Thursday, May 1, 2008

Winter is Not Over! - Part 1

















Jeez …. Spring has been here for a while now; but we’ve been having temperatures just below freezing lately and there have been some snow flurries reported in areas in Southern Ontario. So, on that note …. here is my ‘Winters of My Life’.

Done is a wonderful word. I would have thought that doing both machine quilting and hand quilting that this quilt would have been finished sooner …. but life got in the way.

This quilt was started back in November 2007 when Tonya offered an on-line class. I had wanted to do a word quilt and this class just fit the bill for me. The whole quilt was done free-form (with a few exceptions in the hand-quilting of trees and straight lines). The Baptist fan was a blast to do (something else that I have wanted to try). Just sitting down with a marker pen and drawing random arcs was very easy to do and stress-free as compared to working with a stencil.

Winter – I bought a packet of snowflake buttons at Wal-Mart and they have been used throughout this quilt




Igloo – Well, I do live in Canada, eh! As youngsters, we tried building igloos; but never could get the top part to stay in place. Do you like my inukshuk pin?












Icicles – Our house did not have insulation in the attic, so we grew marvelous icicles each winter.


















Blizzard – Oh, how do I love a blizzard ….. let me count the ways. Even today, I just love to hear the wind howling and watch the snow coming down. Mind you, indoors is a great way to experience this event. I used to love walking in a blizzard ….. everything was so quiet between the gusts of wind and there were never many people out and about except for my sister and her friend and I.



See next post for continuation ….

12 comments:

~Bren~ said...

What a great quilt! I loved watching it go together too. I think winter is finally over here. Thank Goodness!!!! It was long but I can NOT imagine -45 degrees!!!!

Vicki W said...

What a fantastic quilt!

Unknown said...

A trip down memory lane, I know all the things you talk about, I had forgotten all about the icicles, I used to eat them :) Fascinating quilt you did there Rose Marie.

MJMR said...

Loved this post. The quilt is great and the reasoning behind each part or section gives it wonder meaning. I really enjoy your posts.

Kieny The Dutchlady said...

I so love this quilt! It also brings back many childhood memories of winters in Holland. As Gudrun I also used to eat the icicles pretending it was icecream. And I loved to see the "iceflowers" (as we call them in Dutch) on the windows.

Joyce said...

I totally love the winter quilt even though I don't totally love winter at this point. I guess I better get mine out and try to finish it too.

Anne Heidi said...

Love Love Love your winter quilt!!! It is just PERFECT!!! I love the word Done as well... makes you feel sooo good, doesn't it?

Andrea said...

It is gorgeous and well worth the wait. I really enjoyed watching it's progress. If you ever tire of it give me a shout - lol ! I used to eat icicles too when the winters were much worse than they are now. Don't think my kids have ever seen icicles.

Tanya said...

That is just wonderful! You win the prize for best quilt! I had to enlarge and look at each and every one of your pictures in the series and am so amazed at your quilting! All that thought put into your choice of words and figures and the quilting through out is stunning! I love the way the forest is quilted in behind the trees! Such a bunch of great ideas!

I hate to mention this to you but you really should make this a season quilt and do summer, spring and fall...

Christine said...

Love your winter quilt. Absolutely stunning and so much work. I have to finish a quilt for another quilter in similar colours for a Christmas swap. Feel very inspired by your quilt.

Magpie Sue said...

You did a great job with this! I especially like the strip of icicles (triangles) near the top.

Helen said...

Well done you! Mine is still in pieces!