Why I Quilt (A First Person Case Study)

Last week I finished the revision of my introductory textbook, "Kraus' Recreation & Leisure in Modern Society" and got it off to the publisher on Monday morning. As part of the book, in the last edition we (my coauthor and I) added case studies. In chapter 1, where we introduce the textbook I initially asked Allison to tell, "Why I write?" as a leisure activity. I needed to change the case study so Allison's case study goes into the faculty/student resource pages the publisher provides and I asked my beautiful wife to write a "Why I quilt?" I can't give you what I put in the book, since it is copyrighted and I don't own the copyright, but I thought what JoAnn had to say was so appropriate. I did an interview with her, then wrote up what she said into case study format. Below is her response to my questions:


Questions:

1. When did you start quilting? Why?

    I started quilting just before my second daughter was born. I was 26 and I didn't do a lot of quilting then. For me it was just putting 2 pieces of fabric together (top and bottom) with a middle thicker material called batting. I didn't just jump into quilting. I was raising a family of 7 children and that took a lot of time. By the time my oldest daughter was nearing graduation from high school I decided to quilt a bed covering for her, which expanded to each of my children.

2. How do you feel while you are quilting?
    When I quilt I fell happy. It's like a release from other things going on. It allows me to bring order from groups of fabrics to a structured and planned piece. I enjoy finding of fabrics that speak to me about colors, patterns, prints and how they blend together. I like to find patterns, prints, and colors that match the person I'm making the quilt for. One granddaughter likes purple and and grandson likes green and frogs. A big part of quilting is finding the right fabric. It's like a treasure hunt and the big surprise is when you find 2 colors that harmonize together, that you didn't think would. One special experience occurred when my 5 daughters and 2 daughters-in-law made quilt blocks for each other (8 quilt blocks per person, including mine) and then we sewed them individually, each with their own touch of creativity.

3. Do you lose yourself in your quilting? 
    When I'm engaged in all of the steps of quilting - the measuring, the cutting, the sewing, organizing the quilt blocks - I find a release from the day to day pressures. I'm allowed to do work on something that is important and fun for me.

4. How do you feel when you are done with a quilt?
    Most of the time I'm very happy with the quilt. I have a real sense of accomplishment. I made something that someone else may also enjoy. It gives me a wonderful feeling when you are stitching the binding at the end of the quilting process and suddenly, it's all done!

5. How has quilting helped you emotionally?
    Quilting gives me good feelings about myself. It gives me a feeling of accomplishment. I have a real sense of creativity. I'm not an artist with a brush and pallet, but when I'm quilting I feel like an artist in fabric and colors making designs and patterns. I can't wait for the next project. In my mind I have multiple projects in the planning stages.

6. What activities associated with quilting are important to you?
    hopping for material; reading a new quilting magazine;

7. What do you do with your quilts?

    My quilts have many purposes. First and most important it is to bring joy to others, to celebrate events, to comfort. When my oldest grandson was killed in an accident my 2nd daughter and I made a special quilt for each of his 2 brothers. When a granddaughter broke her arm she asked for a quilt to give her comfort. When a new baby is born the mother needs a quilt to wrap them in. Quilting is a way for me to share my self and my love with others.

Whale Watching

This year was a San Diego Christmas. We usually travel to less mild weather, so traveling to San Diego for Christmas was fun and the bonus was to spend it at the Dunn Inn and with our 7.5 month pregnant daughter and her wonderful husband. More on that in another post.

David, Krissie, & JoAnn as we were leaving the bay.

It's been more than a week since we we went whale watching and yet it remains fresh in my mind. After arriving in San Diego on Friday prior to Christmas we took off on Saturday morning to do a little "whale watching." I don't know what I was thinking, as I anticipated a short voyage - which by some standards it was. But I didn't anticipate a 2.5 hour voyage and was surprised after we got on the ship it was that long. However, once we got out on the ocean and started watching for whales the time literally flew by.

Krissie & JoAnn in the cabin just as we are leaving. I'm
the red jacket reflection in the window!

