Aphasia is a new word for me. But after my dad’s stroke two and a half years ago, I know something of its heavy burden.

Trends have always been impactful, but they are more so in our digital age.  Our local newscasters now report on what is trending.  This seems to have replaced real news.

I’ve been playing with partial seams.  They add a lot of interest to my work.  People say, “Wow!  How did you do that?”  Actually, it’s not true.  No one has ever noticed my partial seams.

I’m exploring a new idea. I made two experimental blocks months ago that I didn’t use. So what to do with them? I hate waste, so this was my challenge.

Interesting stop signs are hard to spot.  You have to look carefully before noticing something’s different.  But you will never see a go stop sign.  This piece was inspired by something drivers here in the Ocean State do that I call a tag team stop. 

This piece started as a baby quilt.  I wanted to make something infused with meaning, color and fun.  A tall order.  The cross cut of a tree sparked an idea, but as I pondered what to say to someone beginning their life, it took a serious turn.

“Go Green” is a quiet cheer for my favorite color.  This piece began with a comment overheard about how yellow greens can’t coexist with blue greens.  Well, that got the attention of my questioning mind. 

When school starts I don’t have the energy to be creative, so I sew fabric scraps together.  I randomly pull pieces out of a box of leftovers from other quilts, and chain sew.  It feels productive.  I enjoy remembering, and using up every last bit. 

I love the yellow in this photograph.  It communicates warmth, happiness and safety.  I cannot imagine a life without safety, without refuge; having to leave country, culture, language, traditions, family and friends. 

I’m making quilts out of words.  It fascinates me that the idea IS the quilt.  I position the letters in a way that keeps the message hidden so the reader has to puzzle a bit.  This started when wanting to personalize my niece’s quilt with her name on the back.  

November was filled with sadness and heartbreak, and I have been crying and quilting.  A delightful, vibrant student’s mother was murdered. The details are so terrible I don’t want to name them.