My Forgotten Garden

My garden is like a patchwork quilt. When I first started gardening about 15 years ago, I jumped into it  rather blindly. We had a large shady backyard with a few big trees and plenty of shrubs but not much landscaping and nothing you would call a garden. I loved the natural look of it but craved some color.  One day, on impulse, I went to a garden center and bought quite a few beautiful, expensive plants. I had no gardening experience and could not get anyone to help me so I followed a couple of gardening guides and just bought what I liked. How hard could it be, I thought? You dig some holes in the ground and put some plants in the dirt. Hah!

That first year was sort of a hit-or-miss disaster. Gardening is a lot of work!  And a garden needs sun, something that was lacking in my backyard. By the next year only a few of the plants came back and some others had taken over the garden. I learned as I went along though. Every year I got a little better at it. Reminds me of  my quilting journey . . . .

Eventually, I got some good advice and had fun playing with plants and watching my garden mature and change over the years. I tried a lot of different plants to see what worked best. After a time, where there was once nothing but dirt and grass, my back yard was transformed into a more or less restful haven.

But it was still mostly green. The hostas have clearly overtaken the patio garden this year. They should have been divided in the spring - a couple of springs ago, actually - but I didn't get around to it.

I yearned for a cottage garden, though. There is little sun in the back and the only full sun spots are in the front. So a few years ago I convinced my husband to have a picket fence built near the front door and then he put in a small patio and dug out some beds so I could do some planting along it. I went out and bought some more of those expensive plants. And I got a bench for Mother's Day that year.

My sort of  homemade "cottagey" garden. A work in progress.

Today the shrub roses are going crazy, the Peony is getting ready to bloom and pretty soon there will be another burst of color from the Phlox. Not bad. If I manage to get in some annuals, I say we'll call the front finished for now.

One of my favorite spots . . .

This book has been on my shelf for a little while. Hmmm  . . . time to finally read it, I think.

I haven't done much in the garden for a couple of years, mostly because I was sick or recovering from surgery at prime gardening time and couldn't bend or lift or else it was because I was having trouble with my knee, whatever. Excuses, excuses. And for two years I simply did not have the energy to take care of a garden. But this year I'm all better and so excited to get back to it. Because it's been neglected a bit there's a lot of work to be done.

The back is a little wild and crazy and overgrown right now.

The yard has good bones though and there's plenty of space to work with -

Lots of room for dogs to play. But no color. I want to plant a shade garden all along the fence. I think it has lots of potential. Give me some tips on what to plant, all you shade gardeners out there.

So much work to do here it's pathetic.

I'll be dividing some of the  plants that are already in the garden and moving things around, playing with scraps so to speak. Last week I bought a bunch of perennials from a sale through a local garden club. They were very cheap and all so pretty. I like to experiment with plants and every time I buy expensive plants at a garden center, they flop or don't come back the next year. These are cuttings of established plants from local gardens in this area and I've done this before so I know they will do well in my garden too. As I was loading the plants into my car I had to laugh. I felt like I was making a quilt from scraps instead of going out and buying new fabric LOL. Something I'm very good at. We'll see if my scrap theory works in the garden.

I bought a Bleeding Heart. Again. I love these so much but have not had luck with them in the past. Third time is a charm maybe? Right after I put it in the ground, a little black dog on a mission to capture a chipmunk ran across it and broke a few stems. Arrgh!

My own mission will be to buy some Hollyhocks and Foxglove this year to put near my picket fence.

Hollyhocks from a few years ago.

This summer I'll be a regular at the Chicago Botanic Gardens near me, snapping photos, searching for inspiration -

The beautiful English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic Gardens

Wish me luck in getting my garden back into shape. My sewing space also needs sprucing up but never mind that. One thing at a time. For now, I think I have my work cut out for me.

Don't Be Intimidated by Scrap Quilts

Reminder - get going on your Civil War Stars quilt if you haven't already. The quilt for this month is a very scrappy one.

