My Valentines are ready to send to Lenna for the swap. I’m so excited! as this is the first time I’ve participated in an International swap! I’ve done local swaps over the past few years – round robins for my quilting group, bag, and tag swaps. I hope the ladies receiving my hearts will be pleased! Off they go in tomorrow’s mail! They are made of woven fabric, and embellished with beads and fibers.
I found the picture of the quilt my friend Twila made for Shanette the current director of Kibbutz el-Shammah. So I happily share it with you! This past weekend I attended a quilt retreat held at StillWater Retreat in Yoder, IN. Their website is not up at this time. But they are just back from a mission trip to South Africa. They took three more quilts to the Kibbutz for us. And they brought back video of presenting the quilts to their owners. It is so cool to see the faces of the people we have made the quilts for, as previously they were just names. I don’t know if I can get the clip to play on my blog – will have to look into that.
Today I wanted to share the quilt my friend Twila made for the current director of Kibbutz el-Shammah. But alas, I can’t find a photo of it. So since I was thinking about the Kibbutz, I’ll share two other quilts sent to staff members. The two quilts shown came to me as one king size quilt top. I seamed ripped it in half, removed parts and then did new piecing in coordinating fabrics for the outside borders. I’m pleased with them. And I still have the parts I removed to start another quilt.
As a child did you ever make those paper Valentines where you cut two ovals, fold them in half and then cut slits in them? You ‘weave’ the two ovals together and end up with a heart pocket. I’m using that basic idea for the Valentine Swap. Only I’m fusing fabric to a stiff backing – the stuff used at the top of draperies. Then I started playing with couching fibers on to the edges of the slits. It looks pretty woven together. I’m thinking about beading some too. Fun!
Happy New Year to all who happen upon my blog! This year I am venturing into some new territories. The first is a family activity of geocaching. I gave John a GPS for Christmas and we have found 5 caches so far since Christmas. Today we trekked out in the snow to treasure hunt. It was a beautiful but cold day and we only ended up looking for and finding 2 caches. This time we took along stickers so we could trade treasures with others participating. The second new item on my list is that I’ve joined a Valentine swap hosted by Lenna Andrews Creative Swaps. The picture shows the fabric and fibers I’m using to create my Valentines. I’m so excited about this swap! To be in touch with other creative souls out side my small circle here at home is something I’ve dreamed of doing, and now I have finally taken the step. I’ll show you pictures of my progress and the final Valentines once I’ve mailed them off to Lenna.
This is the first of several quilts I will share that I’ve made for the staff of Kibbutz el-Shammah in Worcester, South Africa. This quilt was made for Erena who developed this Christian Kibbutz as a home for street children in the Roodewal area. The ministry has grown and changed over the years and Erena is no longer the director. But, on one of her visits to Indiana, she asked if I would make quilts for the staff. Over the past few years I have made many such quilts along with the help of several friends. I will show their quilts in upcoming posts.
It is Thanksgiving Day , and TA DA!! THIS is my first blog entry. The banner is a section of the quilt below. I made it several years ago for a challenge sponsored by the quilt group I used to attend. I used commercial and hand painted fabrics. The flower petals is the challenge fabric. This little quilt remains one of my favorites. My plan is to hang it in my newly remodeled kitchen See my husband’s blog of the remodel. 