= Quilts + Music
A very simplistic definition of quiltmaking is cutting fabrics into different shapes and stitching layers of material together. Of course the reality of making a quilt is much more complex. Often the maker has a vision of the final product when they begin -- whether following a pattern or creating improvisationally, there is an idea… Continue reading You Are My Sunshine
Winter can be a paradoxical season. On the one hand, snow is truly beautiful and the season beckons for low key activities like baking, sewing and reading. On the other hand, the short days (especially at the latitude where I live) and cold weather put a major damper on my energy levels. I basically consider… Continue reading Slow Down
I am a big believer in extending the life of useful things. Around the Quiltunes household you'll find reused objects in every room because that is how we roll. Sour cream containers, toilet paper tubes and food scraps live at least one more life before moving on to their final resting place. As examples, toilet… Continue reading Pump It Up
Making my life simpler is a continuous, and ever evolving, goal of mine. I get a lot of joy in living simply, enjoying the small things and minimizing my impact on this planet. As anyone who has ever worked with me knows, I am also all about efficiency. Time and resources are precious, folks! I… Continue reading Mushaboom
Like many folks, I have very mixed emotions about social media and its effects on society. As a late adoptee of the medium, I was encouraged by an artistic friend to join Instagram after hearing about all of the amazing artists -- and connections -- she discovered via the platform. Damn was she ever right… Continue reading Space Oddity
I imagine that the person charged with selecting the first song on an album has a hard job. I mean obviously not in the same way that being a paramedic is hard, but still, it is probably an arduous task to make sure that the first song is dynamite. Think about it, there is a… Continue reading Free Fallin’
Who doesn't love a good whodunnit? I am all for a good mystery, which hearkens back to childhood weekends spent with my maternal grandparents. On Saturdays, we made our first stop at the library to pick up a week's worth of books and then onward to the thrift store to dig for eight tracks. I… Continue reading Mysterious Ways
I have a working hypothesis that sewing and fishing are a nearly identical activity. Lest you think I've lost my marbles, simply hear my evidence in support of this theory. Both activities are time consuming and result in the fulfillment of a necessity, food and warmth. Both involve small sharp objects that poke your fingers,… Continue reading Birdsong
Music is my most intense memory trigger; it is easy for me to descend the slippery slope of sentimentality with just a few notes from a song. I recently returned from a long trip down memory lane courtesy of my ipod Claude. Claude dates back to around 2004 and is essentially an antique. Many years… Continue reading For the love of Claude
Quilt in the wild The day I sat down to write this post, one headline in my morning news perusal contained the words "dire" and "now or never" in regard to the annual U.N climate report. What interesting timing that this story happened to coincide with me wrangling my thoughts around a quilt that is… Continue reading Fever for the Bayou
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