I recently met some quilters who said that  making scrap quilts intimidates them. Many antique quilts were made from scraps and those of you who know my quilt style know that this is my favorite type of quilt. Not all scrap quilts are created alike, however, and you can always control just how scrappy your quilt turns out. If you are accustomed to making matchy quilts, just try going a little scrappy at first -  throw in a few different blocks amongst your matching blocks. It will grow on you. And take a look at antique quilts.

If you're afraid to go too scrappy - use the same colored sashing throughout to pull the scrap blocks together.

You can always try using different scrap blocks with the same background fabric.

When I lecture and show my quilts, I am often asked how I get that particular scrappy look in my quilts. I learned to  do this early on by studying old quilts that I was drawn to and determining what it was about them that I loved. In the quilt below, each block is made from different prints, no two color combinations are repeated. Antique quilts are often scrappy like this because they simply had to use what was available. I like to think that the women who made these quilts didn't just create them randomly, however.  In many of them you see that wonderful creative essence of play.

If I'm making a scrappy quilt, I like to make it using simple blocks. Simple blocks can be made to look more complex than they actually are by using a large variety of fabrics. And you can use the same block and  make another quilt with different fabrics for a totally unique look. Try it sometime.

Ophelia (Princess Lia)  is not usually allowed to play or sleep on my quilts but OMG how cute does she  look here? Poised and posed. If I stay perfectly still, like a statue, maybe Mom won't notice I'm on her quilt . . . .

 She thinks I'm playing when I yell at her to get off the quilt and she does this every time I try to set up my quilts for the camera.

What I love about this blue stars quilt (which was modeled after an antique quilt made with scrappy LeMoyne Star blocks on a light background), is that while the backgrounds of the blocks are blue, each is made with a different blue print.  Still blue, but using different prints gives it a subtle tone and keeps it from looking too matchy. A good way to go if you usually make matchy quilts and are afraid of making each block different. Just make the backgrounds of the blocks different. I think  it gives a nice old-fashioned feel to the quilt. And it's easy because the blocks are made using half-square triangles, no set-in seams. The quilt is in my book Remembering Adelia.

This one is in Adelia too . . .

I miss this particular quilt because right now it is hanging in the Grout Museum in Waterloo, Iowa for their Civil War Commemorative Quilts exhibit and will be there until Sept. If you have not seen this exhibit and are planning a trip to Iowa, please stop and take a look. It's a very nice exhibit. Scrappy quilts, antique quilts and lots and lots of small quilts too. I  blogged about it here.

But I'm getting off track. And sorry  - Blogger is messing with my fonts again and I can't change the type size or make it all the same so everything looks crappy, Arrgh! 

For many, the best way to make a scrappy quilt is to be spontaneous. I like to plan a little bit and always make extra blocks for a quilt. Use light prints with medium prints and medium prints with dark prints. Try making some extra blocks in varied colors and play around with them in the setting until you come up with a combination you like.  Set them together with the light and darker blocks contrasting for a nice flow. But don't fuss too much. It's not as hard as it seems if you just take the time to play and find what is pleasing to your eye. Throw in a lot of the colors you love and your scrap quilt will turn out just fine.

When Iowa Calls

I hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day.  Last year at this time I was having an awful time of it in the hospital, recovering from yet another of my surgeries. My family visited and all I remember is that I could only eat  a liquid/soft diet. Seems so far away now and, even though my daughter is still away at school, this Mother's Day was so much better, as you can imagine. Yesterday, my husband and son took me out to a nice place for an early dinner to make up for it. And then my son, the starving graduate student, "let" me buy him a new pair of jeans and some groceries. After all, what's a mother for?

My trip to Iowa last week was great. Everyone in Grinnell was so pleasant and I almost didn't want to leave. My first class was located at Cornerstone Quilts, a great quaint shop in  downtown Grinnell.

Another of my classes was located on the Grinnell College campus, which was just lovely. Orange Peels were the order of the day and featured in one of my favorite quilts.

I enjoyed seeing the variety of  colors and prints my students used to make theirs -

Barb looks tickled pink.

Jean is having so much fun with color . . .

The ideal class allows some time for hand stitching and more than a little time for relaxing chatter as well.

And I like seeing lots of smiling faces too!

