Showing posts with label sew along. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sew along. Show all posts

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Quilt #108: On Ringeis Lake


2017 was my year of social quilting. I joined a ton of quilt alongs, including Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery quilt, On Ringeis Lake. 

The very first quilt along I ever did was Bonnie's 2016 mystery quilt En Provence, which I called A team en Provence.


Bonnie is the queen of scrappy quilts. I now look forward to her annual mystery because I now I can make a (small) dent in my scrap bins and end up with something stunning. 

I seem to use a lot of blues, teals, and purples, so this year I veered from Bonnie's color way. 


Because it was a mystery quilt, I had no idea what the finished project would look like. I also had no idea to whom I would gift the quilt. As the weeks went along, I started thinking about my son's teacher. At D's school, teachers move up with the class, so Mrs. Ringeis was completing her second year with with D. I remembered how she met him when he was brand new to the school in preschool and joined an after school Lego job that she oversaw. The very first time I picked him up, she pulled me aside and said, "You know he's gifted, right?" 

I don't talk too much about D's giftedness, in large part because Mrs. Ringeis was the catalyst for us getting him tested and finding resources to support his quirks and asynchronous development. She took him under his wing before she was his teacher, and since becoming his primary teacher he has matured and bloomed. She "gets" him and he adores her.


We have joked that whenever I make a quilt for someone at school, they leave. Fortunately, the trend has changed since I gave his principal her quilt: 


With only one more year left with this amazing school, I knew I needed to start working on quilts for all the incredible people who have been such a huge part of D's life so far. So Ringo Lake became Ringeis Lake.


After the quilt was finished and D had slept with it--the final and most important step to "seal in the love"--I emailed the school to get permission to come by to deliver it. 


When she saw D with the bag, she looked at me and said, "No, no, no! I have one more year!" I assured her we weren't going anywhere!


This is one of my favorite quilts for one of my favorite people. And I love that D helped with the label.


To see more pictures of the making of this quilt, check out #OnRingeisLake on Instagram. To see what I'm currently working on, follow me on at deJongDreamHouse.

Linked to:
BOMs Away @ What a Hoot Quilts
Colour Linky Party @ Clever Chameleon
Design Wall Monday @ Small Quilts & Doll Quilts
Finished or Not Friday @ Busy Hands Quilts
Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River
Look What I Made Monday @ Pretty Piney
Monday Making @ Love Laugh Quilt
Moving It Forward @ Em's Scrap Bag
Needle & Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Off the Wall Friday @ Nina Marie
Oh Scrap! @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Scrappy Happy Saturday @ Super Scrappy
Show Off Saturday @ Sew Can She
To Do Tuesday @ Stitch All the Things
Wait Loss Wednesday @ The Inquiring Quilter
Whoop Whoop Friday @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict
WIP Linky Party @ Silly Mama Quilts
WIP Wednesday @ Esther's Blog


Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 3:15 PM 19 comments
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Monday, July 9, 2018

Pat Sloan Podcast


So...I have some pretty big news! Sometime today, my interview with Pat Sloan will go live on her American Patchwork & Quilting Podcast!

If you aren't familiar with Pat Sloan, she is a popular and prolific quilter who hosts many sew alongs at her website, I Love to Make Quilts.  


I have been part of Pat's active Facebook community, Quilt Along with Pat Sloan, for several years. The quilters there are supportive and talented. I didn't jump into social quilting until less year, so while I admired the progress others made on Pat's sew alongs, I wasn't a participant until I saw her write about her upcoming Grandma's Kitchen quilt. 


My Gramma Ann passed away in 2014 When my family was packing up her things, I requested some of her clothes so that I could make a quilt with them. I had only been quilting for a year at that point. I wasn't confident enough yet to cut up her clothes out of fear of making a mistake. So I put them in a tote while I waited for inspiration.

Nearly a year ago to the day, Pat posted the first block of Grandma's kitchen, called "The Kitchen Table." Just seeing the name, I was transported to Grandma's kitchen in tiny Blackduck, Minnesota. I thought her cupboards were so cool because the doors were flat panels that opened only when you pushed them. I spent many hours entertaining myself by opening and closing those cupboards.


