Cat Quilts

Now try to say that three times in a row quickly. So let me tell you about this cat of mine, she’s cute, and she just got a quilt. Thought I’d clear that up fast, this isn’t a story about quilts with cats on them, although Katie is on her new quilt now. Anyhow, my sister makes quilts, I remember going through school, my sister making a lot of her own clothes. Before going off to Germany, to marry the man I introduced her to, did I mention her beautiful daughter and granddaughter, she had graduated from the Fashion Institute. When her husband, finished his hitch with the military, they moved back state side, to a house in town. After about 6 years or so, it went bad, they split, she, while raising her child, she went back to school, got interested in history, got a degree, and began to teach. You know, I guess it comes from our Dad, it seems were all prone to go off on tangents, somehow in all that history, something about Early American Quilting, caught my sisters eye. We had grown up in a county, next to Lancaster County, apparently a rich history of quilting, of patterns, of techniques, existed within the Amish culture of this county, and provided, a rich resource, for my Sister. Now, if it sounds, at any time, as if I don’t know what I’m talking about, if you’ve been keeping up, you shouldn’t be bothered, often I don’t, anyhow this is a story about a 57 year old man, and his cat, sounds scary, huh. Enough about that, I’ve asked my Sister about Guest Posting with me, talking a little about quilts. She had just told me of a project, using CAMPAIN T-SHIRTS, sewn together for the field, I’m sure, with beautiful borders. What is fascinating, are associations made with other people, other groups, as one goes off on a tangent, my Father, I remember, three of his. Let’s see, there was daming up the creek, that was a tough one, lots of shovels, a lot of failures. A lot of time at the bar, in discussions of how to, I’m sure, some drawn out, and heated. Funny thing happened, when Dad stopped going to bars, he became content, to let the stream flow. With my photography, the photography is great, but what is really precious, are the people I meet along the way. Over the last few years, while riding trains, I seem to run into Amish families. The last two photography workshops I attended, were anchored in Coos Bay, both times, on the train to Eugene, I rode with families from Lancaster, Amish Families, on vacation, looping the country, making stops along the way. Quilts they had in tow, along with their children, were beautiful. The men, were wide eyed, at the size of farms they saw along the way, so different, from the kind of farming that they knew. We had some common ground, we were from the same part of the country, we talked about this. In a little more than a month, I’ll be taking off, cross country, on Amtrak, second time this year, these days, a much more enjoyable way of travel. I guess, now that Katie has her own Kitty Quilt, I’ll be taking the quilt, my Sister made for me, earlier this year. A blanket, a pillow, a coffee maker, and a CD player, all essential, in the middle of the night, when the train stops, often it wakes you up. If its 3 AM, its at least 3 hours, until coffee is available on the train, its good to bring some water too. Watch out, this time, I have my Blackberry, I’ll be posting along the way. Who knows, a few days with my Sister, face to face, I might bring her around, have her write a little about quilting, about the people who share that common thread. Well Katie, is still racked out, on her new quilt, she’s had a rough couple of days, she’s been in heat.