White on White

In January, 1995 I was living in Salt Lake City in a one bedroom apartment with my brother Matt. Living space was tight and my sewing stuff was contained in two boxes, one supplies and one fabric, plus the machine. I had made maybe half a dozen quilts at most, including my first quilt that fell apart before the second washing. Back then I wanted to create a showcase quilt, but I knew it wasn't the time for the big project that I imagined. And I really wanted it white.

I started my white - on - white quilt one block at a time. The first block was an embriodery design. I have completed cross - stitch designs, applique, pieced blocks and even a shadow technique I learned in a decorative arts class in high school. My sister made a sketch of an airplane to celebrate my coming for visits and I stitched and beaded that block. I have hand quilted and painted and textured and loved almost every minute creating this quilt. When it's done there will be 49 blocks, seven to a row.

I have a drawer full of blocks. They're squared up and ready to go. I've had the diagram of where the blocks will be placed since Julie and I laid them out on the floor of her parents' house. I have learned a few techniques for sewing pre-quilted blocks together. Everything is mostly ready.

Except me.

I love the white quilt.

I want to keep making white blocks.

I see where my heart was all those years ago. And I wonder what I will learn and who I will be in 5 years.

Weeks 12 & 13

One of my favorite places to look at fabric on-line is Keepsake Quilting. I like that they group fabrics into fat quarter bundles. Their catalogs are fabulous! Anyway, I saw a bright, colorful bag on their site I loved. It came as a kit, with the typical disclaimer that the fabrics they send may not exactly match the picture. I love the fabrics they sent with the kit, but I immediately wanted to use them with other projects and making the bag felt like a "waste" of good fabric. And I wasn't even sure I would like the bag--since I bought it based on fabric and not the pattern.

So I made a bag using the pattern from the kit. My bag is made from scraps from my curtains and old jeans. I liked the pattern. You can't see the detail of the quilting in the photo (and I don't take better pictures, I'm afraid) which is words and phrases from hymns.

I liked the first bag I made so much, I made a second bag. This bag has a gorgeous batik flannel scrap and 3 pairs of old jeans donated by my friend Lisa Hunt. I even used jeans pockets for pockets.

I should probably give this bag to Lisa--although it doesn't have any M&Ms on it. Now, if I only had a friend with an embroidery machine. . .

Week 11

Elaine Macie Player
baby shower on March 19, 2011

These are 3" squares, stitched together
one at a time.