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.

Artist at Work

A number of years ago I was invited to a workshop in Eugene, Oregon and as part of the workshop one of China's premiere artists (he was considered a national treasure) was present. One evening several of us were together in a smaller group watching this artist work with ink and brush. He would draw a brush stroke followed by another brush stroke, and then a squiggle, a short linking stroke which suddenly looked like a mountain, then he did a fish, then he did a flower. It all seemed so easy! What I realized was that he could see (or vision) what he wanted to paint. In other words he could see visually what he was going to paint even before he began and the resulting painting allowed us to see what he saw. It was a creativity.

Watching JoAnn make quilts is a lot like watching this artist work through the visioning process of creating a masterpiece. From my perspective, all of her quilts are masterpieces, but I am biased. I've since watched other artists, especially with paints and pastels and realize that they are constantly tinkering finding just the right colors, moving lines, creating within the creation. I see JoAnn doing the same thing when she is planning and making a quilt. She calls it refining the vision. Recently I watched her spend hours going through her magazines looking for just the right pattern. She already knew who was going to receive the quilt, but finding the right pattern for that person/family was the difference between making a quilt and creating a masterpiece. She won't accept just any pattern - it has to be the right pattern. And she will take almost as much time finding the right pattern and materials and colors as making the quilt.

She often talks with me about colors and matching fabric she is looking for or at. On one recent project we debated all Saturday morning about the right material and colors for a moderately simple pattern. It really doesn't matter if the pattern is simple or complex, matching the fabric to the quilt pattern is the difference between a great and just a good looking quilt. After a morning's discussion I finally suggested we go to the fabric store and look for what she wanted. On our way to the store we kept talking about the colors and fabric and realized exactly what material was the right fit for the pattern and that she had it at home.

One of my roles is to provide feedback, critique, and most of all support. As I write this she is in the other room working on a quilt where we talked colors, found the colors together (read that as she found the colors and I concurred) and now as I see the quilt coming together I can see in her sewing what she saw in her mind. We've worked out a pretty good process. She quilts and I'm her champion. I love that role.

Once the colors are determined my next role is to take photos. I usually don't take photos throughout the process, but at the end. However, in the case of one quilt I took photos throughout the process. It just seemed that it needed to be a photo project. The photos below show the progression of a quilt she made for our nephew's wedding this past summer. It was a lot of fun to watch the quilt come together. It's not very often she uses the whole floor to lay out a quilt, but in this case it allowed me to watch her organize, experiment, and finally decide on what the quilt would look like. Work your way down through the photos and see a creative mind at work.

By the way. She has nurtured 5 daughters with the same wonderful skills. What a creative family!

A Granddaughter's Photo of Grandpa & Grandma

The following photo was posted on Facebook back in April, but since JoAnn and I don't get on Facebook as often as maybe we should, so we didn't see it right away. Alyssa, our oldest granddaughter, took this photo while we were at Red Rock Park and Amphitheater in Denver for spring break. We really like the photo and wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate Alyssa taking this photo and sharing it with us and others. Grandchildren are great and we love all 18 of them.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Role Reversal

Almost 3 weeks ago JoAnn had surgery on her foot. It was out-patient surgery and the stitches were removed in two weeks, but she has to walk flat-footed for 6 weeks. The first few days she spent on her back and after the first week she sat up more and has become increasingly more mobile. Suzanne was here for the first 5 days and that was incredibly helpful.

After Suzanne left I was pretty much responsible for keeping things going. I don't need any snide comments girls! The first morning after Suzanne left I did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen counter, put stuff away, got clothes going in the washer and drier, and tried to get everything as clean as JoAnn does. After about 2 hours I was beginning to understand why she doesn't get started on projects until about 2 pm. Since then, I've gotten better and quicker, and JoAnn has been more mobile and also helped out. Today I even vacuumed the floors and while I've done that occasionally, I'm like Whisper, when I hear her open the door to the vacuum closet I run and hide.

