Heidi Kaisand
Creativity and quilting go hand-in-hand at my Iowa house. I am a busy mother of Henry and identical twins Goldie and Virginia and a wife to Jeff. Visit my web site at www.heidikaisand.com to learn more about my retreats.Sign up for Newsletter Now!
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HenandChicks
Frosty Morning
Moving cows on a frosty morning.
Almost as good as Christmas
There is nothing better than the UPS man dropping off boxes of quilts! I was so excited I ran down stairs and opened them up immediately. After looking at each one I took them to the laundry room and began to wash and dry them. The feel of a washed and dried quilt is so comforting.
You've been watching the progress on two of these quilts. Next, you'll find the patterns for re-creating them yourself on my shopping cart.
Here's Pigs in a Blanket, which will be auctioned off at the 2010 annual AASV meeting. Check out all of the items up for bid. There are some pretty cool things.
Carol Rodibaugh is one of my favorite artists featured at AASV. Every year I try to buy her painting and every year I get outbid. They are beautiful. This is her 2008 artwork, Pigmentation.
My experiment in batiks and needlefelted flowers has turned into Tropical Burst, a colorful wall hanging. I loved all the comments and suggestions my blog readers gave in how it should be laid out.
You've been watching the progress on two of these quilts. Next, you'll find the patterns for re-creating them yourself on my shopping cart.
Here's Pigs in a Blanket, which will be auctioned off at the 2010 annual AASV meeting. Check out all of the items up for bid. There are some pretty cool things.
Carol Rodibaugh is one of my favorite artists featured at AASV. Every year I try to buy her painting and every year I get outbid. They are beautiful. This is her 2008 artwork, Pigmentation.
My experiment in batiks and needlefelted flowers has turned into Tropical Burst, a colorful wall hanging. I loved all the comments and suggestions my blog readers gave in how it should be laid out.
Organized Chaos
About four times a year I change the quilts that I have on display on ledges that are near the front door. I'm sure that sounds weird...but its an architectural feature of the house that worked out pretty cool for decorating. Well, it requires that I get out the large ladder. We had the large ladder out to take down Christmas decorations and I had Jeff leave it up. I wasn't inspired immediately as to which quilts I should use so the ladder has sat inside the front door for two weeks. Last night I finally was moved to get them changed! Henry was a big help. He wanted to climb that ladder so bad. "Mom, I'll carry the quilts up to you." It's a tall ladder so I wasn't about to let him climb to the top, although I knew he could! And would. Instead, he met me half way up and handed me the quilt I needed. As I dropped quilts down, I asked Henry and the girls to take them to the dining room so they were out of the way.
After a good shaking I'll refold these and find a new place to display them in the house. Note the red-and-white basket quilt in the background. I decided to hang this newly finished antique quilt in the dinning room for the Valentine season. Two-color quilts capture my attention and I have a few in my collection. So one ledge was made the blue-and-white snowflake corner. The cabinets with stuff on top that you're seeing in the foreground are the top of the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen is free-standing in the middle of the great room.
These are all antique in some form. The Irish Chain, left, has new binding, but is otherwise all original to when I purchased it. The airplane blocks were antique blocks I purchased and made into a quilt. It was hand-quilted by my Amish friend. The Churn Dash on the right is one of two quilts. While attending a pig meeting with Jeff in Nashville I found these blocks at an antique mall and the bag was marked "would make great potholders." Instead, while visiting a quilt shop in Clarksville, KY, on the same trip I found coordinating blue fabric on sale and decided I had enough stuff to make matching twin quilts. This was long before the girls were born...but I had just purchased an set of antique twin brass beds and was thinking they would look nice on them. The quilts are hand-quilted by my Amish friend.
On the second ledge I had spring in mind with a pastel pieced antique quilt top, that was machine-quilted in the last few years.
