A Quilt for My "Twin"

My younger brother Adam recently turned 27.  Man, are we getting up there or what?  I remember my fifth grade teacher Mr. Gruen being 27 years old; I thought he was ancient.

So, to celebrate 27 years with my younger twin brother, I made him a quilt.

Adam has turned into quite the artist, and he started that process when we were younger.  He would paint his bedroom in these crazy designs.  One of the more memorable ones was when he painted it neon green with a giant orange sun on the wall.  The colors I picked out for the front of his quilt reminded me of that room.  

The back of the quilt is pretty basic, but the panel of animal fabric in the middle is significant.  That fabric was taken from a curtain that hung in his room when he was really little, and my grandma happened to hold onto it for all these years.  She graciously let me take it so I could put it into Adam's quilt.  

Even though Adam and I are 14 months apart, we are twins.  Or, at least, that's what we used to tell people in elementary school.  After the last bell would ring, Adam and I would walk out together to my parents' silver Chevy Celebrity.  We had no shame in announcing to other kids along the way, "Hey, we're twins."  I'm not 100% sure we even knew who they were...we just wanted to let them know.  

Or, if someone would call the house, Adam and I would hand the receiver back and forth to each other (unbeknownst to the caller), because we also had twin voices.  I don't think we could've felt much cooler than when we did that.  High five!

I've heard it said that real twins have some strange unspoken connections, like when they finish each other's sentences.  I think Adam and I have similar connections, with an emphasis on the "strange".  We found joy in the same things, but things that were probably enjoyed ONLY by us.  For example, for fun, Adam and I would have "feet shows".  You would lay on the ground on your stomach, and shield your eyes in such a way that all you can see is the floor and a few inches above it.  The other person would dance across the floor in their sock feet.  Somehow, it made for great comedy and resulted in hours of entertainment for my brother and me.

Today, even though we live half a country apart, our twin connection is still strong.  A couple weeks ago, Adam knew that I was the only person who would laugh my head off at a picture of him wearing 15 pairs of socks at once.  So he sent it just to me.  And I did laugh my head off.

Happy birthday to my "twin".  Here's to many more years of sock-related humor!!!  Bologna socks.

A Modern Country Quilt for Mom (and Crockpotty Humor)

Mom's slightly belated Christmas gift, her FINISHED modern country quilt!

Planetarium Pattern by Oh, Fransson!

Close-up

Back of quilt

Close-up of back

I say "modern country" because the pattern is from a modern quilting book, but I used fabrics and a color scheme that I thought were a little more traditional/country.  A quilt fit for a log cabin...now to just get my mom her log cabin!

Although I now live in the city, I always claim to be a country girl at heart.  As I type this, I am wearing my Rural King hoodie.  For real.  One thing that always hollers "Country!" in my book is a good old-fashioned crockpot meal.  We didn't have too many of those growing up, except for mom's delicious chili.  We did have other country-classic meals, though: pork chops, pork patties, pork kabobs (lovingly pronounced "KAY-bobs" in my house), and Tombstone pizza.

I've tried a few crockpot meals, you know, to stay country, and I've had some hits and misses.  The biggest hit would have to be the Italian beef recipe.  We have it often.  My first attempt at a crockpot meal in married life was a simple chili, or as Michael calls it, "scorched earth".  Oops.

I have two or three crockpot cookbooks on my shelf.  Awhile ago, I was looking through them for a new recipe, and was struck at the shear creativity of the titles of these recipes.  Allow me to share a sampling:

• Soup With A Zip
• A Different Stew
• Ole! For Stew
• Green Beans To Enjoy
• Better Butter Beans
• Krazy Karrots
• Chicken-for-Supper
• Here's The Stuff
• Make-Believe Lasagna
• Meat on the Table
• Special Hot Dog Supper
• Very Special Spinach
• So You Forgot to Defrost!
• Melt-In-Your-Mouth Sausages
• Tastes-Like-Turkey   

I think I'll start with the Make-Believe Lasagna.  That means I can "make-believe" cook it, right?  In other words, order some pizza...

My Hometown Radio Station (Plus a new quilt!)

I was thinking about how each of us could probably make a soundtrack for the different periods of our lives.  One for growing up....one for teen angst...young adulthood...midlife crisis...the golden years.  I'm pretty sure the soundtrack to my "growing up" years could be summed up in four letters: WSMI.

courtesy of www.wsmiradio.com

WSMI is my hometown radio station (106.1 FM, if you're ever in the mid-Illinois area).  It's been around for decades, providing locals with high school sports, weather, boil water orders, agriculture news and, of course, all the country classics.  And it was always on in my house growing up.  Always.  The voices of Stan McCaslin, Terry Todt, Randy Prange--complete strangers to me--were as familiar to me as those of my parents and siblings.

It wasn't until college that I realized that my relationship with my hometown radio station may have been a bit...different.  For instance, I thought everyone ate their breakfast before school while listening to the radio guys read the obituaries.  "98-year-old Erma Jones of Fillmore passed away Thursday.  Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at Bass-Patton Funeral Home in Hillsboro.  Friends may call on Friday from 4-6 at Bass-Patton...[pause]...87-year-old Gerald Smith..." etc.  The consistency of it was strangely comforting.

Or maybe this one.  On snowy nights, my brother Adam and I had the same intense prayer as every other kid in town.  Please PLEASE let tomorrow be a snow day.  Where did we turn for an answer to our prayer?  WSMI.  We turned up the radio as Stan came on the air: "SCRAM! School Closing Reports for All of Mid-Illinois!  The following schools will be closed tomorrow due to inclement weather: [...] Greenville, Highland...("Please PLEASE let him say Hillsboro!!!")...Hillsboro, Jerseyville"[...].  I'm not sure if it was the intensity of our prayer to the radio gods that did it, or the crystals and rabbits feet that we clutched as we listened to the announcement.  I'm convinced it was the crystals.

