Making a Hanten Jacket

Earlier this year I had an opportunity to take a class - making a Hanten Jacket. I had wanted to make an Eastern flavored jacket for some time so when my friend Janet worked tireless to gather support for having this class at our Guild - I had to give it try. In looking at the pattern I realized that it was not quite the kimono style I had wanted to make, but figured that surely I would be able to "massage" the pattern to fit my vision .

On the day of the class we were asked to place the fabrics that we would be working with in a pile in front of us. There were wild glorious piles of color and texture ! Some were messy like mine (at the top ) and some were very orderly like the one below mine. I had chosen a very lovely, but very slick satin for the lining and a yummy soft green Tencel for the top. We all were to use flannel for the interlining (batting).

I asked our instructor, Drew Betz, if I could "alter" the pattern - explaining that "I had a vision". Ha ! Talk about burst bubble - the size of the cut pieces were what made this pattern possible - changes would not work very well ! My vision was going to have to wait for another opportunity to manifest itself ! After the pieces were cut, we all put them up on a design wall for further contemplation. It was fun to watch the concentration on people's faces as we all searched for that special accent or focus fabric.

One woman, Toni, had not sewn in 20+ years. She wanted to make this warm comfy jacket for her mother who was ill. Janet had graciously lent her a machine and also helped her with some piecing. Guess who was THE ONLY ONE IN THE CLASS TO FINISH ?! Toni, the one who had not sewn in so long !
There she is (below and to the right) modeling the jacket. I know her mother cherished this gift !

The pattern ended up making me look like an evil troll - or

at best an overstuffed mushroom.
I should have stuck with just cottons perhaps- it would have made the pieces go together more easily.

I knew that if I kept this jacket I would NEVER wear it in public and I did not wanted to relegate it to a pile in my already too cluttered sewing area. What to do? What to do? I thought about trying to revamp the structure - making it more streamlined - but because of all the layers I would have been presented with logistical problems that I was not up to solving at that point. After about a day or two thinking about it - I just cut it all up ! Not to despair - I kept just about all of the pieces and am finding uses for them. Now I ask you, in looking at the photos of my jacket below - how far away from "potato sack" do YOU think it is !!!!!
I did re-use a beautiful piece of hand dyed silk as the
collaged backing of a small new piece called : "Dharma Lines" ... proving the old adage that everything old can be new again - and that there are no mistakes just lessons to be learned !

Quilting Ignorance & Quilting Bliss

In the late 80's and early 90's, as my journey returning to the 'quilter's fold' continued' I started to become a bit prideful - thinking that I could sew anything. Perhaps I should mention that I am a self-taught quilter and at this point I really had little to compare my ignorance to ! I found a bold rendition of a LeMoyne Star pattern in a book and decided I could do that ! I grabbed fabrics that were on hand and started cutting and sewing. My first experience with the "meeting place" of many seams. I refused to think it required finesse - after all I was a quilter wasn't I ? Perfectly matched seams are supposed to be second nature - right? Ha ! The quilt was eventually completed - slightly mounded seam meeting points and all. Corners should match - most did --- if you stretched your imagination ! This was a masterpiece ! I had done
it - Phew! I had never entered anything other than photographs in the County Fair - but
surely this was a winning quilt ....after all it it had panache if not perfect seams and squares !

Summarily, I entered my quilt in the Fair . I was pumped ! Shall I say that the comments of the judges (which I distinctly remember tossing into the garbage after I read them) were kind. They did mention the color combinations in a complimentary way- and they very effectively danced around not calling my seam junctures downright horrendous. I was devasted.... they surely just did not understand my efforts !

Happily, after a time, I accepted the fact that I had a lot to learn ! I learned that there really is a way to make all of those intersecting seams meet flawlessly and I learned that I could be cavalier with some aspects of quiltmaking but I needed to hone my skills on the basics before I could consider being anything more than humble ! Igorance was, perhaps, not so blissful after all !

