Hello everyone! It's a beautiful sunny day (before three more days of predicted rain) and I hope you are spending some time outside like I am, soaking up some Vitamin D - you can sew tonight after dark! haha I am desperately trying to catch up on gardening chores....Anyhoooo, I just have a few links for you today, which I thought you might enjoy.... The first comes from Gail Mitchell. She recently wrote a post for the Stan Cassidy Rehab Centre blog about her experience volunteering. The article features the Nines and Vines quilt that Gail pieced and our Guild members handquilted, back in January/February of 2011. Click here to read the article and see the photos.
The other link I have for you is purely for your entertainment. Many of you know that I sing in the Fredericton Ladies Choir (as does "our Energizer Bunny" Jeanne Kaye S). At our recent spring concert, we performed a piece called The Quilt, written by composer/songwriter Donna Rhodenizer of Kentville, N.S. I think you would enjoy hearing it, so here is a link to a YouTube video of that performance. The music is beautiful, and the words very meaningful to anyone who has memories of a special quilt, made by a grandmother or other loved one.... I hope you'll give a listen:
http://youtu.be/U0nWsejbhfk
Here are the lyrics:
The Quilt
My favourite quilt was black and red, it graced the foot of Gramma's bed;
An heirloom made to last through time, 'twas made with care and stitches fine.
A piece of history cut to fit a pattern, far more intricate
Than all the pieces on their own, but all together finely sewn
In a Blazing Star, Fox and Geese, Dresden Plate and Butterfly.
The colours and the patterns joining in a joyful dance.
A piece of Gramma's wedding dress, the sky blue of my Grampa's vest,
The softest yellow known on earth, reminder of a baby's birth.
Small scraps and pieces of a life too small to keep, perhaps they might
Be useful in the larger scheme of things remembered, hoped and dreamed
In a Lover's Knot, Wedding Ring, Ship of Dreams and Old Maid's Eyebrows.
The names alone were cause to tremble at the sheer romance.
The time has passed, my Gramma's gone, her legacy is carried on,
Her memory will always be as close as her quilt next to me.
I run my hand across the squares, remembering each story there.
A chance to smile or shed a tear and keep one's family always near
In a Rising Sun, Hourglass, Happy Thought and Jessie's Diamond.
Something precious, something grand, created by another's hand
From little scraps and bits of cloth, the fabric of a life.
In a Blazing Star, Fox and Geese, Ship of Dreams and Jessie's Diamond.
Something precious, something grand... Thank you, Gram.Aren't those beautiful lyrics? I bet you know most all of the quilt patterns mentioned, but have you ever heard of one called Old Maid's Eyebrows? It was certainly a new one for me...
Beautiful.
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