The ladies suggested that we stop at the Amana Colonies on the way home for a look at this group of villages with old world charm and a nice selection of craft shops and restaurants.

Handcrafted gifts by Iowans, what could be better?

 

 

More than a few antiques shops and  . . .

 . . . lucky me - another lovely quilt shop!

One of the little quilts from my latest book The Civil War Sewing Circle -  done in blues and browns. So cute.

They had a nice selection of stitchery patterns too.

Chris at Heritage Designs - a Top 10 Quilt Shop. Make sure you stop by if you're in Amana.

I could have spent a lot more time in this place but we were anxious to get home as we still had quite a long drive back to Chicago.

I love driving around the country, stopping at towns I might never have had a chance to see if I weren't visiting guilds. I know many of you travel to more exotic places and while Iowa may not be the most glamorous place to visit, as Oprah says - this I know - Iowa will be calling me again and I won't hang up. I'll be going back, that's for sure.

Working on Your Scrappy Stars?

If you are joining in on the small quilt challenge this month (Civil War Stars, remember?) or thinking about doing it - try playing around with some little four patches for the centers of your star blocks to get you going.

You may wish to make your quilt in different colors than mine and that's fine. On a rainy day like today I enjoy taking a few minutes to play with my scraps and make scrappy four patches for another quilt for another rainy day.

I always have an abundance of little scrap squares cut for projects like this . . .

 . . . and some four-patch blocks sewn together and ready to go.

It's not easy to get these small blocks to turn out perfectly, but don't worry too much. Try to cut accurately and slow down when you piece. Press each piece after you sew and trim the units before you sew them together into the blocks. Go a little more slowly than you would with a larger block but try not to get stressed. When you start fussing about perfection you lose some of the joy in making the quilts in the first place. Even if it's a little wonky, it will still be cute! And like I always say -  doll quilts from the past were not perfect and that's one of the reasons we love them so much.

Okay, maybe we don't love this one so much but you have to give her credit for trying - and finishing, LOL.

Looks like I will need to fudge these seams just a little . . .

Get your pieces cut this week and if you can make them into blocks, all the better. I am going to Iowa tomorrow for a presentation and some classes and will start nagging you about working on it again next  week after I come back.  Mother's Day is coming up - have some fun and take time for yourself  - sew a little something.

There's Comfort in Tiny Stitches

I've always loved needlework samplers and used to do a little cross stitching years ago. When I heard about this book of samplers from the Spencer Museum of Art written by Barb Allen and Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs, I knew I had to own it.

I particularly fell in love with one of the cross-stitch designs in the book that was inspired by this 1824 sampler stitched by Ann York at age 14. The one on the cover.

The linen is inscribed with tiny stitches - "When This You See Remember Me My Dear aunt Ann York her work in the 14 Year Of Her Age 1824", obviously made as a gift to her aunt. It's so lovely, isn't it? And hard to imagine that it was created by a girl of 14, who was born in 1810, so many years ago.

I wanted to begin working on it right after I bought the book but of course it took me awhile to find my cross stitching supplies and then I had to run out and buy the right thread. I was having so much fun thinking about beginning a new, different, project but then when I actually sat down on the couch and started working on it, I became distracted almost immediately by a ringing phone and then got pulled away by something more important, the way it seems to go so often when all I want to do is sit down and finish a thing.

What can I say? This is as far as I got . . .

It's been sitting for a few months and then all of a sudden I found I  had a little time yesterday while watching the depressing NBA Playoff game between our beloved Chicago Bulls and the Sixers. So I pulled it out (again!) and made just a little more progress. It's been awhile since I did much cross stitching and my eyes just aren't what they used to be. I end up wearing magnifiers on TOP of my glasses with bifocals, LOL. With a lot of  full spectrum light or better yet -  daylight - thrown in. It's so much easier to see my bigger quilting stitches! But won't I be pleased when this is finished?

On my way now!

This book is just full of designs I want to make.

Here's one that looks pretty simple.

