December 2016 – Page 3 – OccasionalPiece

This picture-filled post shows when a bunch of the local Good Heart Quilters (my little quilting group) got together to trade Christmas Tree blocks (pattern found on this post).

Usually we don’t meet in December, but then Leisa had this idea about these Christmas Tree blocks. Those who were interested in the swap came together in a Flash Mob Quilt Night; we had a great time, although family trips and sickness prevented some from coming.

We’re nothing if not helpful. Some of us had our trees already made, so we all pitched in a sewed, ironed and trimmed the others’ blocks so we all went away with our set.

We dealt out all the blocks. I asked everyone to count their blocks, for after an evening of letting loose with children-and-husband-and-life stories, lots of laughing (too many delicious cookies) I couldn’t be depended on to get the numbers right.

This is one of mine, made afterwards, with a bit of my husband’s blue-and-white plaid shirt.

Fun fussy-cutting.

Now I either need to make 4 more blocks, or rethink everything and add a ton more. We could use another Christmas TV-watching quilt, because of:

The Crown, streaming off of Netflix, fictionalizing Queen Elizabeth as a young woman.

Poldark, on PBS (we watched the first season via CDs from Netflix).

And apparently Endeavor, a crowd-pleaser in our house, will return for a fourth season.

Oh, and then there’s that big event called Christmas, which needs some time…Happy Quilting!

Not Waving, But Drowning
Quilt #173
39″ high by 43″ wide

This quilt began its life in a quilt block I designed, which I call Semaphore. My friend Cindy saw that and made a version for a fabric manufacturer, who then put it on a world tour (see a photo at the end). I saw it again at Quilt Market in May 2016, and decided I wanted one myself, only larger.

I purchased several charm packs of solids, and arrayed them all out by color family and from dark to light, using several color groupings. There were many duplicate squares, but after I felt I had a good amount, I went to work.

I titled the block Semaphore, but always in the back of my mind while I was working on this quilt was the poem titled “Not Waving, but Drowning,” by Stevie Smith, about a man who gets in trouble while out in the waves. He drowns because people think he was waving, but in reality, he was signaling for help.

I think the half-square triangles look like a series of nautical flags, waving in the wind. I decided to quilt it also in a wavy pattern, but didn’t want a tightly controlled wave.

I wanted those waves loose and lanky, wild and woolly, just like those ones that come up and splat you in the face when you are wave-jumping in summer.

I love the colors in this quilt, and the up and down fluid movement of the quilting. It calls me to remember that our lives, like the ocean, can lift us high, can hit us in the face, can overwhelm (as in Stevie Smith’s poem), yet also can bring a lovely memory of a summer’s day. In a nutshell, it reminds me that life is full of ups and downs, a blend of dark and light. It’s also a reminder that, in spite of what we post on Instagram and Facebook, we all aren’t having tons of fun and radiantly happy all day long. But we also don’t want to be drowning when we are in reality signaling for help. So, take care of your loved ones and friends, and please please…take care of yourself.

And keep quilting.

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cindyquiltsemaphore — Cindy’s quilt at Quilt Market, using the Semaphore block.

(NOTE: This post has been updated with different content after original publication. It was originally about depression. Thank you all for your comments; I have them saved and will reread them often.)