There have been some behavior patterns I really wasn't ready for. Last Thursday as we got up from lunch she walked over to the recliner and sat down. I looked down at the remains of lunch on the table and realized that I had just experienced a role reversal. I do try to help out in the kitchen and we do more and more together in the kitchen, but I suspect I'm AWOL pretty frequently. Now I know how JoAnn feels after preparing dinner, setting the table, and then being left to clean the table and kitchen. I also thought this was a 1 time role reversal experience, but it's becoming a habit. Not all the time, but more frequently. I think there might be a little payback involved here and I probably deserve it (once again, no comments girls).

I'm just anxious for JoAnn to make a full recovery - and she is doing very well - so we can reverse our roles once again, but with behavior change on my part. I have felt over the last several years that I was doing my part, but I realize now I wasn't, at least not enough. All those old rationalizations pretty much have to be thrown out with yesterday's garbage. They aren't even recyclable.

The Fastest Clean Kitchen in the West

As I mentioned in our blog the other day, our family from Idaho was down for a short morning nap on Thursday. There was our daughter, husband, 3 small children, aunt, and in-laws. So we had a houseful.

One of the traditions we really enjoy when visiting them is going over to the other grandma and grandpa's home on Saturday morning for breakfast. The kids pile in the wagon and we walk the 150 or so yards to grandma and grandpa's house. We've come to call it "the Bradley breakfast," and what a feast it is. We always leave with our appetites sated and the walk back home is slower as we exhibit more of a waddle.

We anticipated this as our chance to reward those Bradley breakfast events with a McLean breakfast. Now a traditional McLean breakfast would involve cinnamon roles or coffee cake or biscuits. However, by the time we got the house clean on Wednesday night it was after 11 pm and we were ready for bed. JoAnn anticipated our exhaustion and with the outdoor temperatures already hovering at 90 degrees she decided we could do waffles. My first clue of her wisdom was when I got up about 4 am to see if the kids were here that the recipe book was out and opened to waffles. I was already willing to wake everyone up and get breakfast going, but I controlled myself.

By 7:30 am I had JoAnn up to help with the kids and then took off for a short walk. When I got back the kitchen was beginning to bustle. JoAnn and Sally were cooking pancakes, children were finding seats, plastic children silverware and plates appeared, syrup began to appear everywhere - hands, table, chairs, hair, and so forth. I love the way little ones can get into their food. Charlotte thinks that she has to eat a little of what everyone has (sounds like Joshua). Sally was already helping cook and I could see bacon and waffles coming soon, with scrambled eggs close behind. We would have had sausage, but forgot to get it out of the freezer.

The smell of food clearly was motivating as dad appeared soon, grandpa Bradley not far behind and finally grandma Bradley. The children were fed and adults were ready to start. I didn't time it, but I suspect breakfast was about a 2 hour affair. We sat and ate and talked and laughed. And yes, we waddled.

JoAnn and Sally took a break to eat, relax, join the conversation, and then they began to clean the table. Dishes began to disappear, the dishwasher was open for quite some time - at least until it was filled and then dishes began to pile up on the counter. Not a problem as we could clean those later. However, grandpa Bradley is a sustained breakfast man and likes to take his time. He commented, "I would like some oatmeal, but it seems my dishes have disappeared.... This is the home of the fastest dish in the west" We all laughed and fixed him a little oatmeal to order.

Even as a young mother (1972) she was well
on her way to being the Fastest Clean Kitchen
in the West.

The children and grandchildren were busy packing and loading the car for the next leg of their trip and the grandparents were still relaxing and after everyone left JoAnn and I got the dishwasher going.
We took a short break and went out for a couple of hours. If we had any common sense we would have crashed. When we got home I looked at what was left to wash and told JoAnn not to worry about it I would take care of it. She had to leave for the temple at 2:45 and hadn't started to get ready and it was closing on 2:00 pm. I worked while she showered and dressed and had all but a few things complete and in the drainer. I took a short break to do something else reminding her that I would finish the task shortly. I was only gone a few minutes, but when I walked back in the kitchen she had finished the last of the dishes.

She is a true McLean. Leave her alone in the kitchen with dirty dishes longer than 10 seconds and they don't stand a chance of staying dirty. When my brother and I were young we did the dishes in the evening. We were too young and inattentive of what was going on, but we never had to deal with the pots and pans of cooking dinner. Our mom always had them done before dinner was served. She was the holder of the Fastest Clean Kitchen in the West.

