Archive

One of the things that intrigues me about working in wax is it’s ability to preserve things. Flowers are pressed between pages of waxed paper, bronze sculpture is sealed with wax to prevent tarnishing and fruit is covered in a wax coating to keep it appearing fresh a little bit longer. In his treatise, “On […]

For the quilt that I’m making for my grandmother Halice I chose from my existing stock of encaustic monoprints. When I started cutting up the prints into the required shapes I realized I needed another sheet of the dark print for the large triangles in the middle. No problem I thought, I’d just make another […]

My grandmother Halice was big in the local Grange in Levant. Our family had a camp in Stetson and we would generally stop in to visit her on the way out to camp. I can remember going to suppers or fairs going on at the Grange. Everyone referred to my grandmother as “M’am” or “Mrs. […]

Ok, to clarify things, I keep referring to these ‘things’ I’m making as ‘quilts’. I know they are not really quilts and to any quiltmakers out there among you this is probably annoying. A ‘real’ quilt has a front, (typically of cloth, yes) some sort of batting (typically cotton or wool) and a backing. That […]

I was reminded this week to go slow and pay attention to what I’m doing, both by my sewing machine and by the terribly helpful people (Tyler and Anita) at Sew Portland, where I took my little Janome 2222. I had I become convinced that the timing must be off because it kept jamming (it […]

Working on my grandmother Boo’s quilt has been an interesting journey. I undertook this project in part because I knew the individual quilts would take so long. I know that sounds odd, but I looked forward to the opportunity to think about each of the individuals while I made their quilts the way that I […]

I spent a whole day last week in the archives of the Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine at Orono. Started 50 years ago by Edward “Sandy” Ives, the Folklife Center is a repository of folklore and oral history of Maine and Maritime Canada. Back in 1977-1978 the Sandy Ives and students associated […]

Not an early Halloween post but rather a post about the first new quilt that I’m doing in the project, one for my maternal grandmother, Beulah Jordan Hodgman, a.k.a. “Boo”. I’m starting with Boo, because I grew up in the house next door to her so she was both literally and figuratively near and dear […]

I am excited to tell you all about a new project I am starting. I am calling it, “The Family Memorial Quilt Project” (unless or until I come up with a better title – suggestions welcome). I come from a very large extended family, full of strong, independent women, many of whom are, or were […]