The Treasure Composite

‘Tis the season we all have so much for which we are thankful – treasures. Be they “stuff” or best of all, memories of family and friends, places, things we’ve done, folks we’ve lost, and yes, things. This month your 7 quilts and your narratives captured a life-time of living.

Row 1. What better way to begin a composite with the subject of Treasures  -- family you don’t even have to know any of those people, artist or individuals shown because the quilt just says, this is a treasure.

Row 2. Karen, I agree, may the sun always shine on Serifina’s smile. May we all learn to smile more. Smiles are contagious. Alice, thank you for capturing the reason for all our treasures, so your quilt just had to go next. Rita and I saw Christmas 2018 through the eyes of a bright 5-year-old grandson and those memories will be unforgettable.

Row 3. I’ve been researching the old documents at our church, dated back to 1888, and I know the thrill of seeing that original handwriting. Andrea and Judy’s quilts speak volumes to treasures from the past in the stroke of a pen. Best of all, the documents give us a tactile memory also and often even tweak your sense of smell. Hmm, how about an occasional grease stain on an old recipe?

Row 4. Rita and I are transplanted Texans – got here quick as we could – and we have no plans to leave. Kathy’s quilt is a memory to that pride.  Andrea, what a wonderful, creative way to “treasure” your charms. Too often, charm bracelets go out of fashion or end up in a jewelry box and the memories are hidden away. You have discovered a way to combine your quilting talents with your treasure box and reminisce while so doing. 

Job well done – all.

Randy

Alice #2 Treasure Quilt: Epiphany or the Coming of the Wise Men

I wasn't happy with my first quilt, and since I'd not yet notified Randy that the Reveal day had come and passed (and he'd not yet constructed our composite),  I decided to make a substitute quilt.  I'll take down my first quilt, since I really did not like it at all!  (This is the one I wanted all along to make but thought I didn't have time!)

This quilt was inspired, like the first, on the Three Wise Men who visited the Christ child, bringing gifts that were truly TREASURES, gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The Wise Men had been told that the Christ child had been born and that they should follow a star to go to him.  Although many depictions of the newborn baby Jesus in the manger show not only his parents, Mary and Joseph, shepherds (who'd been told of his birth by angels), and also the Wise Men, the inclusion of the Wise Men at the stable is not really biblical!  A careful reading of the biblical account of the early life of Jesus reveals that the Wise Men came sometime later, and thus didn't see the child when he was a newborn.

In many Christian traditions, this current season of the church year, the season following Advent,  is called Epiphany. One definition of the word epiphany that I found recently is one I really like: "a moment of sudden insight that is usually a great revelation."  Thus we can see why this time of year in many Christian traditions is called the Epiphany season.  For the Wise Men, seeing the child Jesus was a revelation, a true epiphany.

My quilt depicts the three Wise Men (or three kings or three Magi as they are often called) with their costly gifts. As I explained in my narrative about the first quilt I made, frankincense and myrrh were used as incense in biblical times, with myrrh often used in burial rites.  In another interpretation of the gifts, gold symbolized the kingship of Jesus; frankincense, his priestly role; and myrrh, his death.  These gifts were literal treasures!

I  drew and then cut out a paper pattern for the wise men and cut the body of their robes and sleeves from different fabrics, after applying fusible to the fabrics.  In a similar manner I cut out their faces, crowns, and the gifts they are carrying. These were fused to the starry background fabric. I also fused on a brighter star, to stand for the star that guided the Wise Men.  I echo-quilted minimally around the appliqués on the background fabric.

The 12"x12" quilt is layered with backing and batting and bound conventionally.  I am much happier now, with this quilt, the one I really wanted to make!

Andrea's Treasure Quilt

Treasured Memories/Little Treasures

11" x 14" screen-printed cotton, sterling charms

Although intrigued with the theme, no idea or concept came to mind, until I remembered a couple of sterling silver charm bracelets that I found few months ago when looking for something else.  At the time I thought I would never wear either of them again, and that they should be "re-homed", but of course I didn't do that!  When I realized they were actually "little treasures" from my first trip to Europe, I knew they could be re-purposed as embellishments for this quilt.  From that starting point I decided to go through my Thermofax screens to find images that would work together for a collaged background.  The charms were tarnished and at first I thought I would polish them, but then decided the darkened silver gave them a vintage look and more character.  However, I then needed to tarnish jump rings to match and found a "how-to" video online, which worked reasonably well.

Kathy's Treasure

Kathy's Treasure

TREASURE - What a wonderful choice for our first Theme in this brand new year !

I had many thoughts about how I wanted to ‘articulate’ this theme, and narrowed those thoughts and ideas down to a few that are so important to me.    God,  Family,  Country,  State…..

To me, our Dear God is represented in everything that surrounds us and is with us.   He has provided us with this beautiful planet we call Mother Earth.    In all her glory, Mother Earth provides us with an exquisite environment in which to live.  I chose to represent this environment with beautiful flowers.

Our Families are our first teachers, and from them we learn respect, appreciation, and a reliance on our God to guide us through life.  My truly blessed Grandmother taught me about Gardens, and as I toil away in the dirt, I often imagine she’s smiling at me, and is proud that I carry on her traditions.  I learned well from her !

“GOD BLESS AMERICA !”   Our beautiful Flag that “so proudly we hail,” makes me think about all that’s happened, historically, to make it possible for us to enjoy the Freedom(s) and opportunities we have in this amazing country we’re blessed to call home !