This quilt, that was once so proudly displayed on a wall, is now keeping the animals happy and has endured countless washings. I still chuckle every time I see it - it was a great lesson. One can be blissful when one is totally ignorant - but that's not the best way to be!
Above is a page from my Quilt Journal - it shows a couple of small pieces from the mid to late eighties. These came before the LeMoyne Star . The little hearts quilt was all hand appliqued and hand quilted - I gave it to a friend for the birth of their daughter. It was not bold & vibrant but peacefully pink and striped. It's a poor photograph from a Polaroid that they thankfullly sent to me - otherwise I would probably have forgotten that it existed ! I WAS happy with this little quilt and I still very much enjoy hand applique. Maybe we feel best about what we do well naturally ! It was also hand quilted over a puffy batting --- hummmmm - yes I did learn about different battings from this one too !

The Little Blue lap quilt was called "Pacific" or something like that. Once again I thought something along the lines of "Wow! I'm cooking now with this quilting thing!". It was borderline okay - and again, I managed to learn a lot along the way.

I am glad that ignorance gave me bliss at this point. I am glad that the judges were kind with those first comments. It took me a long time to consider entering something in the Fair (let alone any shows!) again - but now with many blue ribbons and honorable mentions on the wall I am most grateful for all of the lessons that came my way. I still tend towards ignorant bliss at times - but at least now I know that KNOWLEDGE is even more blissful than ignorance. Nothing beats the satisfaction of trying a new method (the possible ignorance part) and having the result be something to be proud of (the bliss part). Yes, we do need to know the basics well in order to be blissful, ignorant AND satisfied ! I am still learning something everyday - and hope I always will !

Friends: A Quilter's Rose Garden

Close friends. Friends that you trust implicity. Friends that you know will not desert you when life hits the occasional rough spot. Friends who fuel your desire to become a better person - a better artist. How many friends like this do you have? I have had relatively few close friends in my life - but those that I have- I cherish. I have many "little" friends and many more acquaintances. "Little" friends are people with whom I might be able to become close friends - but close friendships take time & work, care and nourishing. The older I get the less time I seem to have and the more precious those few close friends become.

My longest running friendship is with Maria. She is the pretty one with the long hair in the top photo! She and I were kind of 'joined at the hip' when we were young. We were a good team then & we called ourselves "Me & Z". Maria was a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City - and I had been WOWED by the Amish Quilts exhibit at the Whitney Museum . We had fun sewing together - both of us using relatively basic old machines - that seemed perfectly wonderful to us. As the years intevened we lost touch. I pursued a career while Maria raised four of the finest young women I have ever met. One day in late 2002 I received a letter - the handwriting was so familiar.....the return address was not. I opened the letter and started to cry - it was from Maria - she had cicumvented what she knew would always be my desire for privacy and had hired a company to "find" me. She said, in the letter, that she did not want to grow any older without knowing what had become of me. I called the number that she had given and when she got on the phone the years melted away. To make a relatively long & joyful story shorter - it turns out that she had moved West at about the same time I had - we lived not that far apart! We see each other regularly (though not often enough!) now, and talk almost as much as we did when we were young. Our friendship is as strong and vital as it was before - as if we had never been separated. Maria has blessed my life and has completed a circle in my heart that had been empty for too long.

(Lauren is more camera shy than I am - so no current photos-
take my word for though - she is beautiful!)

Lauren is next in my friendship circle - though "next" is relative - it's been almost 20 years. She has lifted my spirits in the hardest of times and laughed with me until we have cried in the good times. We know each other's "skeletons" - and they are safely held. Strong binds of trust that won't change with time. Lauren is the person who really put me back on the quilting trail. I had started making quilts in 1976 with Maria, but had gone on "hiatus" when chasing the tail of my career. Lauren encouraged my to take up needle & thread again. She too is a quilter - and although she does not see it - her quilts are works of art. She drove me to become better and kept me on track until the track became a well worn pathway. Ours paths have changed over the years. Quilting is my passion and my focus. Lauren has become a horsewoman and garden steward par excellence. We still learn from each other and we still encourage each other. One thing I know - is that our paths will always be connected and the path to each other's heart will always be a safe one.