After a good shaking I'll refold these and find a new place to display them in the house. Note the red-and-white basket quilt in the background. I decided to hang this newly finished antique quilt in the dinning room for the Valentine season. Two-color quilts capture my attention and I have a few in my collection. So one ledge was made the blue-and-white snowflake corner. The cabinets with stuff on top that you're seeing in the foreground are the top of the kitchen cabinets. The kitchen is free-standing in the middle of the great room.
These are all antique in some form. The Irish Chain, left, has new binding, but is otherwise all original to when I purchased it. The airplane blocks were antique blocks I purchased and made into a quilt. It was hand-quilted by my Amish friend. The Churn Dash on the right is one of two quilts. While attending a pig meeting with Jeff in Nashville I found these blocks at an antique mall and the bag was marked "would make great potholders." Instead, while visiting a quilt shop in Clarksville, KY, on the same trip I found coordinating blue fabric on sale and decided I had enough stuff to make matching twin quilts. This was long before the girls were born...but I had just purchased an set of antique twin brass beds and was thinking they would look nice on them. The quilts are hand-quilted by my Amish friend.
On the second ledge I had spring in mind with a pastel pieced antique quilt top, that was machine-quilted in the last few years.
Christmas Reminiscence
Here we are more than a week into the new year and I'm still lingering on last month. My niece likes to do scrapbooking, so I sent a handful of photos to her local Walgreens store for her to pick up. (Isn't that great...in just an hour she can go pick them up nearly a thousand miles away from me.) Well, this got me to looking at all of the photos again.
The beautiful table at my parents.
My mother's beautiful decorating touches.
The attempt of taking the photo of the grandkids.
But what really got to me were the memories of my own childhood Christmas' with my cousins. I cherish the relationships that I still have with my cousins today. Rather than just cousins I think of them as siblings. There were seven of us--4 boys, 3 girls. Seven years between the eldest and the youngest (me). My brother and I lived 18 miles from the other five cousins, so we saw each other regularly. I looked up to my two girl cousins--and still do. One is a successful gift shop owner and the other a successful Pampered Chef consultant. I was proud back then of knowing them, too. I loved having matching dresses.
We always had fun together. (Aunt Marilyn, I thought about cropping the photo to just us three girls, but I loved your hair style and velvet dress. I thought you'd get a chuckle, too!)
Fast forward to 2009 when a simple project of decorating gingerbread trees created new memories for a new generation of cousins.
I think I see some of that same pride in Henry. Or, wait, was that a goofy grin because his mouth was full of gum drops?
Precious moments we're all to remember for years to come.
An activity that might just become a new tradition.
The beautiful table at my parents.
My mother's beautiful decorating touches.
The attempt of taking the photo of the grandkids.
But what really got to me were the memories of my own childhood Christmas' with my cousins. I cherish the relationships that I still have with my cousins today. Rather than just cousins I think of them as siblings. There were seven of us--4 boys, 3 girls. Seven years between the eldest and the youngest (me). My brother and I lived 18 miles from the other five cousins, so we saw each other regularly. I looked up to my two girl cousins--and still do. One is a successful gift shop owner and the other a successful Pampered Chef consultant. I was proud back then of knowing them, too. I loved having matching dresses.
We always had fun together. (Aunt Marilyn, I thought about cropping the photo to just us three girls, but I loved your hair style and velvet dress. I thought you'd get a chuckle, too!)
Fast forward to 2009 when a simple project of decorating gingerbread trees created new memories for a new generation of cousins.
I think I see some of that same pride in Henry. Or, wait, was that a goofy grin because his mouth was full of gum drops?
Precious moments we're all to remember for years to come.
An activity that might just become a new tradition.
Henry's Big Bed Quilt
Just before Christmas our household did a major bed shuffle. The girls moved from cribs to youth beds and Henry moved from a youth bed to a double bed. If you can imagine this inspired lots of cleaning and organizing and re-arranging. And, it has created a to do list for when I have more time. I had the girls youth bed quilts ready to go (see my last post). The fabrics had been gathered for Henry's next quilt. Tractors are included, of course.
