Kim Hanson

Writing & Quilting

A Quilt for Mike

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Good day everyone. Thanks ever so much for joining us. I appreciate all the new subscribers that have come on board recently.

Five years ago, my thirty-something son asked me to make him a quilt. I was a little taken aback. . . he had never seemed very interested in my quilting. I put Mike off for awhile; but he asked me again.

So I began to go through my fabric stash in an attempt to figure out what fabrics I could use for his project. Mainly, kid-themed fabrics dominate my stash, along with florals and bright feminine-styled fabrics. Finding something that I thought Mike would like was a bit challenging.

I came up with some brown and cream fabrics I had ordered awhile back – they were vintage type fabrics, American civil-war inspired. Here are some fabric examples on my Pinterest page.

Civil War Reproduction Fabrics.

Beginning to pull fabrics together,  I really wanted to finish it before he asked me again. Unfortunately, I really rushed it; I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired or creative at the time…I just wanted to “get ‘er done!” So, I did. Including some machine embroidery here is Mike’s finished quilt.

I was not at all happy with the finished product. Not really liking the salmon-y coloured fabrics, I was disappointed I had used them. But, Mike seemed to like his quilt and he appreciated it.

Maybe a month later, our son’s best buddy who was also named Mike, asked me to make him a quilt. I was so shocked! Do guys in their 30’s really want a quilt? He, of course, offered to pay me for it, but I declined, knowing full well he couldn’t afford it.

Pulling more fabrics from my over-subscribed stash, I made Mike #2 his quilt. He smiled a lot when I gave it to him, so I think he liked it.

As many of you already know, our Mike passed away in March of 2018. One of the things I kept from his apartment was his quilt. He always had it laying very neatly across the back of his sofa. Mercifully, it still smells like him. 

As hindsight set in, I regret not taking more time to design Mike a really special quilt – something just for him. I regret not sitting down with my pencil and paper and drawing a quilt pattern that would have suited just him.  I regret not knowing that I would never have the opportunity to make him another quilt.

Recently, I discovered a hidden gem in Calgary – a section of the Rotary/Mattamy Greenway. It’s a pathway located in Royal Oak, adjacent to the car dealership where my vehicle is serviced. There are ponds and huge trees and beautiful City views along the way. 

Beautiful Bullrushes

Bike Rider on the Path

Not really sure why, I wanted to get a few photos of Mike’s quilt in these exquisite, natural surroundings. Somehow, the backdrop makes the quilt look better.

My heart still aches at the loss of our son. It’s strangely comforting having his quilt here at my house. In the end, I’m glad I made it.

Thanks everyone.

Kim

P.S. One of the most outstanding birthday gifts I ever received was from Mike. He went to the local quilt shop and bought me this book called Color Magic for Quilters. He was a very thoughtful person.

r. It’s an amazing resource. Thank you son.

 

Missing a Deadline

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Something crazy happened to me a few weeks back. For the first time ever, I missed a deadline.

Heather McArthur, the editor and publisher of Quilter’s Connection magazine asked me to do a smallish project for the Winter issue of the magazine. She wanted a project featuring some machine embroidery. Naturally, I pounced on the opportunity! I really love working for industry magazines, but especially for Heather.

So, I went about my business as usual. I marked down what I believed to be the deadline on my work calendar and chipped away at my to-do-list. In September, one full month before Heather’s quilt project was due, the quilt was well underway. I was humming a happy tune, just so completely proud of myself…I was on track!

Then, an email popped up in my inbox from Heather. I’m thinking she’s likely just checking in…to see how my quilt is progressing. Instead, I was beyond shocked when she asked me if my project was ready to ship. Wait! What? Ship? I hadn’t even begun to machine quilt yet. Evidently, I was a month behind! A month! I’d been mistaken about the deadline and I got it completely wrong.

As is my habit (I like to blame this one on my Mom!) from childhood, I started the mental bob and weave game. What could I do? What could I tell Heather? What was my excuse? Perhaps I could tell her the quilt was in my car and the car was stolen. Or even better, the dog rolled around on my beautiful quilt top, soiling it irretrievably and I had to start over. Maybe, I could blame my husband and tell her that he inadvertently used my precious quilt to mop up a mess in the garage.

Nope. None of those excuses would do. Sheepishly, I responded to Heather’s email with the simple truth; I had totally messed up the deadline. As is her style, Heather was gracious. She commiserated with me and just asked that, “I ship the quilt as soon as I could.”

Needless to say, the quilt was bumped up my to-do-list to the very top. I stitched and stitched, a little frantically, and finished it in a hurry. Shipping from Calgary to Port Coquitlam, B.C. is very fast, so Heather had the quilt soon after its completion.

I checked online today and Quilter’s Connection winter issue is now available in digital format, and will be on the store shelves very soon. Looks like my quilt is on page 19. Love the snowman on page 8!

Thank you Heather for your patience with me. It was so very much appreciated.

Kim

 

Grandma Forgets

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My dream is to write picture books for children; I’ve been learning all I can in the past few years about writing for children.  I’ve taken many courses online (mainly through writers.com) and have loved and learned from each and every class. I’ve been working with a wonderful, established American children’s author, who is assisting me with invaluable feedback on my work. When my first children’s book is published, I will owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Grandma Forgets by Paul Russell & Nicky Johnston is just the type of book I aspire to write. It touched my heart and I wanted to share it with you all. Grandma has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t always remember her children or her grandchildren. Undaunted, Grandma’s family perseveres, visiting with her often, reminiscing about her wonderful long life and all the activities they have done together. The illustrations of their memories moves the story along.  The most lovely part of the book is that Grandma is always cheerful, always willing to engage with her grandkids, even if she doesn’t remember who they are. To the young granddaughter in the story, the most important thing is that Grandma knows how much she is loved.

Maybe a family member could make Grandma a “quilt of memories”? Maybe that would help her to remember? Maybe that’s another story.

Thanks everyone.

Kim

 

Memories in Fabrics and Threads

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As quilters, part of what we attempt to do is preserve memories. We preserve them in fabric – like a snapshot.

Last week online, I came across this adorable photo of quilt with a little girl nestled underneath it. I mean…just look at that little face! She’s so precious.

The quilt was designed and stitched by Robin from RobinSewCrazy. In 2007, she opened her shop on Etsy.  Here she is with one of her grandchildren.

Memory quilts are her specialty…she uses her client’s old/too small clothing as fabric for the applique hearts on the quilt top. Robin does not use a pattern for her work, creating each quilt individually and custom to her client’s request.

Robin’s quilted creations capture the imagination. Just looking at them makes me happy! I love the menagerie of fabrics and colours, and they way they all mesh together in the end.

Thanks everyone.

Kim

Ultraviolet Colour Palette

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Good Wednesday to you all!  Thank you so much for joining me here.

Last Wednesday, I posted stage one of our first contest for 2018. If you scroll down to last week’s post, you can browse through all wonderful, thoughtful comments that we received.

Last week, I came across a Facebook post for Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2018 – which is Ultraviolet.  You can see the beautiful, rich colour here.

I think it’s an inspiring colour and I love pairing purples/ultraviolets with teal and pink and sometimes yellow.

Now, for stage 2 of our contest.

Here is my fabric colour palette that I put together from some fabrics in my stash. To enter the contest, please leave me a comment here on the blog – what do you think of these colours? Do you like them? Which one(s) would you remove? Which ones would you keep?

By leaving a comment on the blog,  you are entered into the contest.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you all.  Thanks quilters.

Take care.

Kim