Sarah ! Ah Sarah! She is my "every ready bunny" friend. She is a constant wonder to me. She has more talent than Croesus had gold, combined with drive, ambition, determination and focus - oh and did I mention energy?! I could say that she has more energy than I do because she is younger - but that's not true - she will probably have as much energy at 85 as she did at 45 ! I am so jealous of that kind of energy ! I want some ! I would not be half the quilter I am without Sarah. We dyed bolts of fabric together (she is blues & magenta while I am orange & yellow), we went to classes together & traveled to quilt shops and shows - we lived for sewing I think (well - she has two wonderful boys and a nifty husband too!). I was sad and felt so lonely when she moved to Maine. Maine is a lucky state now - but I am richer for her having lived here. She is still my "motivational coach" - pushing me to become more of what I am. Look for her inspirational work at www.sarahannsmith.com or read her fun blog at www.sarahannsmith.blogspot.com.

Ingrid - she is a kindred spirit. Mother to a phenomenal young lady named Isabel. Ingrid makes being a single mother seem easy somehow - but I know it isn't really. Ingrid is style (I am the lucky recipient of her fabulous hand me downs), wit, intelligence, talent and class. She is also almost a "Master" - of some collegiate endeavor that has to do with the law - some long, impressive sounding title. She has struggled to finish this course of study and I am so proud that she is about "there". Life has not been a bed of roses for Ingrid Rose but she has managed to turn hard lessons into positive investments in her future. I don't get to see Ingrid too often - yet I still feel that we are close friends - and always will be - we share philosophy and laughter.
Ingrid is a phenomenal writer and I want to see her syndicated ! For pure enjoyment read the her column , "Notes to Myself" that she writes for our local on line news provider. Go to http://www.sanjuanislaner.com/columnists.shtml - you won't regret the time !

I can count on a few others for honesty, care & encouragement - most notable my freind Janet - a dedicated teacher and quilt artist. She keeps me on track since I tend to forget emails and class dates at times ! My friends at work offer me shoulders to lean on & lots of laughter on the most difficult of work days. I could ask a favor of them and know that they would do their best to come through.


Best friend though - that I would trust with my life's secrets as well as my life ? My husband. Of course we have our "moments" - like everyone does - but those moments generally pass quickly. Honor? I respect his integrity more than anyone I have ever known. He walks his talk - you have to respect that in someone (some may occasionally call this stubborn!)

What more can you ask for in life than to have the love and respect of a handful of friends and a husband that will foster your dreams, propel your towards your future and be there with you - for better or for worse ? See - you really can find a rose garden through quilting !

Paint and Quilt What You Know

My step-father was a fine artist. He always told me to "paint what you know". I never got terribly interest in painting - at least until I started quilting - but I always remembered the advice .

One thing I know really well is cats. They have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember....sometimes too much a part of my life ! The Journal Quilt Project - compliments of International Quilt Festival and the inspiration of Karey Breshenhan - was a wonderful opportunity to depict what I know - some of our cats. I had an opportunity to discover the pleasure of painting - both with acrylic paint, thickened Procion dyes , inks and - best of all thread ! What a wonderful combination these mediums can be ! Above you can see Bart and Odie relaxing in front of the fire. No stress for these models !

Odie, pictured at the top of this page, is now 19 years old. He is still a kitten at heart though and demands vitiman E and catnip daily. I made this portrait of him from a photo I had taken. I learned to appreciate the flow of the paint over the fabric -it was a rewarding experience. I relished learning how thread works on painted fabric as it is slowly layed down layer over layer. I learned how my sewing machine speaks to me through its little pops and dips as it found fresh base for thread. I learned, finally to love to paint.

Chellie, a/k/a the beast, is pictured below. She was my special girl. Not always the best behaved - but I adored her and pardoned all of her shortcomings for the sheer joy she brought into my life! When she died unexpectedly at only 12 years old I wailed like a lost soul. I was so embarrased - wondering what the neighbors might think if they heard me. I felt so lost without her. I painted her more is simply - using more thickened dye paint than thread. Her impact on my life is large . Painting her taught me more about her -and about my missing her. Now I feel like a part of her spirit will always be with me in this little painting.

