Flying geese from those who "flew the coop"

[Renata L.]

I've been pretty absent from the Forum for the past month. It started with a visit to Ohio to celebrate my mom's 81st birthday and then it's been traveling up and down the coast for various reasons. Just got back from Lancaster, PA (Lois, I would have contacted you but we were there for only a few hours for brother and sisters and their families to meet at the halfway point for most of us). Stopped perchance at a small quilt shop run by a woman whose husband was recovering from second-degree burns and she was alone trying to sell fabric, notions and finished quilts made by members of the local Amish community. She handed me the keys to her garage and said all the fat quarters and half-yards she had were there--to please help myself, lock up and bring back the key to her. Then, as she was helping a customer looking to purchase a quilt, she turned to me and asked if I minded cutting my own yardage. What trust! Had my sister and I not been there for only a few hours, we would have asked her if we could run her shop for her for a week while she tended to her DH. What an experience!

This year, instead of doing a round robin with mom and sisters as we did during last year's birthday visit, my sisters and I decided to make Mom a quilt. So, we each made a few rows of flying geese, met in NJ where sister Daniela assembled it while I was driving back down the coast to go home and then she quilted it on her mid-arm. Sister Pola, who came back from Ohio with us and who had never touched a mid-arm before, but is a talented multi-media artist with lots of control in her hands, did part of the quilting (and now is designing all sorts of line-drawings for Daniela's panto adventures. By the time I drove back up to NJ the following week, it was my turn to help finish stitching the binding (I love hand work). Finally, we all drove out to Lancaster, met one of my brothers from Ohio with his wife, hung out together for a few hours, had dinner and said goodbye to Pola, who returned to Ohio with our brother.

In any event, the quilt was a surprise for my mom. She always cherishes things we make for her and does not want to use them for fear they get ruined... :? :? :? So, we labeled this bed quilt, "Put it on the bed and sleep under it, Ma!" From start to end, it took us a week to make; Daniela carried most of the water with the quilting, but we had a blast planning the suprise and executing our part for the final surprise. It had to be simple so that it could get done, and here it is--two pictures. As you can see, the cat made herself at home on it right away! We are all in our fifties, but kids will always be kids when we get together to conspire a surprise for Mom... Renata

[Hannelore N.]

Renata, your mum's quilt is gorgeous (and the cat is very cute)! I'm quite jealous. I grew up as an only child and would have loved to have a sibling or two. You are very lucky to have brothers and sisters.

[Rita C.]

What a lovely quilt Renata. Bet your mom was pleased with that. What method did you use to make the flying geese? I have Eleanor Burns Flying Geese Rulers and I also have a sample of the Ricky Tims method courtesy of Lorchen.

[Renata L.]

Renata, your mum's quilt is gorgeous (and the cat is very cute)! I'm quite jealous. I grew up as an only child and would have loved to have a sibling or two. You are very lucky to have brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Lorchen! By the way, we are six siblings and once you get past the first few, a few more don't matter... you wanna be sisters? Renata

PS I spent a few of my growing-up years in Germany (not just Italy, where my Mom's from). Didn't you grow up in Germany?

[Renata L.]

What a lovely quilt Renata. Bet your mom was pleased with that. What method did you use to make the flying geese? I have Eleanor Burns Flying Geese Rulers and I also have a sample of the Ricky Tims method courtesy of Lorchen.

Hi, Rita!
Mom was speechless and it is always fun to see her that way (I mean it in a good way, not in an ornery way...). We paper-pieced our flying geese using a CD by Brenda Henning called Triangulations 3.0 to print the flying geese papers (http://www.bearpawproductions.com). It provides foundations for flying geese sizes 1/2"x1" to 3 3/4"x7 1/2". Flying geese foundations by Quiltmaker is also pretty popular (quiltmaker.com). We really breezed through these, making 52 flying geese apiece in one day, size 3"x6". I'm sure the Eleanor Burns method is pretty efficient (I vaguely remember it) but will look her up and refresh my memory as well as the Ricky Tims method which I am totally unfamiliar with.

After being away so long, it was almost hard to start up again, but I guess I'm "back in the saddle again" on the Forum! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Cheers,
Renata

[Nancy R.]

Hi Renata -

What a wonderful quilt! And what fun making it with your sisters!! I have 2 sisters, but neither are quilters, so all of my mom's quilts come from me. She does treasure them! My mom will use the bed quilts on her bed, but she is very, very careful with them and has never washed one, not even the one that she's had for over 10 years. It's so much fun to make something for mom because it really makes her happy!!