JoAnn has joined the exceptional ranks of the Fastest Clean Kitchen in the West. I stand in awe of her skills in the kitchen. And thankful for those skills.

Wordless Wednesday

I could do a photo of Mom/JoAnn every week and never tire of it.

There's oatmeal, then there is OATMEAL!

Motivated by my latest visit to my doctor I'm moving towards a higher fiber diet. Tuesday when I got up, finished my exercises, watched the snow fall, dawdled, and realized there was no movement from the bedroom I decided to make myself oatmeal. How hard can it be? Water... oatmeal... salt... brown sugar... and milk. I followed the directions to the letter - boiled the water, stirred in the oatmeal (1/2 cup), cooked for 5 minutes ... then a little longer, added the brown sugar and milk (yes, I added the salt). Somehow it didn't look the same as when JoAnn does it. Granted, I've never watched her - in fact I made an effort not to watch. I like it when it just appears in front of me. It's sort of like finding clean clothes - not sure where they come from, but when I get up in the morning there they are.

By the time I got through my yummy (and a little lumpy) oatmeal and was about ready to leave my spouse was up and ready for a little oatmeal. I thought I would watch and see what she does different. The water and oatmeal went in together - not at all what the directions say - and were brought to a boil, then simmered for 3 minutes, added a pinch of salt .... At this point I couldn't take it any more. I asked, "Don't you follow the directions?" The response was, "I've always done it this way." I knew instantly I was clearly out of my depth. However, all is not lost. At some point I will be ready to cook oatmeal again - maybe the next time it snows in Las Vegas - and I will have been taught by the expert.

It just goes to prove that there is oatmeal, then there is OATMEAL! And everyone know which one I make.

There's a First Time for Everything

It's no secret that JoAnn and I have a lot of fun together. We enjoy getting out and going places, although over the last 8 months that has been severely curtailed. We used to enjoy a Saturday afternoon drive in the country in Indiana. It was quiet, we could enjoy the beauty of the midwest, and most important we are together and can talk, listen, or just watch. It's more about being together and away from home then anything else. They have become an important part of our life. After the kids left we used to take spring breaks without them and go down into Tennessee and Kentucky and stay in their state parks, explore the countryside, and of course just relax. In recent years we have had fewer of those as we have moved closer to our children. Las Vegas doesn't afford a lot of quiet country driving, although we have a few places we do enjoy, and we seem to spend more time going to see our children or having them come see us. We love having them and visiting them. But we still need our time away from the day to day activities of home.

On Monday we dropped the Iowa McLean's off at the airport (not quite a "drop off" but that's another story) and headed up for a bed and breakfast in St. George. We have driven by St. George so many times, but never really spent any time there. We each took our books along to read, got on the internet and found the quilt stores, and made reservations at a historic and delightful B&B.

It was dark when we arrived on Monday so we went out for dinner, came back, read for a couple of hours and then got a good nights sleep. Tuesday we had a full day of quilt stores, historic sites, the St. George Temple, and a little television in our room. At about 9 pm JoAnn said she was really tired, we turned off the lights and went to bed. You guys know we hardly ever go to bed at the same time. I'm early and she is late. As we laid there I started telling her about the book I was reading and how enjoyable it was. We talked back and forth for a few minutes and then I went into a monolog story. I was quite happy just sharing the story when I realized I might be talking to myself. It was dark so I couldn't look into JoAnn's eyes. I stopped and asked, "JoAnn are you awake?" Not once, but 3 times (I've always been a little slow). Then I listened, and sure enough, there was that unmistakable purr of JoAnn when she is fully asleep.

I've put students, children, and grandchildren to sleep before, but never my wife. I guess there's a first time for everything.

Wordless Wednesday

A Quilting Grandma

I've thought about this post for a long time and now that I'm flat on my back I've got time to write it. JoAnn is busy on quilting projects for our family. She loves to quilt and I enjoy watching her look for just the right pattern and then her creativity comes into bloom as she takes the pattern and changes it to fit what she wants to do. I've watched her do it so many times it has become second nature to her and to me. Yet, this week as I watched her go through literally dozens of quilt magazines looking for the just right pattern I was amazed a her ability to put it all together. She even asks my advice on colors sometimes. I always give it, but I'm never quite sure how helpful it might be. She listens politely, brings more material out, we look at it again, and finally she arrives at the colors and patterns that she knows will work for that person.

