Where I Have Been

I have not been rust dyeing...sigh...I have been working on the second crazy quilt for the lady who has sewn all her life but never made a quilt. To see the first quilt click on the link below:

http://rust-tex.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-hexagon-crazy-quilt.html

Here is an over view of the second quilt. In the post for the first quilt I said it would be done on Feb 1...well...I did finish it on July 3. Not quite 18 months like the first one and not quite a year. I did ask for a year on the next one knowing I will not start it until the rust dyeing season is over.

The block below was made from Elizabeth's smock. If you look closely you can see her name on the sewn in name tag. It was used by her in kindergarten to protect her clothing from messy art supplies. It had not been cut up into rags but was in one piece. When I delivered the quilt, on the 4th of July, I asked her mother how old Elizabeth is. Her answer was, "Elizabeth is 50 years old." I know my mother did not save my clothes that long!!!

The heart was the pocket. I used the back of the smock to make green heart around it. You can see more of the buttons to the right and one block lower from the above block. The flowers for this block were cut from the dreaded polyester double knit. It actually had flowers shaped like that. The vase is also cut from polyester double knit, a solid. Did I mention she taught for Stretch and Sew? I still have three boxes of polyester double knit left. I will be returning all that fabric to her. The table is some wool that had a wonderful shredded edge.

This block was made on a retreat at Fern Hill in WI where we divided up our dearly departed friend things. Terry Dorman, lost a 10 year struggle against breast cancer, 2 days short of her 58th birthday. The buttons were from her stash.