A Personal Post

This is not a post for another new quilt by me. Rather, I am using this forum for a personal message (with a quilting tie-in).  Please allow me this indulgence.

I am a member of the Illinois Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Last Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, our chapter participated in the "Mother's Dream" quilt project. This is a national project to visually (and viscerally) craft our powerful statement about the impact of gun violence on families. We made dozens of quilt blocks in honor of loved ones lost to gunfire. THANK YOU to St. Sabina in Chicago, and Purpose Over Pain for hosting us! More than 60 guests from all across the state made this gathering such a success.

These blocks, and dozens of others from around the country, will be stitched into quilts. These will then be displayed at Mom's events to reinforce the daily tragedy of gun violence.

While we were making the blocks, the moms (and a few dads) shared the stories of their sons and daughters who had been killed. Many of these were random shootings. Though some happened many years ago, their pain was still very real.  Here is one example:

Fire chief, and Purpose OverPain co-founder, Annette Nance-Holt holds the quilt squares she made. May 10, the very day of our quilting bee, was the 7th anniversary of her beloved son Blair's shooting.

To see the entire album of photos from the event, please click here.

And, if you feel so moved, please click the Mom's link above and add your name to the cause.

Thank you.

Optical Illusions Article

The November, 2013 issue of Australia's Homespun magazine contains an article titles "See Change: Optical Illusion Quilts". Among other beautiful works, it features my "3D Color Study" quilt, and also includes the model of the Bulging Checkerboard quilt that I used for my "Stand Back" quilt. 

You can read the entire article by clicking here.

St. Roch Quilt

My daughter, Emily, works for the St. Roch Community Church in
the 9th Ward in New Orleans (www.strochcc.org). During the summer, she helped run a day camp for neighborhood children.

We thought it would be a good idea to have the older kids make a quilt!
I designed one based on the unique cross motif used at St. Roch:

Then, Emily, Lindsay, and other counselors revised the design to
make it easier for the kids to construct. They also had the great
idea of letting the kids personalize some of the squares!
Here is the quilt top after they cut and pieced it:


(standing, from left to right) Destiny, Precious
(front row, left to right) Nyjah, Caitlin, Nakyra, Lindsay
Also helping were Tyla, Jalen, and J'lanae.

But camp ended before they could finish the quilt, so I offered
to do it for them. Here is the end result:



Nice job everyone!!!!!!! Click here for more pix.

More Aprons

Gee! These make wonderful gifts! Checkemout!

Aprons

Had a request from a certain daughter to make an apron suitable for her culinary creations. So I did (and 2 more for her friends). Voila!

Tote Bag #2

Another really cute (and functional) tote. Find it in the folder "Other Non-quilted Items".

Tote Bag #1

OK....yes...this is not a quilt, nor is it even quilted at all! But people have been asking for strong tote bags and I was given this pattern so I made it.
It is really easy and quick (only 7 pieces!), has 2 big pockets, and is strong enough to hold books, a lap top, or lots of sewing supplies (but not your machine!).
Click here or find it in the folder "Other Non-quilted Items".