only 19 more days--nor'easter riley

As the snow swirls around my window (doesn't that sound dramatic--or is it just cliched) there are believe it or not only 19 more days until the Vernal Equinox. And today's entry into the spring cleaning is my wonderful quilt "study in stripes".

Don't you love the geometry of this quilt? Aren't the colors perfect for spring? Yes, it is based on the traditional log cabin pattern although I have played with the design. I made it by piecing and quilting the many strips of cotton fabric going through the cotton batting onto the back. Yes, I had to tie off threads at every seam. Argh!!!

study in stripes--detail--ann brauer

At 12 x 48 inches wouldn't this be a dramatic table runner for the spring? Wouldn't this look great in either a modern home or a country cottage.

study in stripes--quilt--12x48"--ann brauer 2013

Of course you could also hang it as an accent piece in that nook that needs a bit of color and design. I have attached looped tape on the top and bottom  and provide you with the matching hooked tape and faux wood to attach to the wall.

study in stripes--detail--ann brauer 2013

For some reason, this quilt needs a good home so I have decided to reduce it from $400 to $225--at least until spring comes. Of course I signed it. The quilt is listed here https://www.etsy.com/listing/176420147 on my Etsy shop. If you want to hang it horizontally let me know and I can attach the looped tape for an additional $20 fee.

study in stripes--detail--ann brauer

my mother's mother--day 34

When I think of my mother's mother, the word I would use is "nice". She had wonderful white hair. She did not live with us but would come and when she came to visit us she would sit on the porch and count the number of white cars that went by on the highway. She would bring my sister and I color by number sets with pencils and then sit at the dining room table and help us complete the images. After all she had attended the Art Institute of Chicago when it was a finishing school for young women.

When she left my sister and I would redo her coloring since it was always too light. We called her Grandmother.

And yes, she also made quilts. Not the intricate original quilts of my other grandmother but the carefully pieced quilts that women did back then just because it was the thing to do. The Grandmother's Flower Garden and Trip Around the World. The appliqued flowers. All in wonderful soft pastels.

She died when I was still in grade school. Only later did I learn that while she may not have been much of an artist, she was a sound business woman who guided my Grandfather's string of grocery stores through the Great Depression. When they finally closed, she then ran the Candy Stores which supported the family for many years after that.

I also learned that rather than dreading her regular visits to us on the farm, she looked forward to being in the country which was where she had been raised.

As an adult I wish I had gotten to know her a better. What was the price she paid for being both nice and a business woman back then? How did she balance every thing?

In many ways, this quilt--Summer Garden--which I made a number of years ago is a tribute to her and that generation. Its sister is actually in the collection of the American Museum of Art + Design in New York (although they don't usually show it)  and was part of the Six Continents of Quilts Show in 2001. How hard this quilt was to make--can you see the roots not only in Grandmother's Garden but also in the log cabin pattern. Each of the seams had to be tied off at both ends. I even used different colors of black fabric to give even more substance to the piece.  Of course each block was different. And yet the whole is certainly more than the sum of the parts, at least in my opinion.

summer garden--about 90x90 inches--Ann Brauer--2001--image by John Polak

one row at a time

Recently I was in my local Farm and Garden chatting with Pat--the very competent owner. As those who follow me probably know, I have a large garden. Lots of flowers. Mainly daylilies. Then there are also all the vegetables. The lettuce and peas. The onions. Basil. Tomatoes. This year I got some radishes. Spinach.

But April and May it always seems like an insurmountable task.  How will I ever find time to prepare the beds. Pull out the grass that invariable seems to grow over the winter. Add the compost. Plant the seeds and seedlings. Much less weed them. Argh!!! What am I thinking? Where can I find the time?

Pat asked how my new studio was coming along.

Pretty well, I said. I hope to move in May. Though how I will find time to do it is beyond me.

I know she said. I have the same problem especially this time of year. Isn't it amazing how one can never get everything done? Just do something. Keep going. One row at a time.

I thought of those wise words as I started my most recent quilt. It was an order I took some time ago. Wonderful people who have ordered before several time. They called last week. How was it coming along? Oops. Time to finish it, isn't it?

Now I know it will be fabulous when I get it done. But it is the process of getting there that will take some time. The quilt is based on this lovely wall hanging--or is it a table runner?

blue and yellow--Ann Brauer--2013

 

More traditional than many of my recent quilts. Indeed it is based on the courthouse steps pattern. But the colors give it the dimension. And it is popular. I had another order for one large square as a table topper which I just finished. Dramatic, isn't it?

blue and yellow square--20x20"--Ann Brauer

This order though is for one long quilt with nine blocks. It is to hang over a window in a particular narrow space.  Yes, that will take a while. You see this is another quilt as you go project. So I must pull up and tie off all the threads. One row at a time.

back of quilt--Ann Brauer

After all I want the back to be neat and gorgeous also. That is part of the process.

Well, there is no way to finish but to start and keep going. One block at a time.

block of blue and yellow--Ann Brauer

I guess that is a start. I pin it up next to the original. Maybe it will get inspired and duplicate itself. Nope. I think I just have to keep sewing.

progress--Ann Brauer

And sewing. And sewing. Finally some progress. Enough so I can at least play with the design. Which way to piece it together. This way?

four pieces--Ann Brauer

Or this way?

four pieces--Ann Brauer

What do you think? Only five more blocks to go. Then to join the blocks together. Do the bindings. Add the looped tape for hanging. What was I thinking? Will I ever finish? Meanwhile today I think I will prepare one more row in my garden. After all, isn't that how to get the garden planted?


And you--how do you tackle a large job? One that seems to go on and on. Forever.