It's been 8 years since I was on a ship of any size for any length of time, and that was a ferry (large) in the English Channel as JoAnn and I went overnight from England to Belgium - and back! That was fun. So was this. This ship was smaller, but still sizable with room for a couple of hundred passengers. And the ocean couldn't have been nicer - just a gentle roll of the ship after we left the harbor and began to "troll" for whales. The captain was quite knowledgable and kept us up to date on all the things that might or might not be seen.

We were rewarded with seeing 3 whales. When I say we saw 3 whales don't get the idea that they were breaching (jumping out of the water) as they were not. Sometimes they do, but today we saw the tales (what I now know are "flukes") which was at the conclusion of the process of breaching (breathing - spray of water shooting up from their blow-holes). We saw a lot of breaching, but only a little of the lobtailing (a display of the whales large pectoral fins. Once out of the water, the whale will either slap the water surface or wave it in the air). It was fun to watch and we shot a few photos. By law the ship cannot get closer than 100 meters, but our captain was experienced enough to anticipate where the whale was going to angle for good views.

We had a great time and followed it with a visit to the USS Midway aircraft carrier where we inhaled lunch and enjoyed a walking tour. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were a smidgen tired.

A photograph of a photographer as we come in
from a morning of whale watching!

Traveling Ruminations

Joshua in his favorite pose - running!

Since March 17 JoAnn and I have been on the road visiting family so much it feels almost as if that is all that we have done. And we are not done yet! But we are taking a short break before we travel to visit more family. Our travel since March has taken us to Utah, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri. These have all been wonderful trips and were organized around vacations and family special events. You have already read about the Eagle Court of Honor and the Personal Progress Pursuit on this blog. You may yet read about graduation, a new baby, sister's weekend, and a marriage.

In between these trips families visited us from Idaho and Utah. Families from Colorado and Idaho have yet to make a visit this summer, but they are planned. So even when home, we seemed to keep awfully busy. The next two weeks we will be visiting San Diego and then Modesto, California.

Mother's Day in Iowa

We love our opportunities to visit family. Not only does it make us feel good about how well our family is doing, but it gives us a chance to see our children and grandchildren as they grow and face the joys and challenges of life. It is rewarding for us to see the personal and professional development of each of our children. We are always totally amazed by what they're doing, how much they are doing, and how their families seem to be blossoming.

At the end of our last trip we spent time with my Aunt Marge and her family in Missouri. We always look forward to this visit. We take time to catch up on the family, talk about travel, family history, and the like. It was a chance for me to spend a couple of days going through historical records of the Merriam family that my grandfather had collected and organized. I scanned almost 200 documents and photos. Some of those will appear in future posts of this blog. What I discovered was that I didn't have enough time to get all of the Merriam family information. That means another trip to the midwest next summer, but this time we will drive and not fly!

Our newest pride and joy - Nicholas!

I also have plenty of family pictures that I will be sharing along with stories about our recent and future trips on this blog. Of course the challenge is finding sufficient time to write all of these blogs. So bear with me and have patience.

Art Museum Wednesday

While we were in Denver in early April we spent some time in the Denver Art Museum. It's wonderful enough that JoAnn and I want to go back again. I took a few photos with my iPhone in the "Americas" exhibit and thought I would share them here.

This is a modern piece of art that I really liked. It is called "gossiping."

This last photo is a piece of art done by a Native American and was actually created right in the museum. It took several months and the creation was an exhibit in itself. I thought that was a great approach to engaging people in creating art - even though most of what they did was observe.

Hiking in Red Rock

A couple of weeks ago Tim was in town for the weekend. We went to Death Valley on Friday and on Monday before he left we got up early and went for a walk in Red Rock. It was Martin Luther King Weekend and we stopped by on Saturday afternoon and that was a bad idea. It felt like half of Las Vegas was present. Tim went on a short hike, but wanted to do more, so on Monday morning we took off. It was a cool and windy morning and we decided to take a moderate trail. I hate to think what a difficult hike would be like. I don't climb quite like I used to, but we took off on the short hike. It was a beautiful hike. For January the weather had been unusually warm.

We started off up the trail, which is a stream when it rains, and the trees were green and there was sand to walk on. As we went up the trail we began to get to the rocks. In some instances there were stairs that were obviously created by moving rocks around. They fit nicely into the environment.

