked by the major Bible College in the country to go there and teach. Two ladies, one from New Zealand and one from Australia, caught me up into quilting. They asked me what crafts I did and I said, “Oh, painting, cross stitch, macramé, a little of this, a little of that.”
She immediately answered, “You will.”
I graduated from pot holder to wall hanging with this coffee piece, then made the matching, small table runner.
Finally I graduated to a queen-sized quilt. You quilters will recognize it as the log cabin design but with an appliquéd flower in the center instead of a red hearth square. When I had to leave Papua New Guinea I carried this unfinished quilt with me back to America. My friend, Dora Hibbard, stretched the quilt out on a frame in her living room and hand quilted it. I admire this quilt every time I walk into my bedroom.
Well then I tried a pattern with rounded blocks. That was a tough one to get it squared. My friend Lynne, from Texas, helped me sort out the right colors because I was ready to trash the whole project. My daughter, 
Deet, cried when she opened her Christmas package that year and saw that the quilt was for her.
I learned how to appliqué from the world expert, Jane Townswick. She taught classes right here in our rural area. I made this beautiful flower wall hanging for my sister, Kathryn.
Then my grandson, Isaac, graduated from high school and he got a strata quilt with a guitar appliquéd on it. Then guess what? Isaac’s younger brother, Isaiah, graduated, so he “needed” a quilt. I love him, so I made him a log cabin design but in a broken star pattern.
My present quilt project is highly secretive. Hopefully I can reveal it to you this summer. All I can tell you now is that it’s paper piecing and the stage I’m at right now is 220 flying geese. I’m up to 51 as of this morning.
5 Comments
You never cease to amaze me Grace.
Beautiful quilts…you failed to mention that quilting requires not only creativity and patience and the ability to cut and sew straight, it also requires some mathematical knowledge…yours are really superb! As are you!
I enjoyed reading about your experience with quilting. It is such a joy to see your smiling face, and your finished projects. Always a pleasure to hear what you are up to. Ron and I will have to make a trip down to see you this summer.
Love your quilts and the encouragement to pray when doing crafts. I’ve never quilted before but seeing what you have done is enticing. My cousin is really into quilting and has her own blog. I’ll forward your blog on to her.
Thank you for forwarding my blog. As for you quilting, I say go for it. Ask your cousin to help you start, and you’ll be a pro in no time! Good luck!