Whenever I drive to my hometown, I'm always happy to get within the listening limits of WSMI, and be welcomed back with the voices I grew up hearing.  I don't even mind the country music so much anymore.  I've come to listen to it by choice, although on St. Louis stations now.  Back in the day, I detested it since we heard it so much.  "Country is awful!  Change the station!  Let's listen to something better!  Hanson!"  Of course.  I think Dad is proud that Adam and I have adopted his love for twang.  Poor Mom.

After a couple of days with my family and WSMI over Christmas, Michael and I headed out west to spend time with his family.  It was there that I presented my newest big quilt to a wonderful lady, my mother-in-law.  It was a real treat to see her open it.  And now I present it to you.

Kitchen Window Quilt, Pattern by Elizabeth Hartman

Close-up of fabrics

Back of quilt, modeled by Paul Terry

Currently, I'm working on finishing my mom's Christmas quilt (more of a country style).  I was in the beginning phases of quilting, when--alas!--part of the machine broke.  The new piece should arrive in the mail soon, and hopefully I can present my mom with her belated-but-finished country quilt in a couple of weeks!

As I quilt, perhaps I will listen to WSMI online.  Or this, which would also be included in my "growing up" soundtrack:

Never gets old.

The Big Reveal: My FINISHED Quilt!

Well...here it is!!!!

Ta-da!!!!!

Here's the back.

You guys, I seriously feel like I just finished a marathon!  I feel like I'm on some sort of running high; a quilting high, I guess.  I'm an old lady.  I am so glad this project is over but I feel so good about having done it at the same time.  Will I make another "big quilt"?  You bet your britches I will.  Will I have a little break before starting my next "big quilt"?  Yup.

The finished quilt measures 58 1/2" square. Big enough for me to be wrapped comfortably in it, but not so huge that I'm drowning in it.  Here are some of the steps that went into making my "big quilt" dream come true:

Cutting lots of fabric and sewing together 32 of these bad boys.

Taping fabric to the floor and making a quilt sandwich.

Putting 192 safety pins in it...Michael counted them.

Machine quilting the beast.  Lots of frustration here...and learning!   :)

There were some other steps in there, like hand-stitching the binding around the edges (while watching several episodes of PBS's Downton Abbey), but you get the gist of it.  Now that I've finished it, I like to keep it in view at all times.  I've thrown it over beds, chairs, the couch, etc.

  

Someday I will probably get sick of looking at it, but I'm nowhere near that point yet.  Now, I'd like to give a shout-out to the women before us, who did all this stuff BY HAND.  My hats are forever off to you ladies.  

Wish I had this hat.

Before I bid you farewell, I wanted to share my favorite picture of the quilt with you all.  

Slam and Paul Terry approve.

Well, ain't we swank!

Certain things are just glamorous, and a sleeping mask is one of those things.  Picture Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's...

My brother Adam and I have a phrase we exchange a lot: "Well, ain't we swank!"  We originally got it from the 1956 horror movie The Bad Seed, one of our favorites.  Now, we throw it back and forth to each other if either of us is wearing or doing something especially fancy.  Well, I am swank.  I recently made my very own sleeping mask.

We had a big road trip coming up, and my hubby is kind enough to do most of the driving.  So I knew I would have ample time to sleep in the car, and a sleeping mask would really help with that.  (But really, it would also help me feel like a glamorous 1940s movie star in a flowing pink satin robe and matching slippers, smoking my long cigarette...you get the idea).  Old soul, right here.  

As with most of my sewing projects, this one took way longer than my estimated 20 minutes (someday I'll learn!) and I didn't use a pattern (which significantly raised my blood pressure).  And it was my first project using elastic; I'm a fan.  Someday when I'm a mysterious old lady, I will sew my own elastic-waist pants for every occasion.  Anywho, here's how it turned out...

It works so well, I'm even able to sleep standing up and smiling!  :)  It's quilted, comfortable, obviously huge on my head, and totally blocks out all light.  Glamorous.  Practical.  Swank.  

Starting My First "Real" Quilt

Today, I did something crazy. I started my first "real" quilt. I say "real" quilt because it's my first big quilt. Recently, I made a small, oddly-sized one just to see if I could do it or would be interested in going all out to do a real quilt.

Here's how that one turned out...Not too shabby, for a first-timer. The quilt top sat in my sewing room for 10 months or so, until I finally got the guts to finish it last month. It was definitely a learning experience, hence the far-away view in the picture so you can't see all the mistakes. :)

Shortly after I finished it, I was invited to a St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting by my friend Laura. I must admit, I felt like a total rookie...especially during the show-and-tell portion of the meeting. I was in awe of the amazing craftsmanship that these women, young and old, displayed. I was blown away by the complex patterns, intricate stitching and jaw-dropping fabrics. However, when my turn arrived to stand in the middle of a circle of 50-ish women and show my tiny first-ever quilt, I received a warm and encouraging round of applause from these modern quilting masters. And I was hooked. Side note...there aren't many things these days that draw the older and younger generations together. But I think quilting does that, which is another reason why I am so excited about it all.

So today, I made my first cuts into the fabric that will become my first "real" quilt. You better believe I already made mistakes, but I am beyond excited to meet this challenge. With a lot of patience (and help from this book, loaned to me by Laura), I will sew, press, and sew some more, and eventually cozy up under my quilt to watch Harry Potter movies with my husband. And then I will start on my next one...

Here's a sneak peek at my favorite fabric that will appear in my quilt (by Jenean Morrison):