Music to my ears.........

I love music. I am so glad that I can hear music. I love to sing and I am often whistling (sometimes I forget and start whistling in church!). Perhaps it is the Irish in me and some long ago ancestor who passed along her singing genes, but I cannot live without music. I think my Irish heritage is where I get my story-telling genes, too, and there's a wee bit o'Scottish blood in the mix, too. Then there are my quilting genes and the quilt in this photo is an example of the "genes" my Grandma Goldie handed down........
I love the colors in this quilt and the handstitching. I am thinking of my Grandma Goldie today because this day would be her birthday. She passed away several years ago, but I still mark her birthday in my calendar each year. While she made the quilt that's in the picture above, her real gift was playing the piano. That's how she met my grandpa. The story goes that he wanted to get to know her so he began taking piano lessons from her when she was 16 and he was 15. My great Aunt Elsie told me that story and said it was so. :-) My grandma played the piano for church for over 50 years! During that time she played many times when my sister and I would sing for church suppers or bridal showers. So many of my quilting and music memories are tied together that it is hard to seperate them. Recalling Grandma as she played is "music to my ears".

And with thoughts of music and the fact that St. Patrick's day is coming up in just a few days, I have something special to share...... There is a chance for you to listen to some lovely Irish music if you live in the area of Mankato, MN. I've mentioned Amy Korteum before but let me introduce her again. This is Amy, on the harp, and her musician friends who are playing beautiful Celtic music............more "music to my ears"!

Yes, they are playing in the great outdoors but this was taken last summer when they were the featured artists at "Music on Main" held in downtown Henderson, MN. :-) You all know it's March and here in Minnesota there is still a lot of snow on the ground! I can remember how beautiful and lively the music was, Amy's sweet voice as she sang those folk songs........and her wonderful laugh!!! If you want to know more, go here, and you can check out Amy's website and even listen to a bit of her music. You'll also see where she will be playing in the next few weeks. I wanted to go the concert this Saturday night but I am not going to be able to do that. Instead, I am planning to go to her solo harp concert later this month. If you live nearby, you should really go and listen to her music. A testament to her talent is the recent award of a grant that she was awarded from the Minnesota State Arts Board. She will be visiting Ireland this summer where she will be playing and studying at a traditional harp festival and also participating in private instruction and competitions. It is a well-deserved honor! And that's no blarney!

Have a good day all!

Sandi

Grandma's Garden and Seasons BOM for May

Just outside the front porch of my Grandma's farmhouse, there were two large white snowball bushes. I loved those bushes when they bloomed. I don't remember many other flowers at Grandma's house but she had a vegetable garden and always grew a good crop of sweet corn. I can still see the aluminum pans hanging from the fence near the corn that were intended to rattle in the breeze and scare away the raccoons although I don't recall ever seeing a real racoon. Grandma did, though, and would certainly get mad when they got into her garden. And so, it was thoughts of my Grandma Goldie that inspired me to use Hexagons for the May block.

Hexagons were abundant in a wide variety of Grandmother's Flower Garden quilts that were made in the 30's, 40's and 50's. Sure, there have been GFG quilts made since then in lots of colors and many reproduction prints but the quilts made during those decades were filled with feedsack fabrics and bits of clothing scraps and just spoke of "cheer". Someone once noted that women had to put some color and cheer into their lives because the depression and war years were so depressing. I suspect there is some truth to that and yet, the quilts that women made then are anything but depressing. I grew up in the 50's and don't recall that I ever saw a feedsack until a few years ago but I know the fabrics from them were in many of the quilts made by Grandma Goldie, Great Grandma Lillie, Aunt Marie and other members of the Ladies Aide Society. I think I've told you this before but I can see the white and pink painted cement walls in the church basement where the ladies set up the quilting frame and did their work and where church suppers and Bible School were held. It's a memory that can make me feel good just by letting it pass through my mind. :-) I hope that you have or are making good quilting and life memories. Sometimes there are some sad memories along the way but even those have some element of good in them. I was blessed to have my Grandma until her 90th year and my Aunt Bell, who raised my mother lived into her late 80's. And I am blessed that my own mother is still living and you know that because I head to Iowa on a regular basis to visit her. :-) We still enjoy shopping for fabric together and sharing stitching ideas and crafty fun!!!

As you can see in the photo of my block, I used buttonhole stitch around each hexagon after fusing the shapes to the background piece. You could also use traditional applique methods, too. No rules here, just be creative and have fun!!

As of this minute, fifty of you have joined my new group where I will be posting the PDF files for all future Seasons blocks. Please see my post from yesterday for all the details. I will send out an e-mail to all of you and the PDF files for this month and will be encouraging you to join the group. Creating a group where we can discuss techniques and I can easily load files that you can download at your convenience will be so much nicer. The response to this change has been overwhelmingly positive but I would appreciate any thoughts or comments that you care to share.

Have a good evening!

Sandi

P.S. The Snowman block for May will be posted on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I also sketched the Snowman for June. They're both really cookin'! ;-)