I learned to sew around age ten, and I started with clothing. My mom sewed all of my Dad’s shirts, most of my sister and my clothes, and many of my three brother’s shirts. She also re-upholstered furniture, made curtains, made doll clothing, did mending and alterations for friends and neighbors, made I-don’t-know-how-many plaid uniform skirts for girls from our grade school and our high school… and I picked up her love of all things textile early on. I begged to go along to the fabric shop with her, and picked out patterns and fabric before I ever learned to make things myself.
Funny, though, my sister never had any interest; still doesn’t. As my sister says, “why do I need to know how to sew, if I need something done, I can just ask you or Mom.” She has a good point. It’s not like we’ve ever said no to her.
This week I made a valance for her youngest, my sweetie pie niece, Zoe Grace. She’s the doll I made the owl pillow for, and there is a quilt in the works to match the valance and pillow.
Click on the photo above to see a clearer larger version on Instagram, I added the hugs and kisses fussy cut detail to set it off! The walls are a very pretty turquoise color, and I had a tough time getting a good pic with my iPhone, but you sort of get the idea…
She has a butterfly garland on order for the walls, and other butterfly decor plans. And these curtain rod finials are just too cute!
I can’t talk her momma into it, but maybe I’ll get lucky and Zoe Grace will want to learn how to sew one day!
June has been a bust month for our chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild… my house was one of the drop off points for entries to go into our first local Modern Quilt show! On the 15th, my husband and I drove to Ames with the entries and met up with Jill of Modern Quilt Relish, and Greta, the curator at the gallery. Two hours later, we had the show hung!
This last Sunday evening we had an artist’s reception, and several of us collaborated to give an impromptu Gallery Talk with Q&A. We were incredibly pleased to have such a good turn out to our gallery opening!
One of my two entries is the blue and yellow Row House Creations Fox in a Box quilt shown here, next to a “clothesline” display of mug rugs and my friend Emma’s fun “piece, love, quilt” quilt:
The show is on display through July 25th. For more pics, check out our guild’s Flickr pool. Our guild has also been busy making a charity quilt to benefit a local hospice center; the fundraiser is sponsored by our local Harley Davidson dealer, and so our colors for the quilt are “Harley” colors (orange, grey, black)… here’s my block:
It’s looking really good so far, a friend of mine is quilting it for us on her long arm. I’ll be sure to show you the finished quilt!
made by a brunnette 
And your show in Ames is at? I’d love to see it and have some travel going that way. And my sister is the same way, I have you, why should I learn? Well now she lives along ways away, so that’s why!
Dee, it is at the Unitarian Universalist Gallery in the Round, 1015 Hyland, Ames, IA.
You have been busy! That is so awesome that you had such a beautiful quilt show! Wow. I love your valences. My mom used to sew a lot, too. Lots of my clothes. Lots of her own clothes. She’s really good. I think notions and everything must have been cheaper then, because it was cheaper to sew it yourself than buy it. Not really any more…. And my sister is the same way….no interest.
You’re so fortunate to have a little girl to sew for! The valances you made are adorable. And how great it is to see that DSMMQG is thriving. The quilt show/display looks really good – impressive. I wish I could have been there. Thanks for sharing about this.