There Are Moments
You’re reading this blog because 37 years ago an Amish woman invited me to sit down next to her and put a few stitches into a quilt. I had never seen a quilt in frame before, and I wasn’t all that familiar with Amish people either.
There are moments that define us. We may not recognize them at the time, but looking back it is easy to see the profound impact a single moment can have in our lives. A single moment, a gesture of friendship, can be life-changing.
In the summer of 1975 I was about to start my senior year of college. As an anthropology major I was required to write a thesis that year, and I had decided to study the Old Order Amish. There was a large community close by, my advising professor had an “in” and I showed up at a barn raising one steamy August day hoping to meet Harry Stutzman. He and his family had allowed several introductory anthropology classes to visit their dairy farm. My plan was to somehow make a connection which would allow me to study Amish culture by participating in it.
I met Harry as he and about 40 other Amish men were taking a break in the shelter of a tool shed across the road from the barn that was being rebuilt. Only the young men were still working on the framing as it drizzled. I felt everyone’s eyes on me. It didn’t help that I had driven up to the barn twice before (turning around each time, driving back to the main road) trying to work up enough courage to stop and get out of my car. I’m sure they were quite interested to know what an English girl (non-Amish) with out-of-state plates was doing driving back and forth on this small country lane.
Harry smiled and shook my hand. He walked me over to the barn and we stood chatting in the center of the structure as the hammering went on above us. I felt like an idiot. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, I didn’t have much experience with barns. It was really hard keeping up my end of the conversation. After a while Harry suggested I drive over to a “quilting” and meet Ida, his wife.
Geographically challenged anyway, and totally befuddled with directions that included only compass points, type of road surface and references to curves and hills, I set out for the quilting, whatever that was. I was used to roads with names, traffic lights, and landmarks that were buildings. I got so lost I had to ask an Amish man on a bicycle for directions. I must have looked really confused because he offered to have me follow him there!
Ida invited me to sit down next to her at the frame. I knew what a quilt was but had no idea how they were made. I didn’t expect to see something that looked like a giant trampoline. She asked if I wanted to quilt. I wanted her to like me, so I said yes. Did I need a thimble? No, I didn’t need one. All the women around the frame giggled.
I tried to imitate the quilting stitch, thinking it was a peculiar way to sew since the object seemed to be to push the needle straight down without any clue where it was going to come out on the other side. Then, unbelievably, you had to find the needle by touch (I didn’t see any of the women bending over to stick their heads under the trampoline to find their needle) and push the needle back up again without the benefit of sight. My stitches were huge and I bled all over the quilt, top and bottom.
Still, somehow, I found the process and the camaraderie of the women sewing together as appealing as it was painful. Long story short, after I finished my thesis I asked Ida to teach me how to quilt. For years I wouldn’t quilt a top until I had driven back to Indiana to show Ida. She always told me I had done well. Without her encouragement I never would have had the confidence to continue.
I am a quilter because of Ida. The moment when I first sat around that quilting frame changed my life.
Ida and I became good friends over the years. Visits with Ida and her family always included recalling the several months after we met when I stayed with the family. I dressed Amish, learned how to milk cows, pick corn, hitch up a buggy, and find my way around on the country roads. I was given an incredible opportunity to learn about Amish life. Most of all I have been blessed to have Ida and Harry and the Stutzman family as part of my life.
On Friday night I got a phone call that Ida had “gone to eternity.” She was 91. Harry and their daughter Martha preceded her in death. Mourning Ida’s passing are her nine living children, 43 grandchildren, 98 great grandchildren, and an English girl in Flint, Michigan whom she taught to quilt.
Thank you, Ida. You will always be in my heart.
Scooter Blogs Again
Mom is a little miffed that I get more hits and more comments on her blog than she does, but she will just have to get over it. So keep ‘em coming, OK?
I have much to tell you. Because I am very interesting.
And loving. I love to be with Mom and Debbie who works with Mom. You can see me right in between their two chairs when they are working on something IMPORTANT at the computer. Unfortunately I have since been banished from this position due to enthusiastic wagging when my tail and rear end accidentally came too close to the reset button on Mom’s computer.
I am also fairly clean. I mostly get bathed when Mom cleans the house which is only when company comes, so for the most part I am safe. I may look forlorn in this picture, but I climb in the tub all by myself. I can also climb out, but prefer not to because of the yelling and grabbing that ensures as Mom tries to pull me back in before my paws hit the carpet. I shake BEHIND the curtain.