I'm glad to see you back on the forum! We missed you!!

Nancy

[Lois B.]

Renata, What a great quilt! And that cat is gorgeous with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a cat. They look like jewels. If you come by this way again let me know and I'll try to meet up with you. I live about 2 hours from Lancaster. Your experience in the Amish Shop does not surpise me. I love the story about you and your siblings making the quilt for your mother. You'll always remember doing that. Glad your back. Glad you had such a wonderful trip. Lois

[Renata L.]

Hi Renata -

What a wonderful quilt! And what fun making it with your sisters!! I have 2 sisters, but neither are quilters, so all of my mom's quilts come from me. She does treasure them! My mom will use the bed quilts on her bed, but she is very, very careful with them and has never washed one, not even the one that she's had for over 10 years. It's so much fun to make something for mom because it really makes her happy!!

I'm glad to see you back on the forum! We missed you!!

Nancy

Hi Nancy! I'm glad to be back on the forum and so nice to hear from you! I am probably more like your sisters because I'm really the non-quilter in the family but I am having fun and learning a lot. Your mom sounds a lot like my mom when it comes to over-protecting the quilted gifts she receives. Now, I'm behind with all sorts of projects again, including Sedona Star 2012, but I am starting to make progress on the round robin quilt (Rabbit Moon) that I asked you all for advice on.
Renata

[Renata L.]

Renata, What a great quilt! And that cat is gorgeous with the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a cat. They look like jewels. If you come by this way again let me know and I'll try to meet up with you. I live about 2 hours from Lancaster. Your experience in the Amish Shop does not surpise me. I love the story about you and your siblings making the quilt for your mother. You'll always remember doing that. Glad your back. Glad you had such a wonderful trip. Lois

Good evening, Lois! Thank you for the note--we had such a great time making this simple quilt, it meant a lot to us as sisters to be able to take time out and do this together, plus it was so much fun! Cara is the cat--my sister named her that because in Italian it means "dear" but it's used mostly with people you care about--a true term of endearment. I forgot you live a bit away from Lancaster,but I did think of you when I headed that way. I will let you know when I return that way. It was my first trip to Lancaster, and now I know it will not be my last--beautiful, beautiful countryside!
Renata

[Betty J.]

Renata, What a wonderful quilt and a wonderful way to get it done and a wonderful story behind it. The beautiful cat has the right idea for such a lovely quilt--decorate it with a beautiful cat. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Renata L.]

Hi BJ! Cara, the cat really knows how to steal the show, doesn't she? She has as much personality and endearing qualities as her name implies. She will sit on your lap and purr away in a moment and knows how to pick out a spanking brand new quilt to "inaugurate!" My sisters and I had such a great time making this quilt--what are we going to do next? :lol: :lol: :lol: Renata

[Rita C.]

Renata, I just thought I would mention that Cara in Irish means 'friend'! I am sure it derives from the Latin for Dear or Beloved One as a lot of Irish works stem from Latin. We begin letters with 'A Cara', which roughly translates as 'Dear Friend'. Oh the threads that bind

[ANNE E.]

I think the quilt is lovely and the cat obviously thinks so, do you think cats like the colours in the quilts ?????
Lorchan I'm an only child too and would have loved to have siblings my husband is an only child also, so my son and daughter don't have any aunts or uncles or cousins AHHHHH. What you don't have you don't miss.
Anne

[Renata L.]

Wow, Anne, I did not have many uncles and aunts on the Italian side of the family, but I never met anyone with two generations of no siblings! However, on the Chinese side of the family, there are lots of people who are uncle and auntie even though they are not siblings of our parents. In other words, blood relations is not the only way to acquire such relation. For example, if someone comes from the same village as your parent and shares your parent's last name, you've just acquired an uncle! I'm always confused, when I go to family reunions, as to who is a blood relation and who is not... in the end, it does not really matter! Renata

[Renata L.]

I think the quilt is lovely and the cat obviously thinks so, do you think cats like the colours in the quilts ?????
Lorchan I'm an only child too and would have loved to have siblings my husband is an only child also, so my son and daughter don't have any aunts or uncles or cousins AHHHHH. What you don't have you don't miss.
Anne

I'm the next generation down from you Anne, both my parents were only children, although they did have numerous aunts & uncles (by blood) My mother always complains that as a child she was out-numbered by the previous generation and after she got married and had 3 children, she was then out-numbered by the next generation, so that she was always in the minority. Which, as she sometimes says, 'is a bit much!'