by Judy Moore Pullen

Each of us has stories that are well worth sharing with others. There seems to be something almost magical about sharing those stories when sitting around a quilt with friends, either hand quilting or working together to complete the hand stitching of the binding. 

A few weeks ago, three good friends helped arrange tables so that we could lay out a large quilt to complete it in preparation for the joy of presenting the quilt to a dear friend who had retired at the end of December. When we initially heard about the upcoming retirement, our little team of quilters mourned for a while, then we gathered our wits together and decided to make a quilt for friends to sign and present at a “Celebration” party for the retiree. What a joy the planning process turned out to be. One of our teammates suggested making a rail fence using batiks with colors ranging from lights to darks. The light strips could be where friends signed and wrote notes or memories. Kind of like “fishes and loaves.” When our team perused our stashes, we discovered that we had plenty of fabrics except for the dark strips, which required a trip to a quilt shop. Then we divided the fabrics, shared directions for cutting and stitching, and conquered by making blocks. A couple of teammates sewed blocks into rows, and rows into the top. Another teammate cut and stitched an inner border, and still another added the outer border. 

Next, a dear long arm quilter helped select a lovely design of birds and butterflies that enhanced the top and turned the back into a beautiful fluttery design. The binding was machine stitched on the top, then four of us gathered around four tables to spend a wonderful morning hand stitching the binding on the back. A question like: “When did you begin sewing?” resulted in reaching back into our memory banks, telling about a mother, grandmother, or dear aunt who took us under their wings to teach us the ins and outs of needle and thread. One person began sewing in a 4-H club; another in Home Economics as a freshman in high school. As we hand stitched the binding on that quilt, we shared stories, adding to each other’s’ comments and experiences. There is so much value in sharing a process with others, working together to complete a project.

As the signature memory quilt was presented to our dear friend at her “Celebration” party, we shared in her joy as she read the signatures, best wishes, and memories. We also realized that we shared something of ourselves: perhaps a better understanding and appreciation of each other.

By Judy Moore Pullen

Please pardon the pun, and alliteration, but I love to play with words, fabric, threads, etc., etc. I just flat out love to play, don’t you? I have wonderful little girl memories of watching my parents rake fallen multi-colored maple and oak leaves in Ohio in the fall. Then, I would jump in the middle of the pile of leaves, scattering them over the newly raked yard. I also well remember walking home from elementary school savoring the crunch of those beautifully colored leaves under my saddle oxfords. Fast forward a couple decades later to my very own classroom of elementary school students as we collected colorful leaves to pin on our bulletin board bearing the title: “Leaf Through a Good Book.” Throughout our awesome autumn, we read, wrote, and illustrated stories about that special time of year when corn is harvested, hours of daylight become shorter, and animals begin gathering and hunting in preparation for a time of less abundance of food. I still have leaves to rake and magically turn into veggie-loving soil by composting them in what will become a springtime garden. 

I love to leaf through good books and magazines at our local public library and my personal library at home. As a little girl, I got into (good) trouble reading under the quilts by flashlight when I was supposed to be sleeping. What in the world made me think that my parents could not see the shine of that flashlight under the covers?! Today, I have a stack of reading materials on the dressing table beside my bed to peruse before I turn out the lamp. There are so many good books and magazines of quilt making designs in so many genres from hand and/or machine applique and piecing, designs and instructions for various borders, children’s themed quilts, what to do with panels, small projects, table runners, gifts, alternative textiles such as wool, batiks, or cottons, threads and designs, rug hooking, needle felting, quilt history, whew……

At times, it seems that my books and various reading materials breed overnight. I have such a wonderful expanding collection, that I have turned them into design elements in my home and sewing studio. Thankfully, our coffee table has a bottom shelf, so I can stack and display the strikingly beautiful covers of my treasures on two levels, and rotate them whenever I dust. I stack them with spines facing outward and plop a lamp on top of my barristers shelves of more books. By taking over the guest room closet and adding more shelves for fabric, I am able to organize wool applique and rug hooking books and magazines in the hall closet, formerly known as the bathroom linen closet, near my wool and PHD’s (Projects Half Done). My cute Half Hoosier Cabinet, where I store my “secret stash” of treats and snacks, has just enough room next to antique cookie jars for books to stand up straight at attention like soldiers.

Books and magazines can also be arranged to serve as bookends for other books and magazines. I like to mingle my collection of old readers with my newer books about hand sewing and embroidery. As I pass by the collection, I am reminded of dear sweet Granny, who took me under her wings on her sofa when I was three years old and introduced me to the lifetime joy of the push and pull of a needle and thread through a dishtowel. I still love to work with my hands (except for doing dishes and cleaning bathrooms). Dear sweet Granny also planted the seed of “each one reach one and teach one” in my heart and soul. She inspired me to continue that tradition of sewing and helping others learn and appreciate the gift of handwork.