When company comes it is my job to entertain them because, well, Mom is kind of boring. I prefer fetching. They throw, I fetch. It doesn’t seem to work very well the other way around. Eventually I always tire them out.
I have learned more about the couch recently. My balls roll underneath it. A lot. When I bend over to get them out, my eyes don’t go down low enough to see them, so I stick my front legs under there and try to swim closer. Since I can’t see what I am doing it is very hard to get my toys out.
I have discovered that there is a behind to most things. My behind has a tail. The behind of the couch has a nice hiding place where the balls go. I have learned how to squeeze behind the couch and hide there too. I am very quiet. Even when Mom calls my name. This is a picture of my behind, behind the couch.
Mom went on a trip recently. I helped her pack. I am not fond of her leaving. I sulk and mope by the back door and wait for her to come home. People feel sorry for me. I get hugs. Leaving isn’t good. Coming home is better. I almost lost my tail I wagged it so hard the last time.
I am getting somewhat better at not barking. Mom invented a new training tool. A while back she got a Bark Off device. It makes a not pleasing sound when I bark. Mom put it on the table by the slidey door and now I don’t bark at squirrels through the glass any more. I wait until I get outside, and then I let them have it. Squirrels run fast when you bark at them.
I will digress now. I am a strange dog. I won’t go out and, you know… do my business, unless somebody throws a ball outside for me to chase first. I stand outside looking back inside, holding it in until my people throw something for me to fetch. I don’t know why I do this, but I do. It was really hard in the winter because all my balls got lost in the snow. Mom and Dad were throwing anything they could get their hands on out the door. Good thing we don’t have a cat.
I prefer when somebody comes out with me, you know, for company.There are no pictures for this segment.
Back to the barking. I love the sound of my own bark. I bark at things that move and things that might move. I bark at the neighbors and their dogs through the fence to say hi. I bark because I am a friendly dog. And sometimes I just bark because I go berserk. I bark at other dogs on TV, even cartoon dogs. I run behind the TV to see where they go. I have very good eyesight, but I just can’t find them. Mom started taking the Bark Off outside with me in her pocket. It seemed help, but she is lazy.
Instead of going out with me Mom Velcroed the Bark Off onto a collar and now I wear it around my neck and carry it outside myself. I love wearing it. I lick it and wag when Mom brings it over to put it on before I go outside and now I have mostly stopped barking after the one time I woof just because I can’t help myself. Except when I go berserk. Than nothing stops me: not treats, not noise, not Mom yelling. She just has to drag me away from whatever it was that berserked me. (There are no pictures of this segment either.)
Oh wait, there’s one thing that will make me stop barking when I’m out in the yard and I am having a nutty.
My squeaky toy!
I will stop barking at passing dogs through the fence. I will stop barking at the school bus and the lawn people. I will stop barking at the cat that torments me so. I will stop barking and run right to my people with a happy face. I LOVE my squeaky toy. I don’t even have to have the toy. I just have to hear it. But sometimes I can carry it around very carefully, but then I give it back. (This one is a replacement for my Squeaky Toy because Mom lost my first one. Just had a test drive. Works great!)
I have to go now. I think Mom is going to try to sew my squeaky toy to something. No, wait, she’s going to write her dumb newsletter instead.
Sloppy licks and tail wags,
Scooter
More Mourning Quilts
Two more quilts made from Mark’s shirts are finally finished, and only because I had help. My friend Beth Hartford quilted them on her brand new longarm. And then it took me 4 months to bind them! This makes five quilts all together in tribute do my friend. You can see the others here.
Mark’s Mom gets these two and I have just one more to complete, a quilt made from his T-shirts.
This quilt is called “Shirt Tails.” I’m pretty sure you can see the tails in between the Nine Patches.
I have really enjoyed making these quilts, touching the fabric, hoping that they are a comfort to his mother.
I photograph large quilts outside so I get more even light. I pin the quilt to 4′ x 8″ Celotex insulation boards covered in fabric. I have a rack outside that I can Velcro the boards to, but I still need help holding them against the wind. They take off pretty fast. That’s Debbie on the right, and Scooter is also helping on the left (not so much).
The second quilt is called “3D Dugout.” It has a folded “bow tie” centers which Beth tells me as a JOY to longarm. She has to baste each one down on all four sides so the foot wouldn’t get stuck on them. (Sorry.)
I like the old-fashioned look of this quilt, especially the lighter shirts which mess with the otherwise strong contract. They just fade into the background.
