Author Archives: Judith Oswald

When I suggested adding “ric rac” to the apron a student was making in class, I was met with the most incredulous look only a teenager can give. Ric Rac? Surely I was making that word up! None of the students recognized the name of a trim they might have seen once. Gleefully, I introducedContinue reading “Ric Rac”

Quilters love to play with blocks! Not the wooden cubes of our childhood– but those squares of fabric cut and combined with other squares to create a quilt top or the square made up of little cut shapes that create a pattern that will be repeated over and over to create a quilt top. TheContinue reading “Playing with Blocks”

Well, life happens! This is not news, but this past week or so, “stuff” seemed to change plans and interrupt daily schedules. My brother and my husband had routine surgeries. My husband’s was be minor and he would be back on his feet in a long weekend. Oops, now he is completely off his footContinue reading “Life Happens!”

Quilters love stars in their quilts. Is it because we “wish upon a star”? Or like the Kansas state motto, quilters believe “Ad astra per aspera“— “to the stars through difficulties.” Stars may symbolize our “light at the end of the tunnel”. Whatever, they are fun to make–depending on the pattern! If you “googled” star quiltContinue reading “Stars in the Quilting World”

My son and his family are spending Spring Break in Hawaii—again. This trip is much easier to do if one lives on the west coast! Their photos this year are showing me a different side of the islands . If it wasn’t for a few glimpses of the ocean and beach, I would think theyContinue reading “Island dreaming…”

My cousin likes to say, “Abe Lincoln and I were both born in a log cabin!” Eighty nine years ago she was born in a rustic log cabin in southwest Missouri. She was the first child of a very young couple starting out in the middle of the Great Depression. I would have been fascinatedContinue reading “Log Cabins”

I am fascinated by drawings that upon a second examination, a new design or face or animal appears. The drawing becomes much more complex than it first appeared. After you have discovered the more intricate design you will never see original the same way again. Some quilt blocks are designed so that when they areContinue reading “Do you see the “other” pattern?”

Each time I place this saucer in front of my husband for his dessert or salad, he protests. He doesn’t want to use it because it was my Grandpa Van’s saucer and he is afraid he will break it. I have explained over and over that if it has lasted well over 100 years, itContinue reading “Please enjoy it now!”