So, until the hours of daylight lengthen, perhaps one can turn attention to places for inspiration for projects for our wintry days, when gardens and flowers are resting and critters are snug in their burrows. A big pot of homemade soup will last for several meals, allowing one to spend less time cooking and more time leafing through some good books and magazines for ideas that will become the seeds for projects and inspiration. Leaf through a good book or two, or ten, and see what happens!

Sew on and Sew on,

Judy Moore Pullen

By Judy Moore Pullen

I have my parents’ hands and hearts, and for that I am so grateful. My parents’ work with their hands was so connected to their hearts. As I observe and listen to others during these last several months, I am convinced that those who quilt, embroider, knit, crochet, sew or do any kind of handwork do so with a connection of their hearts and hands. During this time of so much uncertainty and concern, many people are pulling together, reaching out with their hearts and hands to help others.

My parents grew up during the time of the Great Depression in Appalachia, a place of great natural beauty, but also great poverty. “Make do or do without” was an expression that defined their daily lives. Times were tough, and so were they. But their hard, laborious work done by hand, also produced soft hearts that reached out willingly to their family, friends, and neighbors.

My mother taught me to sew by hand at an early age on a dishtowel, to mend and sew on buttons, and to fashion clothes for a rag doll from her quilt scraps. I grew up with quilts made from left overs of clothing, pieced and quilted by hand. I remember going to the feed store before entering first grade with my mother to hopefully find enough feed sacks of the same print to make a new dress for my first day of school. Today, those feed sacks are quiltmakers’ collectors items, treasured as much as my new dress in the 1940’s. The feed sacks were chosen and stitched lovingly by my mother’s hands and heart.

My dad instilled in me the pleasure of fixing things instead of tossing aside and buying something new. My dad never had a brand-new car, but I well remember helping him bleed brakes, set the gap of spark plugs, and mend the fence for the chicken’s pen. I still have a strand of braided twine from a feed sack that my dad gave me. He saved the chain-stitched closure on each feed sack. I remember watching him braid three strands together, while sharing with me the lesson of how much stronger we are when we work together. My dad never saw a stranger, always willing to help when and where help was needed.

My quilting friends today are also an example of how individuals work with their hands and hearts to help others. Quilters used their skills and problem-solving abilities to be some of the first to make face masks when it was learned how helpful they can be. They dug into their scraps and stashes to provide fabrics once intended for quilts, table runners, wall hangings, or gifts for others to make and give away face masks, the work of their hands and hearts. They designed a variety of face coverings, some using elastic for ear pieces and others strips that tied the masks in place. Quilters readily shared ideas about what worked best for them. Designs were modified and masks were made for children using colorful and fun prints. And, all the time and efforts on the part of quilters has been freely given using the work of their hands and their hearts to help others.

I firmly believe that we are always being prepared for a turn or fork in the road, or a diversion that allows us to use our individual gifts and talents. Amid so much concern during the last several months, quilters have been using their experiences, gifts, and talents and the work of their hands and their hearts, turning time spent at home and their resources at hand to help others. What a joy to be able to use the lessons learned at an early age from my parents to use my hands and heart as a source of joy and fulfillment.

ROXANNE’S GLUE TIP

I was pressing a 2 1/2” strip for a bias binding using a dry iron, being careful to not stretch the strip out of shape. With steam, I can turn a fat quarter into nearly a half yard. I noticed Roxanne’s Glue Stick in a pretty little container while waiting for the heat of the iron to create a sharp crease in the fold of the binding strip. Then a light bulb went off in my head! I gently swiped the Glue Stick across the wrong side of the binding strip near the cut edge, and gently nudged the other cut edge over to match.

Then I pressed down firmly, not ironing back and forth. A smooth, flat, stable bias resulted! Hmmmm….wonder if that will help prevent the “bubble” that rises up ahead of my walking foot when I machine stitch binding to the right side of my quilt?  A walking foot is so helpful when machine stitching a binding to a quilted project, but I still must frequently stop, lift the presser foot, give a tug front and back on the binding, flatten the binding in place, stitch a few inches, and repeat the process. So, over to my machine to do a field test. BINGO!!!! So much smoother, easier, quicker, and neater! Wonder if it will work on binding that is cut on the straight of grain, cross grain?

Back to my ironing board to glue and press straight and cross grain strips. Stitched the binding in place for a few inches, and BINGO again!! The top layer of cross grain binding stayed in place!!

No “bubble”! I do like bubbles, but not on my bindings. Thank you, Roxanne’s Glue Stick!!

Happy Stitching,

Judy Moore Pullen