19 October 2018

Years Seven and Eight (2010-2011)



Asian Odyssey is a special quilt for many reasons.

Our DIL travels for her work - a lot.

She brought home a wide variety of items from 
multiple Asian countries and I managed to work them
into a coherent wall quilt for her 2010 birthday.

She loves the quilt and all that it represents.




Later in the year, Lynne and I had a swap.

She made me a fabulous quilt
and I made OBSOLESCENCE for her.

I took the quilt all around town 
and used my photo shoot images
to make her a keepsake book
that I sent with the quilt.

She and her cat Millie LOVE "O" 




When elder son asked if I could "fix my favorite jeans"
I had to tell him no, that they were just too far gone.

But I surprised him with this quilt
made with those tattered and worn jean legs.

I am humbled and amazed at how often I see 
HIS FAVORITE JEANS in use at their house.




SPIRIT SONG is the second Fickle Pickle quilt I've made.

This one has such a marvelous story -
it was started by my friend Chris in our class
(when I made Colors of Joy)
but she was working outside her comfort zone
(she preferred Thimbleberries 
so these brights were just too much)
and she never finished her project.

I begged and begged for her to give the remains to me
and, several years after the fact, she finally did.

I added lots more fabrics and created this beauty.

Chris quilted it for me 
and it hangs on the wall in our foyer
(where Colors of Joy used to hang)
and I smile every time I look at it.




2011 brought my first legos quilt 
inspired by Tonya Ricucci's super scrappy 
Ellis Island quilt.

Lots and lots of us around the world
made legos-style quilts -
there's info in the linked post above.

Mine was named Dumpster Diving by our younger son.

Little did I know that this humble scrappy quilt
would inspire me to make a series of quilts  . . .
there are now three as of 2018
with two more in the works.




I made GOTTA LOVE IT after I was 
inspired by a magazine pattern by Wendy Williams.

I added the piano key border just because I could.
(and because I had loads of extra fabrics)




I used the trimmings and leftover bits and pieces
along with more of those extra fabrics
to create a fabulous scrappy back.

I love this truly two-sided quilt.




2011 was also the year of orphans and orts quilts.

Lynne sent me a box with all sorts of bits and pieces.
that I used to create HIDDEN POTENTIAL.

(double click to see the details)




I pieced the center of this to be the back for 
Hidden Potential - but it became a full fledged quilt
because it was just too grand to be the back of anything.

MAGIC HAPPENS has been used on Lynne's bed 
ever since it flew off to New Hampshire.

She absolutely loves it.




When Lynne visited Memphis a few years later,
she brought the quilt so we could take this photo.

Lynne (left), Julie (center), and Chris (right)

Lynne's orphans and orts
plus
Julie's design and making
plus
Chris's always amazing quilting
equals 
one very special quilt.


* * *


Quilts make people smile.

They connect long-distance friends.

They embody LOVE.



4 comments:

Robin said...

The reversible quilt is wonderful! I've wanted to try making a reversible quilt - it will happen. It is so fun to see your quilt journey and the special relationships you've made along the way. Thanks for sharing.

Carli The Quilter said...

I love reversible quilts. I make them quite often. #telegraphcreekfire quilt is almost done.

Kaja said...

I can see a stronger connection from the early quilts to where you are now with each of these posts. There are some real beauties here - and fun to see how productive your friendship/creative partnership with Lynne has been.

Ann said...

These quilts illustrate your growing skills and relate to your earlier ones. Plus you have many friendships across the country. Thanks for inspiring us.