Tim and I, however, sometimes had to find the trail when it wasn't so obvious. We got sidetracked by rock formations, beautiful scenery, and just plain curiosity. We took lots of photos so we didn't make good time, but it wasn't about making good time it was about enjoying the place and each other.

When we finally go to where the trail took us it was a deep bowl that obviously filled with water when there was rain. It wasn't real impressive from a beauty perspective, but from a geological perspective it was pretty. However, Tim and I thought there must be something better to see so we hiked a little bit further and all of a sudden we had a 270 degree ranging from Las Vegas around to all of Red Rock Conservation Area. It was the real frosting on the cake for a great morning.

We found our way back, although we got side tracked a couple of times and then got Tim to an airplane. It was a great morning.

Looking South East towards Calico Basin and Las Vegas
in the distance

I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty of this area. It is just awesome.

My Work is Finished Here!

I've heard some dreaded comments before, but on Friday evening my oldest son casually stated, "My work is done here." What does that mean, you ask? I did ask and his response was, "I just beat your score in Bejeweled 2." Well he should have, I didn't see my iPad almost the whole time he was here. It was bad enough that on Friday evening he beat my high score - let me emphasize that it was MY high score he beat. He doesn't know how hard I had to work to stay ahead of JoAnn's high score. Yet on Sunday, just before we took him down to his hotel he casually mentioned that he had a new high score and had doubled my high score. That's like insult to injury. It's okay to show dad up, but twice in one weekend. We won't mention that he can climb higher than I can because his legs are longer - but at least he didn't make an issue of it. I'm thinking about hiding my iPad in the future. I can only take so much abuse, especially with me delicate ego. Watch out Tim, you never know when I'll sneak up and steal that high score - but then again, don't hold your breath.

And no, I won't erase those high scores. I want mine to show when I finally beat Tim. However, I fear that JoAnn will have high scores long before I will.

A Busy Birthday Girl

JoAnn had a busy birthday today. Actually, the celebration started last Thursday when Krissie arrived. Among the first things they did was to get a pedicure. I'm not sure, but I think that makes any daughter visit "official."

 I went in to work for a little while this morning and stopped for a few things on the way home. It included a Snickers bar for JoAnn, cause she loves them and since it is her birthday it has to be "fat free." When I got home I gave her the Snickers bar and shot the following photo. Krissie and I were laughing as JoAnn was working towards a zero impact candy bar. Somehow I don't think she spent though time on the bicycle to make it happen.

However, a little later we went down to the strip to the Bellagio to see their atrium, which is always beautiful. I think we walked and perspired more than enough to make up for the candy bar. I shot the following photo of JoAnn and Krissie in front of a sculpted olive tree. The second one Krissie shot of the two of us. It came out pretty good. About 4 pm we dropped Krissie off at the airport and then we went home and crashed.

I love the butterfly in the olive tree.

It is still good to spend time with my favorite best friend and the love of my life.

Krissie is gone and we are home relaxing before we begin packing for our Idaho trip tomorrow. We are sure looking forward to getting out of town. We haven't traveled at all this summer which is unheard of for us. Of course, the birthday party continues once we arrive in Boise. I love thee non-stop birthday parties. My body doesn't, but I do.

Getting Ready Photos

A few years ago I was taking photos of our children in York, UK and as we were trying to get the family organized I realized just how much fun it was to take pictures of getting ready for photos. They are the real family photos when everyone is doing “their thing” rather than the photographer’s thing, which is usually a group shot where everyone is smiling. Early on the family didn’t know what I was doing, but since I put some of these photos up in my home office and on flickr, they all know what I’m doing and watch for it. Usually I get a response of, “Dad is doing it again.” Of course, when they turn out cute, they all like them.

A few of my favorite getting ready photos are below. Unfortunately, I can't find the photo from York, but I'll keep looking. I thought it would be on my flickr account for sure, but it was pre-flicker. Yet, I remembered I have it on the wall of my home office. A quick scan, photoshop cleanup, and presto, it is below. It was taken in York, Yorkshire, UK when the family lived near Harrogate. For this photo we took the train from Harrogate to York and wandered the streets for the day. It was a great adventure.

The second photo involves getting ready for a sister on the UNLV campus. It was our first Las Vegas Sister's Weekend. They humored me that first Las Vegas year and let me show them some sights and take photos. After that I was on my own, but this is such a typical photo of our family.