Cleo is below on the right She was my husband's cat before I was his wife. She is (some might say) a typical 'red-head'. She is determined, sometimes strident and sometimes very loving. She finally decided that I was a good family addition - after almost 11 years ! I am most pleased with her painting - mostly done using thickened Procion Dyes - augmented by a considerable amount of thread painting. This painting reflects what I feel about her - she is a little minx at times - but she can melt your heart too by a wink of her beautiful green/gold eyes.

Then there is my "Mystery Boy" Bart - shown
on the right below Cleo. He decided that this was to be his home about

eight years ago. I DID NOT want another cat. I
threatened to take him to the shelter. I held out for about two hours - when he claimed my lap as his own. Needless to say I fell in love with him. He is my quilting buddy and follows me around more like a puppy than a cat. He is painted with thick dyes and thread painted with blacks and grays. His early years are a mystery - but I am glad that he found his home with us.

I will continue to try to paint and quilt what I know - after all I have a bevy of cats to choose from !

Quilter's Eyes & Opinion Requested

Help ! I need another pair of eyes! I'm not much to ask opinions of my work..but this time I would appreciate the comments. I made this piece of quilted felt fabric to turn into a felted cell phone case for a friend - and now I am not sure. I keep seeing other little quilts in it - asking to be made.

It's a small peice - only 9"X15" - but I like it. It would make a nice cell case ---it has flannel on the back and the quilting looks good on that side too. I could just make another, larger piece for a quilt.

What do you think? Cut it up or save it for a quilt element ?

Quilts & Clowning Around

What a treat to "meet" someone on line who resonates with you ! I personally think that developing a friendship via the internet is difficult. SO much is lost in translation and so much can be misinterpreted so easily. Somewhere at the beginning of 2007 a woman wrote to me - asking about my email address : zquilts. She is 'zartstudio'. We discussed our "Z's" !

Her name is Kathy Zeiben & she lives (in of all places!) outside of Houston, Texas. Aside from being a very talented mosaic artist she is very talented quilt artist. Her style is whimsical and happy. We seemed to have an immediate connection and I have to say that at this point a day without an email from her makes my in-box seem very empty.

Among other talents Kathy is also a professional clown ! That's her on the left in the picture at the top of this post. Her clown "handle" is TicToc. Her clown pictures make me happy just looking at them ! Kathy is also an amazing photographer and a virtuoso with collaged quilts - her style is happy and free. See her wonderful work at at:
http://web.mac.com/kathyzieben/iWeb/Site/Mosaic%20Art.html

I am blessed to have found a kindred spirit and quilting cyber- friend. Kathy is dragging me into the world of video through IChat (who knew that it really works?!) and she is a caring, talented person who I am pleased to consider a friend. I learn stuff from her all the time ! I am not the most outgoing of people - at least with people that I don't know well.... but friends like Kathy help me realize that care and quilt chat is just an email away !

What Will This Become?

I love making felted fabric - it seems like magic to me. I have been making felted "fabric" starting with a base of 'pre-felted' wool (http://www.peak.org/~spark/fine.html & www. outbackfibers.com) but decided to try something different with this piece using Timtex as a base. It gets softer with age, use and washing yet remains strong and supple. The first picture below shows some of the rovings I am using in this piece & the second photo is the back of the felted Timtex... it has a really nice soft hand even now before washing and felting. I use the Bernina felting attachment on my beloved orange 153 QE. Today I had a heck of a time with broken needles - the first time I have ever broken any at all. I had no more precut needles in size 40 or 38 on hand so I winged it and cut some size 40 hand felting needles with my Dremel to fit in to the attachment -thankfully that worked and I had no further problems. I DID order some more precut felting needles from Denise at www.tryourdesigns.com. Denise is the owner and is a wonderful source of information about felting, felting machines, needles and supplies. Her product quality is wonderful and she ships quickly.

I owe my friend ,Bonnie, a birthday present (from February!) and had originally planned this piece for her - after I made it into a into a cell phone cover...but now I am thinking it should perhaps become a landscape or something. I'll have to see how it feels when it is felted. I use a vintage 1940's glass washboard for felting the fabric. It does a great job ! I'll play some more today and see what I decide. It may just be Bonnie's cell phone cover after all! Below are two of the cell phone covers - for a flip phone .