It’s been a long time since I used this much muslin in a quilt, and I enjoyed playing with shirting too. I have made several great XXXL discoveries in the shirt department of Goodwill and the Salvation Army. GREAT stripes!
Now on to something smaller.
Ami :)
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Facebook Foto Friday
You’ll be seeing this photo on the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative Facebook page on Friday.
Why the preview? Because I’m hoping you’ll join me and other AAQI supporters by sharing a photo of one of YOUR Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts on the AAQI Facebook page.
It’s a great way to get people excited about buying quilts. And quilt sales mean research dollars to fight Alzheimer’s. Plus you get to brag what a good shopper you are.
This is one of the quilts I purchased. “What Is She Thinking?” is an incredible rendition of the Mona Lisa in cloth. It was made by Bobbie McClure Long from East Stroudsburg, PA, and donated to the AAQI back almost 5,000 quilts ago. (If you haven’t heard, we just received our 10,000th donated quilt!)
You can see a much better picture here. Read Bobbie’s Artist Statement and you’ll know why we need to end this disease.
I hang quilt #6079, and several others, on the doors that hide the mess in the cabinets above my desk. I smile my own Mona Lisa smile, but you don’t have to wonder what I’m thinking:
I’m tickled pink to own this quilt and know that the money I paid for it helped support Alzheimer’s research.
If you don’t yet own a quilt of your own from the AAQI, we know how to fix that. You can buy one here:
http://www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.html
All AAQI profits fund Alzheimer’s research.
Thanks for your support, and I hope to see one of the quilts YOU purchased on Facebook on Friday.
Ami :)
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String Star Online Class
Sign up now to take my String Star Online Class starting April 23.
This is a fun little stash-buster quilt. It’s about 33″ square without borders. You’ll learn how to pick fabric, construct and cut fabric tubes for “ready-made” blocks, and how to painlessly miter a border, plus lots more. I’ve included tips all along the way.
You will get my 6-hour “in person” workshop in 6 easy-to-follow lessons spread out over 6 days:
April 23: Getting Ready
April 24: Sewing Strips Into “String Sets”
April 25: Sewing Tubes
April 26: Cutting Tubes to Make Star Points
April 27: Cutting Set Blocks & Star Centers
April 28: Joining Blocks & Borders
Busy those days? No Problem.
While lessons are available at 1:00am you don’t have to DO them at that time or on that day. Lessons will be available for you to read/watch or print until May 12th. Work at your own pace; you can’t get behind. (Just remember, you can’t print videos!)
Lessons are presented in my online classroom (a WordPress blog, like the one you are reading now) with a combination of words, pictures, and videos. Plus you get ME! I’m there every step of the way, answering your questions and comments personally from April 23 until May 2 by which time you’ll probably be sick and tired of me. (That’s my little incentive to get you working!)
Interact with classmates and stay motivated by making comments and uploading pictures of your progress, or keep to yourself. It’s up to you.
Five reasons to sign up now:
- Sew at home.
- Work when it fits your schedule.
- Use fabric from your stash.
- Learn cool stuff.
- Where else are you going to be able to take a class from me for only $19.95?
Read what other students said about this class.
Sign up now and I’ll see you in class on the 23rd!
Small World – Big World
When I was in college I had the opportunity to study Amish culture as a participant observer. I hung around a family in northern Indiana, tried to blend in, and did what they did. I learned a lot: how to milk a cow, how to drive a buggy, and (best of all) how to quilt.
This morning (almost 40 years later) I find myself thinking about that experience again and how different our two cultures are.
Amish people may have relatives strewn over several states, they are great letter writers, some travel, but the their closest relationships are with family and extended family. For the most part, day-to-day interactions are within a closed community limited by shared faith and geography.
Our cultures were much closer before the industrial revolution. Every technological advancement the Amish chose not to embrace since then has made us more different now. Our world has expanded, their world….not so much.
I think of the wide circle of friends who enrich my life. Very few are within a buggy ride’s distance from my home. My job has me crisscrossing the country and sometimes takes me even farther afield. Cars, cell phones, email, FaceBook, and FaceTime allow us to connect with each other in so many ways. What a tremendous opportunity!
Cathy Miller (The Singing Quilter) and her husband John Bunge, on their way from Maine to Indiana, stayed the night with us last night. We keep up “electronically” and when we see each other it’s as if time has stood still. As awesome as it is to connect this newfangled way, it is so much more satisfying face to face.
What a blessing that we can have it both ways.
