Redwork pieces

Despite the fact that is the first full day of spring, we have a nice snow storm going on outside.  Scout enjoys playing "snowball":

My Nana Betty had hot flashes from the time she was a child until she was a senior.  As an artist, she said the one color she disliked was red--because to her it was a "hot color".  Despite Nana's considerable influence on me, I love the color red.

 I love the color -- a lot.

 Because of my passion for red, the family's Hall pottery was sent my way.

Because red is a "hot" color and it is snowing out, I thought I would post some redwork pieces.  None appear on quilts.  They are linens like splashers and shams.  The motifs are appealing to me.

 Above baby piece, not constructed as a bib but seems to be a piece of linen that could be used as one.  

Below:  Reminiscent of Kingsley's Water Babies.

Below:  I think this might be a sham.  The quote is from Longfellow's poem, "The Song of Hiawatha."  Hiawatha motifs were still popular in the early 20th century despite the fact that the poem was published in 1855.  I suspect it was a poem that children often had to memorize.

For those of you in the Northeast during this snowy day:  Stay safe and warm!

Memories of hand quilting

I belong to the Crazy Quilters Guild in Emmaus, PA.  Next week the guild has a drive for baby quilts to send to Puerto Rico.  I finished this baby quilt years ago.  It was the last piece I hand quilted.

My friend Linda commented at the time that she was watching my quilting demise.  Each piece I made had larger and less even stitches.  My workmanship was so bad that after this quilt was complete, I stopped hand quilting all together.

Like many quilters, I had to have surgery on my right hand and will eventually have the left hand done too.  It's funny because when I looked at this quilt, it all came back to me.  I could barely grasp my needle when I did this.

But I also remember the fun part of handquilting.  My granddaughter would stay here while her parents worked and I would quilt while she napped.  It was relaxing and soothing and I do miss the act of actually rocking my needle.

I hadn't even bothered to bind the quilts.  They ended up being completed when my husband was in a coma and I need something to keep do to keep sane while I sat in the hospital.  Husband is fine now; binding is mediocre (at best) but it is a finished piece.  I've had a few these quilts stored away and if I hadn't recently reorganized, I probably wouldn't have remember them at all.  

My friend Beth says that there just comes a time when one knows it is time to save the hands.  She has given up a lot of handwork she has done too.  We'd rather be able to continue sewing what we love. 

For me, I'd rather be able to embroider and have things machine quilted.  

Today we are recovering from a Nor'easter here in Pennsylvania and the wind continues to blow.  I hope you are safe and having a restful Sunday!