Scrap Wagon is Full

The last time I wrote, I told you there were woman who inspire me and I want to continue with the introductions.

This time I want you to meet Vicky. She is married to a farmer and has a young son. Vicky is a very happy woman and seems to be always on the upside of life. I simply cannot remember a time when she was not happy. Her son is just a darling child who has learned that when he is out with his mother, he must behave. Many parents do not teach their children this valuable lesson.

Vicky's love is scrap quilting. I do not know if her love of quilting with scraps comes from anything other than a real love of collecting a wide variety of fabrics, sorting them into containers by color, size and what other methods, but she certainly does a large amount of it.

Also Vicky is extremely frugal! I just love when she comes to our Saturday Sampler meetings and brings beautiful quilts to show and tells the others that this quilt "cost me about $15 in fabric". Most of Vicky's fabric selections come from our scrap bin!

This is a little red wagon with high sides and we often refer to it as "Vicky's wagon", we even have pictures of her quilts over the wagon. The other quilters are usually a bit jealous of the gorgeous quilts but readily admit that they do not enjoy digging through all the scraps in their homes to find just the right piece.

Recently she brought a pink quilt in and she blew us away; it was NOT made only from scraps. She had actually bought some fat quarters to augment her scraps.

Lest you think the quilt shop will close because of this frugal girl's quilting habits, fear not. Vicky always shops with us for her backings and they are as lovely as the tops. She has each quilt professionally quilted and then has truly a masterpiece to enjoy.

Personally, it would make me want to take up drinking for a hobby if I had to go through all those little bitty pieces to make a quilt, but Vicky inspires me with her beautifully coordinated and expertly constructed quilts.

Hey, Vicky B......the wagon's full, come on
down!

Jerry

Women Who Inspire Me

I have long been inspired by other women. Women who seem to accomplish much more than I can even dream of, women who just keep doing when others give up, women who are just amazing.

Miss Lucile is one such woman. I don't think she will be angry when I tell you that Miss Lucile is 92 years young. I say young because she really is young in heart and mind.

Lucile lives alone, not in my town, but a town a few miles down the highway and she drives herself wherever she wants to go. She comes to the quilt shop on a regular basis and never misses an event or sale. She never misses an opportunity to inspire each and everyone of us. She has told me on many occasions that when you stop using your mind, you will just die. You must keep learning new things and being active.

Lucile has a computer and has learned to keep in touch with everything out in the cyberworld and the happenings at the shop. She keeps in touch with family and friends this way also.

When she had learned that piece of equipment, Lucile bought herself an embroidery machine and proceeded to teach herself to use it. She has made some really amazing quilt with it. Not that her others are not amazing.

These are some images of a baby quilt she made using her embroidery machine on rose cuddle fabric. She has made several using this method. Mothers with new babies love to receive a quilt from Lucile.

Lucile takes classes to keep up with the latest techniques and methods. She told me her goal is to make 100 quilts and to also win "Best of Show" at the county fair.

I have some photos here of a quilt (unquilted) that she is entering in the fair tomorrow. It is embroidered on silk and is absolutely beautiful. We will get some photos after the fair, hopefully, with her ribbon attached.

Sorry some of the color is off but I was taking these with my phone. The quilt is truly beautiful and we wish Lucile the best of luck with the show.

All the girls at the shop keep telling Lucile that they want to be her when they grow up. I just told her that I wanted to be able to quilt as she does.

We are honored to call Lucile our friend.

Jerry

Lucile told me she has over $150 in thread alone in this quilt. Judging from the weight of the quilt, I can truly believe this. When I held it up at our First Saturday meeting last month I told her she would probably need help to bind it as it was so heavy. She informed me later that she did not need any help, she did it alone. You go Lucile!

The Generals' Wives - A new block of the month

Here is our new Generals' Wives Block of the Month. I designed this 12 month program to be a satisfying experience and yet not require so many hours that you do not feel you have time to make anything else.

If you are like me and most of my quilting friends, you want to work on more than one quilt at a time and the Generals' Wives will fill one of those slots. The blocks are 12" finished as are the finishing blocks. Each month you will complete one block and several of the finishing blocks so that when you have completed the 12 months, add the borders and you truly have a completed top.

The quilt measures 100" square and you will also be provided a free pattern to enlarge it to king size (124") if you choose.

Each month you will also enjoy a brief history of the wife for whom the block is named. These women were living during extremely difficult and dangerous times. For the wife on the Confederate side, the battlefield could literally be in your front yard. You were not safe nor were your children safe. Your home was very likely to be burned to the ground and all your worldly possessions confiscated. Your crops would have been burned and any livestock you possessed would be eaten by the enemy soldiers.

The fabric line created for this block of the month is a beautiful collection of civil war era designs and yet, they are not flat or dull. Some of the colors are a bit more vivid and bold. The wife of a general during this time was not a simple farm girl; she would typically have come from a wealthier family and would have been more highly educated than most of the women of that time. She simply would have had the means to have some of the finer things in life and the scraps from her garments would have found their way into her quilts.

Because the line of fabric is so pretty, I have also designed several additional quilts that will give you even more reasons to enjoy your passion for both the quilting and for the history.

I hope you enjoy the Generals' Wives and will look forward to the next in my series of Historical Quilts.