This is the opposite end of a "getting ready" photo I shot in Breckenridge at our gathering in 2009. We had just finished shooting photos and people were beginning to depart - in some cases - as fast as they could.

Finally, as I was looking for photos for this blog I found a 1986 photo I took in Modesto and it was a pre-getting ready. I didn't even realize I had taken this until tonight. Of course, in the days of 35mm slides I was a lot more conservative about what I took photos of. 

Getting ready, or already done, it doesn't matter, but what it does is add to the fun of photography and especially to the memories.

Lazy Saturdays

It's approaching summer in Las Vegas. We can tell, the wind has died down a little bit and we teased 90 degrees today. It won't be long before a 90 degree day will be considered cool, but for now, it's still a little on the warm side.

Saturday is our day. It may get busy, like last week with graduation, but usually we can carve out several hours just for the two of us. For our kids with children, eat your hearts out. For us it is usually the best few hours of the week. We don't do anything spectacular, just get out and relax together. We might go shopping, like we did yesterday, followed by a lunch, and then home. Mostly it is about getting out together.

The day started early with me taking a friend to the airport at 6:30 am and then home to wake JoAnn up so she could help me out cleaning the chapel. By 9:30 am we were done and ready to do a little shopping at Bass Pro Shops (sorry Olaf). On the way home we decided to find a new restaurant a friend of ours opened up. We knew generally where it was, but not exactly. We did know the name so we trolled through a couple of strip malls until we found it. We were rewarded with a wonderful time and meal.

First, we were the only people there, which worried us a little, but it is still their soft opening (DW Bistro). We met with Bryce, the co-owner and our friend and had an enjoyable patio lunch. In fact the food was soooo gooood we have designated it as our new "favorite" restaurant. JoAnn had a DW Nicoise – pan-seared fresh tuna, olives, haricot verts, red & white potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, sliced egg, mango & Dijon champagne vinaigrette. It was a very tasty salad. And I had the DW BLT – stacked high, thick bacon, crispy shredded lettuce, tomato with chipotle mayo and they tell you when you order the bacon is Jalapeno bacon - and yes, it has a bite, but a good bite. The cook is from Jamaica and grew up in Albuquerque, so the food is unique. We were just so impressed with the food, how good the wait staff was, and the fact that Bryce spend an hour just visiting with us. Did I mention the fries were sweet potato fries - and they were really good!

But wait, it wasn't over. Bryce learned to cook scones when he lived in Ireland and he treated us to blueberry and raspberry scones that we thought were awesome. They were the lightest scones we had ever had. We will be taking our kids out to eat when they come. It's a great neighborhood restaurant and fits in with our other favorite, Frank and Fina's (Mexican where JoAnn gets the sweet potato enchilada)/

A quilter's husband

Over the last 20 years JoAnn has become more and more involved in quilting. I think it is great because she is so creative and she loves doing it. I think we have lost count of the number of quilts she has made and given away. However, if 40 years ago someone would have told me my wife was going to be a quilter I would have laughed. And yet over these years I've watched her grow, gain confidence, and serve as an inspiration and teacher for others. She is just awesome.

We are fortunate to currently live near several quilt stores, but when we lived in Terre Haute, IN we drove 20 miles to Paris, IL to her favorite quilt shop. That was when I learned to always bring a book along and to look for a Dairy Queen. Personally, I think there should be a law that all quilt shops have a DQ within 200 feet. When we are on the road we can almost always find a quilt shop. We have found them in Williams, AZ, Ventura, CA, Reno, NV, Boise, ID, St. Louis, MO, San Diego, CA and many other places. It's almost like they are a magnet for us. It's not always JoAnn that finds them. I'm as good at it as she is. Now I bring along a book, my computer, iPhone, and iPod. I can sit in the back seat of the car, listen to my kind of music (mostly classical) and get all kinds of work done. I always anticipate at least 60 minutes of quiet time.

We found this quilt store in Williams, AZ when I left the interstate to stop for gas and thought we would tour their downtown. It only took 40 minutes for gas (okay for looking at quilt material), but then, I wasn't in a hurry. I don't think I'm allowed to be in a hurry when we are within 10 miles of a quilt shop.