Cathy and John slept in our “guest room” and we use the term loosely. The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative quilts are in there, so while they may not have slept under 1,000 quilts, they did sleep in close proximity.
Cathy is a huge supporter of the AAQI. When she attends International Quilt Festival in Houston, she always volunteers her time in the AAQI booth where we sell Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts and invents songs on the spot for anyone buying a quilt on her shift.
It was only fitting that Cathy helped pull quilts for an order that came in yesterday afternoon. Now that I think of it, I should have asked her to sing! Maybe not. She worked pretty hard for most of the evening playing fetch with Scooter who was unrelenting. (You can read more on Cathy’s blog.)
Safe travels, my friends! I know they’re going to love you to pieces in Indianapolis tonight!
Pretty In Pink
When my nephew Jack and his wife Amy had their baby, I started in on the second generation of Simms quilts. Keira received hers in the middle of last summer and here it is almost a year later and I’m finally finding time to share these pictures.
I used the same technique I teach in my String Quilting workshop except that I used a striped fabric instead of piecing all the “strings.” The stripes in the fabric ran perpendicular to the selvage edge, not parallel to it as most do. That is part of what makes the quilt look a little different.
I used flannel for the batting/backing and machine quilted the wonky feathers in turquoise thread. Totally free-form. All I marked were the feather veins and I went off on a tangent from there.
I hope it gets as beat up as Noah’s quilt.
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There’s Nothing Better Than A Loved Quilt
When I give a kid a quilt, I want the quilt to be used. I’m fine if it hangs on the wall, but I hope it never winds up in the closet. I hope it gets dragged around the house.
My nephew Noah gave me the best compliment I could ever receive. He sent me pictures of the quilt I gave him when he was an infant, almost 20 years ago.
I have no doubt that he enjoyed that quilt!
If you can’t see how delightfully beat up the quilt is, check out the images below. Makes me smile from ear to ear.
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Thanks, Noah!
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And, don’t forget to read my blogs about the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative here.
Click To Help
I’ve been a supporter of the St Luke’s New Life Center here in Flint, Michigan for years. In about 15 seconds, you can help too. That’s it. Honest.
The law offices of Daniel J. Andoni in downtown Flint pledges 3% of their net profits to deserving charities in Genesee County. Each month five charities are selected and the public selects which charity will get the money by voting online. “St Luke’s” is featured this month. Please spend a few seconds and give them your vote. It costs you nothing. You don’t have to register for anything. You will have helped.
St Luke’s helps at risk families learn life skills and self-esteem. They help prepare clients for meaningful employment. They tutor at-risk kids. They teach anger management skills to end violence. They are good people and they deserve your support.
Vote here.
Or, if you prefer to “cut & paste” then vote here: http://www.attorneyandoni.com/Giving_Back.html
If the page loads too slowly, go here first http://www.attorneyandoni.com/ and then at the top of the page click Giving Back.
And yes, I’m way ahead of you. I happen to know of another terrific charity in Genesee County. I’ll be asking you to vote for the AAQI on this same page some time in the near future, so this is good practice.
Hats off to Daniel Andoni for his most generous philanthropy. What a terrific thing to do!
Thank you!
PS: This video of the NEW Life Center (St Luke’s) was filmed this past Thanksgiving.
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival
What a wonderful week it has been!
I came a day early to hang the Alzheimer’s exhibit, “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope” with Sherry Whitford. We were assisted by Judy Simmons who also taught at the show.
Their arms got longer handing each of the 236 quilts to me one at a time. My legs got a workout going up and down the ladder.
On Thursday I taught Dancing Spools, and I hope one of my students would be kind enough to send a photo of their quilt as I seemed to have forgotten that I had a camera with me that day!
Friday was Twisted Sisters and lots of blocks were stitched. I always marvel at the fabric combinations students come up with. They are truly inspired.
Below is a slide show of some of the blocks, along with the other images on this post.
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Saturday I got my upper body workout ironing strips for students during my String Quilting workshop.
Each of the 24 students sewed at least three string sets. With five seams in each to iron, I swiped that iron more than 350 times in about two and a half hours!
Somewhere in there was a lecture called “Living With Quilts: A Survival Guide.” (I think that was Friday night. And Show & Tell on Saturday night.) It was a full week.
Sunday the exhibit quilts came down with Sherry, Denise, and Paula getting most of the exercise. (Huge thanks, ladies!)
Thanks to everyone who signed up for my workshops and lecture. I know you have choices when you attend a quilting conference and I am grateful that you picked me!
Ami Simms
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