I knew then that this sew along was just the inspiration I needed. I decided from the start that my quilt would be all about Gramma's life, in and out of the kitchen. You can read about the entire process here.  My mom and aunts were very excited about the quilt and talked about who should get it...so...I made six of them!


After finishing each block, I would post it to a link up on Pat's website and/or share the block and its story on Pat's FB page. A few times, Pat herself would comment on the post! And then she contacted me privately after seeing all six quilts, and asked if I would be on her show. Of course, I said, "YES!" 


I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as I enjoyed talking to Pat. 

Finally, I have to share one last thing about this project. My mom and aunt were so grateful for their quilts and send me the most wonderful thank you notes and gifts. My aunt Lori, did something really fun! She took all the blog posts I wrote and had them bound up in a book. What a labor of love! 


They say the internet is forever, but this is such a thoughtful way to make sure that Gramma's legacy lives on to the next generation(s). 


I've so enjoyed re-reading the blog posts again. I wrote them as I went along, without knowing how the quilt would turn out. It is really cool to read them all at once, kind of like binge-watching a favorite show!


 I love that she wrapped the book in the blue paper that inspired block "Pantry Goods."



If this is your first time here at de Jong Dream House, especially if you visited after hearing the podcast, WELCOME! This blog started as my husband and I build our dream ultra energy-efficient, universally-designed dream house. After moving in, I posted about organizing and green living. Once I discovered quilting in 2013, my blog started featuring more and more quilts. And that's mostly what you see today. 

You can also keep up with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. Thanks for keeping in touch!


Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 11:14 AM 8 comments
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Sunday, March 25, 2018

Grandma's Kitchen, block #24: Grandma's Purse


Block #24 of Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen sew along is Grandma's Purse. Since I'm not really a purse person, I don't really remember much about Gramma Ann's purse, other than her eagerness to grab it and go whenever there was fun to be had! Gramma loved Wickenburg, the (sometimes wild) west, and the world.


Gramma lived most of her final years in sunny Wickenburg, Arizona. It's a sleepy western town known for ranches, roping, and Remuda Ranch, best known for its sex addiction and eating disorder recovery programs.  


I have been visiting Wickenburg to my see Gramma, Grampa, and or my Mom for close to 35 years!  It's always fun to introduce a new generation to the jail tree in the center of town.


My favorite place in Wickenburg, though, is just off a dusty road behind the retirement community where my elders called home. Decades ago, my grandparents started a tradition of writing names in the rocks. I believe my Grampa Leo was the first one.


My mom, aunt, and I have all been combing through our photos trying to find a photo of "Ann" or "Manthei" without luck. Hopefully one of us will find a picture and I'll add it here. I did find a photo of my name, which was has been there since the 80s.


My husband and son both added their names. And there is a very special name there, JO.


Niels and I lost two babies before our son was born. Because I was 35 when I got married, each loss was accentuated by a fear that I would never carry a child to term. After our second loss, and before  D was born, we added "JO" to the rock collection. It stands for Just Ours. It is comforting to know that our babies are remembered among the names of their relatives.

I found some rock fabric after I finished all the blocks and I knew I needed to include in some way. All I had left was the binding, which I think is perfect.


Before Gramma moved to Wickenburg, she used to take trips around the world. My grandpa wasn't big on international travel, so Gramma visited Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Ireland without him! She used to bring me dolls and coins as souvenirs. I'm said to say that both the dolls and photos of her travels are gone.

Gramma used to keep stenographer pads as journals of her travels and of her days. I saw a few of them the last time I was in her Arizona house. Unfortunately, her handwriting is as hard to read as mine is!

For the last decade of her life, after Grampa passed, she still traveled around the US to visit her daughters. They would take pictures and make binders of travel memories for her.



I suspect she looked through these photos often as she missed the ones she loved.


I chose the fabric I did for this block because I couldn't believe it had tiny Wickenburg on it.


