On a recent trip to the Seminole Museum, Ah-Tha-Ti-Ki (A Place to Remember), I saw examples of Seminole patchwork on display. Wanting to learn more about it’s origins, I accessed the museum’s website. The Seminole Quilting Style is very unique.  In the early 1900′s the  Seminole began making clothing from cotton fabric rather than traditional animal hides and skins.  Going once a year to a trading post such as Ted Smallwood’s Store and Trading Post in Chokoloskee Florida,  they would trade alligator hides, egret plumes, etc.  for supplies including bolts of cotton cloth. This trip took several days.

Needing to be frugal, women would sew the small strips of leftover fabric into larger pieces to be used as decoration (strip clothing).  In the early 1900′s hand-cranked sewing machines were used to make clothing. (left).  The craft was also used to make doll clothing.  (See end of post).   Necessity turned into wearable art.!

At the quilt store, Sew Studio in Naples, FL, I found fabric to make a quilt reminiscent of our trip here.  The staff was extremely helpful and I came out with a collection of fabric that is colorful and earthy at the same time.

I was able to find some Seminole patterns on-line.  The designs are actually very simple and should be easy to work into the pattern, Meadowsweet, from the Jan/Feb 2009 issue of Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting. I plan on adding Seminole strips on the top and bottom of the quilt. I can’t wait to get started!

Lucia, Quilting on the Road!

There's always time to quilt!

Quilt top is almost finished!

The Autumn Pennies table topper uses Kim Diehl’s invisible machine appliqué technique.  This two block quilt, alternates quarter-square triangle blocks with penny blocks.  A project of fabric squares that are five inches or less, the finished penny’s look very much like those in a wool penny rug.

Each penny block consists of 4-different sizes of circles.  With Kim’s technique, the circles are attached to freezer paper; the seam allowances pressed to the waxy side of the paper and the largest circle stitched with mono-filament thread onto a background square. Each of the remaining three circles are stitched on top the previous circle.

Now that the blocks are assembled, all that is left to do is to add the borders.

The book, Simple Seasons, contains projects and recipes for each season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.  The next project in the book that I would like to make is a table runner of yo-yo’s and appliquéd tulips.  Reminding me of Spring, it is appropriately called  Tulips and Tossed Greens.   Even though the appliqué pieces are to be hand appliquéd, they are prepared using Kim’s freezer paper technique. When the shapes are appliquéd in place, the edges have already been turned under, eliminating the need to needle-turn the fabric.

Also included in the book are recipes for each season.  Two look especially good to me:  Summer’s Dilled Pasta Salad, and Winter’s Raspberry Truffles recipes must simply be delicious!

Until next post…

Happy Quilting.

Sunday I took a break from quilting – my husband finally convinced me to go kayaking!  Normally I look forward to being out on the water in my kayak while he is in his, taking pictures.  The thought of sharing the water with alligators, however, is another story.

Luckily  I only saw two alligators sunning themselves on the bank of the river.  Apparently they need the warmth of the sun to digest their food.  So they spend their days on-land sleeping and digesting anything eaten during the night.  (What a life!)  If the weather is cold (cold by Florida standards) they don’t eat    I was very happy that they didn’t decide to take a swim while I was near!

We did see some native birds also, an egret and a great blue heron among others.  The heron was very happy to pose for me.

While it was interesting going through the canopy of the mangroves – I really prefer gliding on the open water.

Lucia, Quilting on the Road!

Whenever we travel in our camper I like to take my Bernina with me. ( Bernina Blog). Whenever possible I set up my work area outside. If electricity isn’t available, I’ve been known to set up our generator so that I can quilt.

I’ve found that people stop by to see what I am doing. It is a great way to get to meet fellow campers.

When the weather doesn’t cooperate I set up my sewing area at the table inside the camper. The OttLite is invaluable here.

My kitchen counter doubles as both an ironing and cutting area. Who wants to cook anyway, when there is an opportunity to quilt?

Happy quilting!

Genie Barnes, a founding member of the Thumbstall Quilt Guild Skaneateles NY, recently gave a presentation to the Guild on Color When Choosing Fabric for a Quilt. One of the many tips she also gave us was that you should always bring a Design Wall with you when traveling. This idea really hit home because my husband and I were planning a two-month trip to Florida in January and February.

Of course I immediately went home and told Tom that I needed to have a Design Wall in our camper. He shook his head and I could just see him trying to picture my 7-foot square Design Wall in our 28-foot camper! What I had in mind was a 3-foot square piece of flannel that could be put up as needed with a Velcro strip. The Design Wall seems to be working out just fine. It is pictured here with the Fall/Winter Weekenders Reversible Bell Pull from The Stash Store.

Happy Quilting.