Right now she has moved from the quilting room to what I call the quilting annex, which is the dining room table. Since we never eat in there I think it is a great location. You can see from the photo below she has it all set up for her work. I've never noticed the ironing board down low before and right next to the table, but it seems to work. She is working on small blocks.

Quilting keeps JoAnn busy, requires her mind to be thinking, and she knows she is making something that will be well received. What more can you ask than that. It is the best mental health activity I think she can do. And the rewards are great. I remember when she made blankets for a family that had triplets. They weren't supposed to know where the blankets came from, but they knew and thanked JoAnn for it. Seeing someone smile when they get that quilt is awfully special.

Regardless of age. . .

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.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

Today is my wonderful wife's birthday. She is the most fabulous person in the world. We have been together for 45 years and married 43 of those years. I wanted to share a few of my favorite photos of her. She is wonderful mother, grandmother, partner, and lover. Enjoy the photos and wish her a Happy Birthday. I pulled all of the photos from my flickr account where she has 458 photos and growing.

On the ferry between islands on the Outer Banks, NC with our youngest daughter.

With our 3 oldest daughters in Manhattan, KS when we were going to KSU. Even then she was a magnate for children.

With our oldest grandson, Calvin, and he was showing how he was almost as tall as Grandma. It was our last photo of the two of them together.

Grandma is all about sharing and Bonnie loved the sun glasses look.

She was a 70's girl with the hair, Ajax, dish towel, and a lot of flair!

With all of our daughters and one daughter-in-law in 2010 for Sister's Weekend.

Our marriage in 1967. Just a side note. It was 110 degrees the day we got married. We survived and continue to survive and flourish!

And finally, us last year in Breckenridge at our family reunion!

Wordless Wednesday

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.

Valentine's Day

We have had 42 Valentine's days together and for the very first time we left home to spend time together. We should have done it when we had 7 kids at home, but who could afford it then? After Church yesterday, yes we are good Mormons and made ALL of our meetings yesterday, we headed off for Laughlin, NV, about 85 miles from Las Vegas. We got a room on the 17th floor with a, and I quote, "Panorama Room" which means we had floor to ceiling windows and a view of the parking garage, roofs of other casinos, and the Colorado River.

We went for a walk on the river walk, unlike any other river walk I have ever been on. It goes along the casinos for a little less than a mile. There are water taxis, jet skis, dinner boats, and it's all on the Nevada side of the river. The east side of the river is Arizona and a timezone away.

We did the riverwalk and got all excited about the Dairy Queen sign. You all know I'm a sucker for Dairy Queen. Well, as it turns out, it was just that - a sign. We walked all over the casino it was next to and no Dairy Queen anywhere.

Later in the evening we went across the river to Bullhead City, AZ to have dinner. We had found a restaurant in the yellow pages (and I use that term loosely down here) with the name of Iguana Mexican Cafe. With a name like that the food has got to be great. As we were driving along looking for the place we passed one, but not the one I had inputted into the GPS. It looked like a greasy spoon, but we decided to keep on going. We finally got off the main drag and started down some dark side streets of trailers with pickups and cars parked out front. As the neighborhood deteriorated I finally caved in and said, let's go somewhere else. We had passed a Mexican restaurant on the way and drove back to it. The food was great even if it too was a little older. On the way in the restaurant I'm following JoAnn and the hostess and as I pass a table I see a colleague from 4 doors down (from the 5th floor at Beam Hall). I could hardly believe we had driven to Southern Nevada and there is a friend. JoAnn thought I had just gotten lost (again), but that wasn't the case.

We are off to see the sites today and then home for an early afternoon. Happy post-Valentine's day everyone.

Joshua Redux

Grandma loves reading with her grandchildren and Joshua is no exception. I think this was the first time she and Joshua had a chance to read together.

Did you or Grandpa recommend it? If it was you I'll read it.

How many pages are there in this book?

Gandma, do you want me to read this page to you?
See Grandma, the little engine is going up the hill!

Say Grandpa, this was a pretty good book. You should read it.