Wednesday, July 17, 2013

DoverPictura Blog Entry

Earlier this week I entered a contest with Dover, which has some great books to help quilters in designing quilts. To my surprise I received an email from Amanda who writes for Dover Pictura Blog. My comment had caught her eye and she asked if I would write a guest blog sharing how living in my area influenced my quilting.


I am one of those fortunate quilters living in “The Great Outdoors.” For the last 25 plus years, we have lived near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and spend a lot of time visiting our favorite place…. Cades Cove. This is a valley with an 11-mile loop you drive around sightseeing and making stops shown in the Tour Book of places where early settlers lived and worked in the cove.  In the springtime, we love seeing the yellow jonquils blooming where old homesteads once stood with Dogwoods and Mountain Laurel also in bloom. Deer can be seen in the open fields where crops once grew. The black bears and their young cubs are a real treat and are beginning to roam.  There is nothing prettier than a big Momma Bear running with her 3 cubs trailing behind. We take our RV to the campground during spring and autumn. It’s these times of the year that I get most of my ideas for my quilts or do hand sewing. Evenings we find ourselves sitting by the campfire and I find myself thinking about future projects and what fabrics I will be using but then it’s roasting marshmallow time.  The view from my sewing room is looking out at those mountains I love.  Every moment I spend in my sewing room I am in my happy place enjoying a quilter’s life. Most of the quilts I make are donated to various individuals that have touched my life. The quilt I am working on now includes memories of our time living in Fairbanks, Alaska with the USAF. I am also into sewing small wall hangings of the mountains using a rotary cutter, Ombre and landscape fabrics. I like to blend and fade the colors into each other. This leaves a lot to my imagination and with the mountains they are forever changing, one day more beautiful than the next.