Inspiration to Quilt

Inspiration is defined as, "the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative." 

When I began thinking about taking up quilting, I asked, "Why quilting?" Why not stick with what you know, after all isn't beading a creative, crafty and challenging pastime? I have also made cradleboards for each of my grandchildren and several of my great nieces and nephews--so why not stay with that? The simple answer, I think I needed to work with a different medium--but more importantly, there were people in my life that had inspired me by their quilting handiwork and know how. Here's the story...and it begins with my mom who was not a quilter.

My grandmother, Lucille, died from Tuberculosis when my mother was at the tender age of two. My grandfather, Bert, gave my mom to Lucille's mother, Annie Shepard Valley Prior. According to my mom's stories about her grandmother, she affectionately called my mom, "Baby Girl." My mom was treasured by her grandmother and was well cared for, that is, until her grandmother passed away from a possible heart condition when my mom was just six years old. From that point on, my mom was raised by her older sisters in the house that was left to the family by Grandma Annie. By all accounts from my mom and her siblings, life was a struggle. While Grandpa Bert lived to be a young 98 years of age, work was scarce when his family was young and he was challenged to provide for seven of his nine children (Tom died when he was a toddler and Linda, the youngest of the family was three months old at the passing of her mom, and was given to Bert's sister Elsie). At some point in my mom's adolescent years, she was adopted--"Sioux adopted" that is, by a Rosebud Sioux family that had moved to the reservation. Anne Roubideaux and her two children Jackie and Roger took my mom into their home and Anne raised my mom through her tumultuous adolecent/teenage years. Jackie Roubideaux became my mom's "sister" in all descriptions of the word.  My mom and Aunt Jackie were the same age. They liked to dress up, share secrets, cry together, laugh together, try on different shades of lipstick, talk about boys, and dance to the "lively" music of Elvis! They were baton twirlers and majorettes in the high school band as well. They did everything together--including getting into trouble! When my aunt Jackie and my mom got together, a twinkle in their eyes told the stories of that which was left unsaid--secrets that stayed between them under their sisterly seal. Aunt Jackie had a contagious, engaging, "out there" kind of laugh and my mom's eyes would light up and their stories would begin. I would venture to bet that these were the happiest years of my mom's entire life. Had my mom not lived with the Roubideaux family, I would have never known about or experienced the sewing skills of my Aunt Jackie--she was phenomenal! She could look at a picture, take a tape measure, make a pattern out of newspaper or butcher paper, calculate the yardage, and make whatever it was that she wanted--as long has she had the fabric. I moved to Lake Andes South Dakota one year to attend school--the winter was unbelievably cold! I stayed with Grandpa Chuck and Grandma Ollie Roubideaux (Anne's parents). It was during that time that Aunt Jackie and I were looking through the Sears & Roebuck Catalog. She queried me on which winter coats I liked the best. Even now that was the most treasured and magical year of my childhood. Grandma Ollie had made me a mug of hot chocolate and Aunt Jackie and I sat on the sofa and thumbed through the catalog. She pointed out which coats she liked and I pointed out which ones I liked. Finally, I pointed out a three-quarter length, cream colored coat that was my absolute favorite!!! After school the next day the catalog was gone--Grandma Ollie didn't know where it was. I really wanted to look through it again--I had ideas on how to raise the money to try to buy that coat. On Sunday night of the following week, Aunt Jackie stopped by and had me unwrap a package wrapped in brown wrapping paper--she had made me the most wonderful winter coat and hat--it was unbelievable! It was an exact replica of what I had wished for out of the Sears & Roebuck Catalog!!! The buttons were exactly the same! The only difference--it had a matching hat!! Aunt Jackie was amazing! When she wasn't furiously working on a specific project, Aunt Jackie would go to her stash and sort through her "scraps" and get a color scheme going and come up with the most wonderful quilt tops. It should also be noted here that Aunt Jackie had no patience for idle hands, so when we were on a road trip, I recalled hand sewing quilt pieces as I sat in the car--pieces that she had cut with a scissor from a cardboard template. To feed the eager, youthful mind she never, ever criticized my stitching--she was always encouraging me to do my best at "keeping the seam" and having a consistent stitch--I was probably more the critic of my own work than she had ever thought to be. Aunt Jackie was the seed for it was throughout my life that I had always wanted to make quilts like hers, but never had the time.

This story would not be complete without adding this piece, as inspiration came from one other person in my life--Aunt Lydia. Aunt Lydia was one of my mom's older sisters--she had learned to be a seamstress. Aunt Lydia learned how to sew garments while she attended an Indian boarding school as it was required that all Indian boarding school students were to learn a trade and sewing was what was expected of young ladies. Students sold their creations for money that would be kept in their personal accounts while residing at the school. Students could then withdraw their money and use it for personal expenses while at school or for travel home. After getting out of the boarding school, Aunt Lydia lived in San Francisco for most of her adult life and returned to live on the reservation in the late 1980's.  On several occasions in my teenage years, I had traveled by bus to the "city" to visit my two aunts (Lydia and Charlene) and several of my cousins. Aunt Lydia never had any children, but became the mom of Charlene's older kids as she took great pleasure in spending time caring for them. After a tragic event, Aunt Lydia moved back to the reservation, where I had the opportunity to spend more time with her.  During the summer of 2003, Aunt Lydia surprised me one day by traveling to my home and presenting me with all of her sewing and quilting almanacs--a treasure that was completely unexpected. I graciously accepted them and explained, "But, Aunt Lydia, I don't quilt." Her reply, "Well you are the only one in our family who does stuff like this, so now you have the books to learn."

Aunt Jackie and Aunt Lydia were my inspiration to venture into the world of quilting. Aunt Jackie was the seed, Aunt Lydia was the soil, and with that, each fabric or pattern generates a new idea which blossoms into a whole new creation! Inspiration comes from many places--sometimes inspiration comes from the self. So, who or what inspires you?

The Courage to Blog about my Quilting

Today I had time for coffee with a treasured friend ( a rare treat) and she began talking about a new blog she had begun re: her future relocation to a continent on the other side of the world. I had to admit to myself that I had given some consideration to blogging as well--about my new found love of quilting. From our discussion today, she gave me the inspiration to go ahead and blog--after all, she did say it was, "easy." So here I go. While I am no blog aficionado by any means, I do intend to learn. So with that, here goes!

The intention of this blog will be to document my journey into the world ( and I do mean "world") of quilting. When I ventured, a short two years ago, into my first quilting class, little did I know I would learn about the 1/4" seam, rotary cutting, stackin' and whackin', movement, quality, the "popping" of fabric, points and losing points--it almost sounded like a board game! I also learned that one can put a "full-court press" on a block to get the full play! On the fabric, that is! Having been a basketball ref for 18 years in my previous life--you can see how I made a different connection! So here you will find what I think to be "discoveries" for the "new-be" which are probably "old hat" for others who have been engaged in this craft/art for a life time.

If you are new to quilting, I am certain you will be able to share in my discoveries. On the other hand, if you are a life-time quilter--you may find some of my "discoveries" to be more along the lines of nostalgic road markers of your own quilting journey rather than something new.

I have to admit here that I have had experience in Native American beadwork--decades worth--so the seemingly tedious tasks in quilting seems like a fast-paced "freeway" compared to what I have been used to in my experience of working with size 13 cut beads. Quilting is a whole new world with its own history and its own place in our history--I am excited to share.