Category Archives: 2021

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Alaskan Heritage

Why do we stash fabrics away, sometimes for years? I’ve been collecting Alaskan fabrics forever, some of them from Alaskan trips, some from the Pacific Northwest. Alaska, where I was born, where I lived as a child, is part of who I am. Among friends, I sometimes refer to myself as Alaska girl.

So one wonderful day, inspired by the totem fabric which I had considered too awful to use, I knew what to do, how to do it, and I was excited! Inspired! The fabrics chose themselves – stars from the dark cold winter skies, bear, seashells, evergreens, gold (Alaskans were really into gold, especially nuggets. We could pan for gold in our own back yards, in our creeks. A Rie Munoz print called Blanket Toss, an old Alaska Native American tradition. The coming of statehood to Alaska – fireworks! Salmon! Eagles! The Northern Lights!

A lot of snowy whites, even a little yellow snow, LOL. Whitecap whites. Glacier whites. Foggy whites. Snowflake whites. Can you tell how much fun I had working on this quilt, and how easily it came together? This is one of the last quilts I showed at a quilter’s meeting; one of the rare ones we held in 2021 when we thought COVID might be abating.

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And then A Quilt For Naomi’s Bubble Teacher

We were all trying to be so careful during COVID. When the schools went remote, our family hired a teacher who didn’t want the exposure of the classroom to teach a small bubble of children in a large home classroom. It was a great arrangement – the kids all loved the teacher, got enough socializing while also getting a lot of individual attention, got their work done – and then, horror of horrors, the teacher came down with COVID. As these things go, you can be as careful as can be, and you never know where it comes from.

The teacher had loved the quilt I made for Naomi, and asked if she could pay me to make one for her. I told her no. I never make a quilt on commission, quilts are so personal, and she could tell me exactly what she might want and be horrified by what might be the result. I told her to tell me the colors she likes the best, and I would make a quilt for her, for her efforts and her time with our bubble, because she was a genuinely devoted teacher to our bubble.

She told me she loved greens and golds, all the colors of the forest. She particularly wanted the close quilting she had seen on Naomi’s quilt. I knew just the pattern, and I had a great collection of greens, one of my own favorite colors.

When I make a wacky star quilt, I always make way more blocks than I need, so I can choose the blocks for the first quilt, and use the rest for other quilts.

She loved the quilt. And when I started working with the leftover blocks, I discovered I had enough for another larger quilt, one I actually liked even better. I gave it to my good friend, who has a son who loves it and pulls it out all the time to cuddle in it. I know, because one of the things I love about her is that she takes photos and sends them to me.

Breathes there a quilter with soul so shriveled that she/he doesn’t tingle with joy when she sees a quilt made with love being used with love?

Same fabrics, totally different looks, and two very happy friends. As a quilter, I live for this to happen 😘😊😁❤️⭐️✨.