As I walked around the house today I realized just how much quilting has become part of our decor. Granted, the girls just left last Sunday and JoAnn has had a busy week, but we have at least 3 quilts in progress. All are from last weekend. For those who don't understand how quilting takes over I thought I would take you on a tour. That's our futon, or was until it became a quilt staging area.


The quilt shop is the hub of all of our operations. Usually the sewing machine is in here, but when she is in certain stages of construction the sewing machine goes elsewhere.


I'm told we don't have much material, but I reorganized a whole closet just for the material. It is all organized by color. I call this area the quilter's candy. Last weekend when the girls were here it seemed that every time I went by the quilt shop there were 2 or more girls in there fondling the quilt candy. Of course, as JoAnn says, that's what it is for.


We have a wrap-around couch and futon in the living room. Right now they are quilt staging areas. You will note the quilt squares all look similar. Each of the girls made a quilt square, including JoAnn (that totals 8 squares) and then most of them made their own 9th square. Here you see the whole couch and futon are converted to staging areas.


Finally, we have the dining room table, or more appropriately the large quilt sewing area. I'm pretty sure we had a meal on that table in that location at least once, but I can't be sure. In JoAnn's defense I also use it as a meeting table when I have colleagues over, so it's really a multi-use table.


Being a quilter's husband is less of a challenge than it is an opportunity. I've learned more about quilts than I ever thought that I would, or even thought I wanted to. Yet I can talk to JoAnn about a log cabin design, or color matching, etc. It's almost scary.

Happy Birthday Mike

It seem like just yesterday I was holding our brand new son, Michael. Yet it has been 28 years since that cold and icy day in Ames, Iowa. We remember how excited we were that we were finally going to have a baby that was not born in the dead of winter. He wasn't, just during an ice storm. And we shouldn't have been clueless when he seemed to take forever to deliver. Mom was in labor for hours and in those days labor rooms were little more than an after thought - small, uncomfortable, and sometimes forgotten by the staff. Most of the time fathers were not even allowed in the birthing room. I don't remember if I was allowed in for Mike or not. However, in spite of all of the pioneer (by today's standards) medical technology, he was born and has become a wonderful young man.

And Mike, I'm sorry that I'm a couple of days late this time, but we didn't pick a very good time for you to be born. We are "super busy" right now as my blog attests to only weekend work and then not every weekend. I hope everyone enjoys this long set of photos of our youngest son.

What is not to love in a little baby, and like all of our children (no bias here) they were all beautiful.


Mike has always had a smile on his face and even at this age was still a little short of hair.


When you grow up in a house full of girls you always have to be a little wary since you don't know what they are going to do to you next. And no girls, I don't want to know how you tormented your little brothers.


But there is always time for sleep and when it's on our favorite couch (the one we all still miss) you take full advantage of it.


And when your great grandpa Merriam comes to town you must have a photo of the event. It was the last time all of the kids saw their Great Grandpa Merriam. Grandpa was 90 in this photo.


Mike does love his sisters and in this photo with Sally and Krissie you can see that love.


But there is a bit of a funny side to Mike. Like any good boy/man he likes to have a little fun and always has. There is nothing better than a good laugh.


Or a new pose.


Or color coding a new dress code.


And time with Mom in the pool.


Mike has a soft spot for his dog - Strider. We all enjoyed her and had lots of fun with her.


And of course he has turned into a wonderful uncle (okay, some of the nieces may not think that, but even here he is softening). Calvin was his first nephew and was and is special to him. [I think they both just woke up.] He can always be counted on to take care of Suzanne's children, or just to play with them. Note how comfortable Chas is with Mike and vice versa in the 2nd photo.



Then he came home from his mission on a late evening. There were no banners, no large crowds, just Mom and Dad, but that was what was important to all of us. He was beaming and such a missionary.


And while there were other photos I could add these last two are probably the most important to Mike and for us one our proudest moments. There is nothing like the marriage of your children to excite and reward a parent. We are so proud of all of our children, but on this day we were most proud of Mike and Allison. Love ya Mike and happy belated birthday! Dad...



Even a little rain didn't dampen this special day!

And I almost forgot Mike's self portrait he sent us several years ago. This may be our best representation of the complexity of our young man.