I gathered my inspiration book, some graph paper and Henry's new colored pencils. Having written quilt instructions for nearly 20 years I like to get things sorted out before I start cutting.
I did a few test blocks to work out the pressing, then took off cutting and sewing.
The graphic pattern that forms when blocks are turned is wonderful. I think Henry will be able to use those squares as his fields and roads when he's playing farmer.
I gathered my inspiration book, some graph paper and Henry's new colored pencils. Having written quilt instructions for nearly 20 years I like to get things sorted out before I start cutting.
I did a few test blocks to work out the pressing, then took off cutting and sewing.
The graphic pattern that forms when blocks are turned is wonderful. I think Henry will be able to use those squares as his fields and roads when he's playing farmer.
A Look Back at 2009
Our Christmas holiday is officially coming to a close today. Tomorrow will bring five days straight of school and work! Can we do it? We are routine people, so getting back into our little routine will be good. At least for me! As I've been sewing over the past few days I've been reflecting over 2009. I pulled out my 2009 Quilt Block plan to review where I thought I was going and where I actually went. I chose the word clarity for my word in 2009 and I can tell you several times I found myself asking for clarity.
Nothing in my 2009 goals was earth shattering...but none the less important to me. I must give you a couple of highlights. Henry started school in August and has been loving it. He asks lots of questions about how to spell words. Just last night we spelled on a dry-erase board he got for Christmas. I'm so proud of him. Goldie and Virginia continue to grow and change. Just before Christmas we made the switch to big girl beds...they are the best little girls staying in their beds. I'm moving potty training to goals in 2010! When it comes to food and health for 2009, I've held my own in the weight department but it hasn't been easy. I love food too much. In the fashion area I have fully attained my goal of wearing more jewelry. And, have I had fun! My dresser is filled with new treasures and I look forward to wearing them all in 2010. Including my own line of jewelry. Creativity has been dancing around the house...from scrapbooking to quilting it's been here. My personal goal of getting an on-line shopping cart up and running was met. My sales haven't allowed me to retire yet, but the satisfaction of "I can do this" has brought lots of personal rewards. The quilting retreat took a new twist in 2009 but was a success. Facebook, Twitter, and social networking has rekindled all sorts of old friendships from home, school, 4-H, and quilters around the world. The Kaisands have definitely had lots of adventures this year and I've photographed most of them! (Only 9,047 images and 60 videos to add to my Memory Manager archive for 2009--gotta love digital cameras. And, thank goodness for Creative Memories.) The projects I've worked on have been fun, challenging, and rewarding.
From the wedding quilt for our friends.
To the big girl bed quilts for Goldie and Virginia.
Echo
Reflections in the Pond
To starting Henry's new quilt, which will be finished in 2010! (More about that in a future blog.)
Where will 2010 take me, the kids, our family? What will our adventures be? Maybe tomorrow as I'm driving to work at the APQS showroom, I'll have that clarity in the car again and 2010, or at least my hopes for 2010, will begin to unfold. Should I pick a word for the year? If you picked a word, what would it bed? Do I have specific goals I want to put in writing? I can tell you no matter where our lives take us, I will appreciate each and every day and savour every moment. Because I AM the luckiest woman on earth to be loved by my family and to have the best family in the world to love.
Nothing in my 2009 goals was earth shattering...but none the less important to me. I must give you a couple of highlights. Henry started school in August and has been loving it. He asks lots of questions about how to spell words. Just last night we spelled on a dry-erase board he got for Christmas. I'm so proud of him. Goldie and Virginia continue to grow and change. Just before Christmas we made the switch to big girl beds...they are the best little girls staying in their beds. I'm moving potty training to goals in 2010! When it comes to food and health for 2009, I've held my own in the weight department but it hasn't been easy. I love food too much. In the fashion area I have fully attained my goal of wearing more jewelry. And, have I had fun! My dresser is filled with new treasures and I look forward to wearing them all in 2010. Including my own line of jewelry. Creativity has been dancing around the house...from scrapbooking to quilting it's been here. My personal goal of getting an on-line shopping cart up and running was met. My sales haven't allowed me to retire yet, but the satisfaction of "I can do this" has brought lots of personal rewards. The quilting retreat took a new twist in 2009 but was a success. Facebook, Twitter, and social networking has rekindled all sorts of old friendships from home, school, 4-H, and quilters around the world. The Kaisands have definitely had lots of adventures this year and I've photographed most of them! (Only 9,047 images and 60 videos to add to my Memory Manager archive for 2009--gotta love digital cameras. And, thank goodness for Creative Memories.) The projects I've worked on have been fun, challenging, and rewarding.