And “Texas Oh Texas,”  what a grand State to live in !    I was born in Texas, and even though I lived in California during my growing-up years, and then in Alaska for 35 years, I am a Native-Born Texas Woman, and am darn proud of that !   In this quilt, I think the Fancy Boot just about says it all  !

For this Quilt, I machine appliqued all the elements to the background fabric using Madeira Monofilament thread.   I free-motion quilted the background fabric to give this quilt greater depth.   AND – The Fabric on the back of this quilt….  Well -  it pretty much speaks for itself !

Nedra's Treasure - Rylma

To hold or keep precious - what an apt description of my inspiration for this theme.  When I was 3 1/2 years old, my sister died of leukemia at 13.  This was a tragic event in our family that I sensed despite not fully comprehending all of the implications.  Her death was rarely discussed by anyone in the family.  If it was brought up, my mother would start to cry and the subject was quickly changed.  I quickly learned I shouldn't ask questions.  As a result, I knew very little about her or her life. Some of her belongings were kept in a small jewelry box and only one picture of her was ever displayed.  Oddly, this seemed "normal" to me and I remember feeling that I wasn't really affected because I barely knew or remembered her.  

About 15 years ago, certain events in my life made me realize how wrong I was.  I was starved for information about her, her personality, and the relationship she had with me.   Despite my mother's aging and lingering fragile emotional state about her, I gently started asking questions although her memory was starting to fade.  Things I thought I remembered about her and the situation she said had not happened.  I queried my sister's to try to fill in the blanks, with some success.   Though eventually I came to accept that I would never really learn all I wanted to know.   After my mother's death, I searched through family pictures and saved every one of her I could find.  To my delight, I found this picture of the two of us.  I believe it was taken in the last months of her life.   There I was with my doll sitting in the bed with her!!!  She has a big smile on her face and I want to believe I was the reason for it.  Forever will I treasure this tiny glimpse into our lives.

This picture, her baptismal certificate and several report cards are printed and fused to the seashell fabric.  Several of my seashell treasures are attached.    Gold Angelina fibers add to the look of precious metals.  It is minimally quilted.

Judy's: Family Treasures

Thinking about treasures, family always comes into the picture. Now I’ve never made

Schweinepfeffer (Soup from small bones of pork) but the other recipes I have made and shared good times with family as we made them. 

The other part of the recipes that make them treasures, is the handwriting. You hear so many people say, “My handwriting is so awful.” I use to say that too, but now I realize how special it is to see a handwritten letter, note, recipe, or even a list. To get these onto the fabrics I chose to trace them. As I did this I felt even more connected to the family members whose handwriting I was copying. Each loop, curve, crossed T and dotted I drew me into thoughts about them. To see and trace my Grandfathers handwriting “Schweinepfeffer”, my Grandmothers handwriting of the rest of the recipe writing that the recipe came from Mrs. C. Aulbur who was my Grandfathers mother. The C. stands for her husbands name Casper and her name was Elizabeth. The recipe came out of a plain little notebook that I was lucky enough to become the one who get to keep this treasure.

 The Sugar cookie recipe is in my mothers handwriting and one year our son Matthew told her that those were his favorite cookies. I added the cursive “Love, Mom & Grandma Grossmann” from this years Christmas letter so that it has both kinds on the recipe.

The Navajo Frybread is in my sister, Susan’s, handwriting. She found the recipe in the 17 Magazine in the early 1970’s and when she made it it was an event. We had never seen bread made that way and discovered it was delicious! She was always interested in things that were antique, old craft skills, and this recipe fit the bill on something old that was new to us.

 The last recipe comes from my mother-in-law. It is in my handwriting and such a simple recipe that it didn’t take up much space on the card. Every time we would visit she made these delightful corn cakes for breakfast. She always said that she didn’t make them as good as her mom did and when I made them, they definitely weren’t as good as hers! She grew up in Pennsylvania as a coal miners daughter and it is wonderful to have a recipe that she and her mother made in my recipe file.

On the back of my quilt I used a fun chair fabric because sitting around the table eating delicious food and visiting with family and friends is a treasure.

Karen's Treasure Quilt This is Serafina!

This is Serafina! She is her family's treasure. She is always stylish, including her hot pick wheel chair! 

May the sun always shine on her!!

I printed her picture on 'PFD' white fabric then cut along her photo. I used a  layer of Thermore batting behind Serafina. You can peel the two layers of scrim apart and each side had wisps of poly fiber that is just enough to trapunto. Background trees, road, grass and sun appliqued. I used the back side of the sky fabric to tone it down and the back side of the road fabric to show more texture.

(I am posting for Karen because her computer doesn't like the blog. Tricia)

Tricia's Treasure Quilt- Family Time together

With the theme Treasure- I kept thinking about the few times our entire family gets to be together in a year. With 4 children, one daughter in law, two son in laws, three grand children and two step grand children. One family is in Colorado, another in New Jersey and two daughters are in the Boston area.
Talking with my daughter Eliza about the treasure theme she agreed that at Thanksgiving we were all able to be here. We took this photograph for our Christmas cards.  It was even hard to get the photo because the youngest was napping and another was sick but we were able to do it!

Eliza suggested the phrase that I free motioned quilted into the border.

Treasure is when you map out and search for a time to get everyone together in one place. These are the moments that you Treasure.