Magazine Addication; It's a Glossy Thing

My name is Marie and I am addicted to Magazines. This photo shows a small grouping of the most recent additions to my collection of glossy paged beauties. I subscribe to many - probably too many, although I have actually let a few slide this year. The ones I let go were replaced with other subscriptions . They must have called to me more urgently I guess. Generally, my selections follow my interests. I pass along several titles to my hairdresser - she likes my magazines because they add variety to what she already gets - things like Woman’s Wear Daily, Vogue , Harper’s Bazaar & People. My friend Maria, who is also a magazine hound, gives me gift subscriptions to magazines that I would never know existed if she didn’t! Domino and Cottage Style are about home design and decoration. I LOVE looking at them and imagining possibilities. I might get inspired to actually do something! These treasures get passed along to other equally decoratively challenged friends.

I have quilting magazines that go back to the 80’s (well - maybe even late 70’s). I am slowly whittling the piles down - removing articles that were dog- eared for interest. I have even managed to compile some of those whittled stacks into binders - labeled by interest topic. The recycle bins groan under the weight of the discarded portions of these treasured magazines. I feel the weight lifted from my ever encroaching clutter - almost a giddy release of the obligations of “projects never started”.

I promise myself that I will do better. Whittle more, sell off what I don’t care to go through. These treasures are, after all, quilt history right ?! I am trying. I hate clutter and yet my life is filled with it. So I am going to start where I can to reclaim some space. I’ll try to resist the urge to replace one patch of cleared shelf space with another title. No, I won’t relinquish my complete set of Quilting Arts Magazine or Cloth, Paper, Scissors. That would be painful - and besides - i might actually use those techniques !

I am glad that we have so many choices in our magazines. They all hold promise, adventure and possibilities - if only we could magically take the exemplars out of the pages & and make them manifest before our eyes ! Until that kind of mind control can happen however - I will probably continue to buy magazines . There are far worse addictions to have !
If anyone is longing for old issue of a quilting magazine - be sure to let me know !

It's All Sarah's Fault !

I get cold feet in the Winter. That’s what started this latest obsession. In 2002 my friend, Sarah Smith , made me a pair of wonderful knitted & felted “boots” - and suddenly I had warm feet. I feared that they would eventually wear out - I had to learn how to knit so that I could make another pair ! I had been a spinner at one point - and never once thought about learning how to knit. No one I knew knitted. Now I needed to learn. Sarah made a valiant effort to teach me. We bought the yarn and we bought the two circular needles that were required - we bought the book by Cat Bordhi “Socks That Soar”. Sarah might as well have been speaking Greek and the book might as well have been written in Swahili though - none of it made sense to me. I gave up learning to knit and decided I would just treat my “boots’ gently.

Jump forward to 2005 - I determined once again that I had to teach myself to knit. By this time Sarah had moved to Maine. I had no instructor now ! Well, I taught myself to knit - and it is wonderful ! I made not one or two but 6 pairs of those wonderful, warm boots. I have gifted them to friends who also suffer from cold feet - and they too have been warmed. I have made socks and totes and bags - lots of bags. One of my favorite objects are bowls. Beautiful, rounded bowls. Yes ! I have been able to make knitted & felted - and needle felted - bowls in all shapes and sizes. I am obsessed with bowls & bags. Last year I made 20 of them - large and small - and they were Christmas presents.

My latest series is small little bags that I have NO idea what i will do with. Sarah mentioned an internet site in one of her recent blog posts (www.justonemorerow.com). I just had to browse ! I found a wonderful little pattern called a Victorian Pence Pouch. Of course I had to have it. After I made a few of them I fiddled with the pattern to make it rounder and smoother - and more ‘feltable’. The photo above shows just a few of these little gems. I have started to once again vary the size and shape with blocking. Did I mention that I am also a Noro Kureyon and Noro Silk Garden yarn fanatic ? I just can never seem to walk by a yarn shop without picking up a ball or two of it .... great felting and glorious color combinations.