Other People's Stuff

 Just because this is my blog, doesn't mean I can't share what some of my friends are doing! These photos are from the Tuesday night quilt class, a bunch of really creative and amazingly productive quilters!

Meet Anne:

 She didn't want me to put her in the picture, but I told her I'd lose my Obnoxious Photographer badge if I didn't. This is a tree quilt that's come together after a somewhat scattershot existence. The backstory on this is that Anne, like many of us, has always had a lot more inspiration and ambition than actual time for quilting. (Right? Right!) But once she retired, she seemed to get a whole lot more energized. Yeah, I wouldn't have thought it possible, either. But, she sold her house and moved into a retirement community, and in between serving as program chairman, and then president of their residents' board, she started to organize her stash.

I can feel you cringing from here. She's turned out an incredible number of quilts since she moved--the community lifestyle suits her well, and she's even organized a quilting group among the residents.  She's been finding old UFOs and finishing them along the way. These blocks are a case in point. She said that almost every time she opened a box or bag, there were one or two of these blocks in it, some in more finished stages, others much less. Now, they are all together and with the addition of some side triangles, the quilt is nearing completion.

 I fully expect to see her quilting on this one by next week.

Here's another one of  her quilting efforts:

This little quilt has a long story behind it that you really don't want to hear about. (No, really you don't. Trust me on this!) I gave her the top--which has a twin--after I'd tried an unsuccessful effort to conjoin them. Not a good idea. Now she's got this one just about done, and she'll be quilting the other one soon. Turns out to be the right size for a lap quilt for a person who needs a wheelchair, or spends a lot of time in a chair--doesn't drag on the floor, but keeps the legs and lap nice and cozy. A win any way you look at it! (And two less UFOs in my stash, too!)

The next two pictures are of Louise's Rooty Tooty Fruity quilt--that's an adorable fruit print with all those pastel colors. Louise did this one from a Charlotte Angotti class--I love the way the colors go together!

The quilting design really complements the blocks:

 This is Nonie's quilt for her son. You really need to click on this one to see all the detail in it! Each one of those center squares is a different really cute print; the setting is simple but effective, and the colors are terrific.

The quilts you see in the background are class samples displayed in the classroom we're using, at New Moon Textiles. I love being able to teach there!

One last observation: today would have been my son Andy's 49th birthday. He shared his birthday with John Lennon, and was a huge Beatles/Lennon fan. Like John Lennon, he was taken from us way too soon.

So today was remembering my sweet boy and the wonderful man he grew up to be. His legacy lives on in his children, Kristin and Brian and their fantastic mom, Marian.

Andrew Robert Watterlond

Oct. 9, 1963--October 2, 2004