And for all her adventures in life--and a move to Wisconsin at the end--her travels came to an end in Wickenburg, where her ashes rest next to those of Grampa Leo.

Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 6:45 PM 0 comments
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Thursday, March 8, 2018

Grandma's Kitchen, block #23, That One Item


Block #23 of Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen sew along is a That One Thing, a free choice topic. I've been waiting for this one. Anyone who knew my Gramma Ann knew of her love for Betty Boop!


I'm not sure why Gramma loved Betty so much. Mom thinks maybe it's because she was so popular when Gramma was a young woman. I do know that she liked to draw her.


Throughout her life, Gramma was gifted with all sorts of Betty Boop collector items.


Two of my aunts found a large paper mache Betty in New Mexico.


Ms. Boop made the move from Arizona to Wisconsin with Gramma for the last years of her life. Here she is watching Gramma open up the memory quilt I made for her.


Gramma hung my quilt up on the wall for all her visitors to see. And Betty got dressed up for St. Patrick's day.


Family would often send her pictures of Betty as we found her on our travels.


Personally, my favorite Betty Boop find is this one.


Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 8:51 PM 0 comments
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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

One Monthly Goal :: February 2018 Update


OMG indeed! I finished my February One Monthly Goal just in the nick of time. My goal for this month was to finish my Gramma's memory quilt, as inspired by Pat Sloan's sew along, Grandma's Kitchen. 

When I made the goal, I had completed all 25 blocks. I decided to use my own layout rather than following Pat's because I wanted to include Gramma's name and the years she lived. I had to make some of the blocks a little bigger as well as make all the letters and numbers. (I used Lori Holt's wonderful book, Spelling Bee).


I kept the quilting super simple, just straight lines. I'm not totally lovin' it, I had a total but mind block trying to figure out how to work around the appliqued blocks. (I'm a walking foot quilter. If I had the longarm I'm saving for, it might look a lot different!).


I do love the backing print thought. Joann is starting to carry more modern prints and I love the way this one feels. The front of the quilt is pretty colorful with all the things that symbolize Gramma, including some of her shirts, but the back is a nice bit of us both. It includes my favorite colors, purple, teal, and gray, and the design reminds me of the scrubbies she tried (and failed) to teach me to make, resulting in me turning to quilting instead of crochet. 


Each block tells a bit of her life story. I started writing about each block back in July of last year (2017) when I started this quilt. I still have the last few blocks to share, and at some point soon I will write a longer post about the whole quilt which is my ONE HUNDREDth quilt! 


Funny story, I would have been done with the quilt earlier had I no made the wrong year of her passing. I guess I was missing her and wishing I had that extra year. 

Previous Goal Updates:
June 2017 - no goal

Linked to:
Elm Street Quilts

Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 1:59 PM 3 comments
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Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Grandma's Kitchen, block #22: Pick a Posey


Block #22 of Pat Sloan's Grandma's Kitchen sew along! Today's block is Pick a Posey. 

Gramma loved flowers. Mom always made sure she had a poinsettia for Christmas and a lily for Easter. On Mother's day she would wear a corsage to Mass. And she loved getting flowers for her birthday. I asked Mom what her favorite flower was, and she told me roses. 


So I changed my posey block to a rose. At this point in the sew along, I knew I was going to change up Pat Sloan's final placement and needed all my blocks to be 12" squares, so I took some liberties with this block to make it a 12" rose block.


The "rose" in my block is actually a snail's trail. I used the very helpful tutorial by Walnut Street Quilts. 


In addition to cut flowers, Gramma also had a green thumb that did not get passed down to me. 


She had a huge garden in the backyard. 


Gramma with one of her Mother's day corsages, in the green blouse I used in the Wash Day and Glasses & Cups blocks. 


I think this may have been her last Mother's Day corsage. 


And finally, this picture is from the last time I saw Gramma. I was showing her pictures from her old house, and having her tell her stories and memories. I just noticed she has flowers on her coffee table. 



Posted by Jen @ de Jong Dream House at 11:50 PM 0 comments
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