And there are a few other mini cross sticheries designed by the Blackbird ladies I need to make someday soon -

Inspiration is a funny thing and I've learned that sometimes you just have to go with it. Like so many of  you it's hard for me to find the time to do everything I want to do and still juggle family demands and work and other pressures. But I find that when I truly get inspired to start something new if I don't act on it I lose my inspiration. And a little bit of myself. That's when I try to remember to tell myself  - if  I am feeling busy and stressed, take a breath, jump off the merry-go-round and try not to worry about all of the things I should be doing and just do this one thing for myself, now. The other things will have to wait because I know that working on creative projects is good for my soul. And then I find that I am refreshed and relaxed and ready to tackle those things that got pushed aside. Finding that balance makes everything else run more smoothly.

I'm travelling to Grinnell, Iowa, later this week for a presentation and 2 workshops so I know I will not have much time for myself until next week. And when I come back there is always much catching up to do with whatever got pushed aside at home - and don't even remind me about all those e-mails  I think I have to answer.  

Right now we're having another dreary, rainy day in the Chicago area. After a very busy weekend I think I am going to snatch a few minutes (or maybe forty!) and work on my stitchery today, in between doing laundry and other things to prepare for my trip. Oh, I have so many wonderful projects to think about! And stitching is so soothing. Lord, grant me the time  . . .  and the wisdom to make the best use of it.

Hey! It's May!

Yes, May already. And you know what that means -  it's time to make another small quilt to complete your goal of completing 12 quilts this year. You're almost halfway there. I know you've been waiting anxiously for me to announce which quilt you should start working on. For this month's project, I have chosen the Civil War Stars quilt on page 26 of my book The Civil War Sewing Circle, a small scrappy favorite of mine.

Make your star blocks in any colors, scrappy or not, and use as many blocks as you like for your quilt. Set them on point or use setting squares. Make this YOUR way. Oh, and have fun!

I have made 2 of these quilts already, both finished in 2009. One for the book and one for a friend. If I were going to make another one (Ha! I shouldn't even be thinking about that.), I think I just might choose different fabrics this time -

Love these, but this groups needs a little more blue to make it pleasing to my eye.

Playing around with your fabric before you choose which prints you are going to use and actually cut is such fun. My advice - take your time, even if you're making it scrappy like mine. My scrappy quilts are planned out a bit - I just can't always bring myself to randomly select fabrics and hope they all go together. I have to really like the way they play together and if they seem a little bland, sometimes I throw in a "kicker" color -  a yucky green, gold, bright pink or even black, for contrast.  Do you do this too? Tell me -  what colors do you like to throw into your quilts to spice them up?

This group, for instance. So lovely but I think it needs something else to pull it together. I may throw in a really pretty pink after I dig through my pile of oinks. (Whoops - I typed an "o" instead of a "p" there but it was so cute I thought I'd leave it in to get a laugh. Oinks, get it? LOL. )

Also nice but I think it needs just a little more contrast - those blues are too similar.  Indigo maybe? Or perhaps black . . . and a different shirting.

See what I mean?

I am hoping to encourage many of you to believe that you can make  some small quilts this year. The method I suggest you use to complete your goal here is to make your quilt in weekly steps every month. I know you are all busy people. This challenge is not meant to take anything away from the other projects you are working on or interfere with your hectic lives, but something I think you can accomplish by working in short bursts of time.

So here's how to do it: Take a week each month and work a little on the different parts of the quilt before you assemble it and quilt it. You can actually make quite a bit of progress doing it this way, breaking the whole thing into manageable parts. And I think the creative process becomes heightened as well. Instead of rushing around thinking you have to make the whole thing RIGHT NOW and ending up being stressed because you think you can never do that, take it slow and work at a more leisurely pace. Break it into parts.

You have 4 weeks to make this quilt. This week, play with your fabric a little. Cut some squares and see how they would look together if they were made into four-patch units for the star centers, before you decide on the star points. Maybe cut those along with the background pieces. Notice that, in my quilt, I alternated blocks with blue star points and red star points. Then, set it aside until you have time to  make a few blocks. Maybe put the blocks together when you have time the following week. By the end of the month, you will have easily finished this quilt. And be on your way to making a few more small quilts this year.

If you're like me, though, you may find that once you start you want to keep going until you finish. That works too LOL.