From the wedding quilt for our friends.
To the big girl bed quilts for Goldie and Virginia.
Echo
Reflections in the Pond
To starting Henry's new quilt, which will be finished in 2010! (More about that in a future blog.)
Where will 2010 take me, the kids, our family? What will our adventures be? Maybe tomorrow as I'm driving to work at the APQS showroom, I'll have that clarity in the car again and 2010, or at least my hopes for 2010, will begin to unfold. Should I pick a word for the year? If you picked a word, what would it bed? Do I have specific goals I want to put in writing? I can tell you no matter where our lives take us, I will appreciate each and every day and savour every moment. Because I AM the luckiest woman on earth to be loved by my family and to have the best family in the world to love.
Project Update
After four straight days of celebrating Christmas is was nice to have a down day yesterday to try and play catch up and to relax a few minutes. This morning I started sorting through the more than 900 photos I've taken this holiday season...so many favorites, so many memories.
Today I'm going to keep it simple and update you on two projects that got completed. The first is one I've written about in past blogs.
I've named the quilt "Friends Take Flight." It will be a gift for a friend that loves to pheasant hunt. Emily Keller did a nice job quilting it on her APQS Millennium quilting system.
This is an antique quilt top I purchased several years ago. The outside border was shredding so I cut it off. Emily Keller did a great job working with the misshaped quilt. The backing fabric is a little wild...but I thought it was fun! It's been washed and dried (used my favorite Shout Color Catchers to ensure no bleeding of that red) and is now ready to be used. Just need to figure out what I want to do with it.
Next up...Henry's tractor quilt!
Today I'm going to keep it simple and update you on two projects that got completed. The first is one I've written about in past blogs.
I've named the quilt "Friends Take Flight." It will be a gift for a friend that loves to pheasant hunt. Emily Keller did a nice job quilting it on her APQS Millennium quilting system.
This is an antique quilt top I purchased several years ago. The outside border was shredding so I cut it off. Emily Keller did a great job working with the misshaped quilt. The backing fabric is a little wild...but I thought it was fun! It's been washed and dried (used my favorite Shout Color Catchers to ensure no bleeding of that red) and is now ready to be used. Just need to figure out what I want to do with it.
Next up...Henry's tractor quilt!
Mooooving Cows
While many of you were moving from store to store finding great after-holiday bargains, we were moving cows. It was a sunny day, but cold. My Explorer said 16 degrees. Not to mention the ice that is out there making it difficult to walk. (Ask me how I know!) The girls and I loaded up to meet the boys at the farm. After discovering the cows wouldn't cross the creek because of the ice, they turned them around and headed the long way. Once they hit the road, it was about 3 1/2 miles to their winter vacation spot.
A little bribe of hay never hurts.
They stop and wonder if this is where they belong. Nope, move it along girls.
"Are we suppose to go straight or turn? Anyone have their GPS turned on?"
"Guess we'll go this way. "
"Did someone get the mail? There's nothing in here. I was expecting an important letter."
And, for some, the 90 minute process is just exhausting.
A little bribe of hay never hurts.
They stop and wonder if this is where they belong. Nope, move it along girls.
"Are we suppose to go straight or turn? Anyone have their GPS turned on?"
"Guess we'll go this way. "
"Did someone get the mail? There's nothing in here. I was expecting an important letter."
And, for some, the 90 minute process is just exhausting.
