In Memory of Nancy Zieman

I was shocked and saddened to learn today that Nancy Zieman (Sewing With Nancy) had passed away after a long, courageous battle with cancer.  I feel like I have lost a close, personal friend.  Nancy was a wonderful sewing teacher who will be greatly missed by thousands of loyal fans who watched her TV show, Sewing With Nancy, since 1982.   Thankfully, you can still see episodes on PBS stations and on YouTube.  Nancy was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed.

To read her personal goodbye retirement message, go to this link:
http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quilting-2/a-personal-note-from-nancy/

Moonlight in Vermont

For my donation this year to the 2017 SAQA Benefit Auction, I wanted to try doing a series and expand on the theme of moonlight.  I call this little art quilt, Moonlight in Vermont.  It's 12" x 12" per the required size for submission.  I made it for two reasons; (1) I was born in Vermont and (2) It's the title of one of my favorite songs.  I used the same background fabric as in my previous quilt.  I used silver tissue lamé for the moon again and silver metallic thread for the quilting design and for highlighting the mountain tops.   This time, however,  I used a silver permanent marker to add more highlights to show the moon's shadow on the mountains.  (It sold for $100)

Moonlight in Vermont  ©2017

Full Moon Over Stonehenge

I made this small (12"x12") art quilt for the 2016 SAQA Benefit Auction.  It's called, "Full Moon Over Stonehenge." I used a navy-blue speckled fabric for the night sky background.  I bought some Stonehenge fabrics by Northcott that I used for the vertical sarsen stones and the horizontal lintel stone.  The moon is a piece of very thin, silver lamé fabric, which I bonded to the background with Mistyfuse.  Within the radiating quilting lines, I added some Swarovski crystals for stars. (It sold for $150.)

Full Moon Over Stonehenge  ©2016

Bluebird of Happiness

I made this Bluebird of Happiness quilt in remembrance of my husband, David, who died in 1986 at the age of 44.  The pattern I used for the bluebird was taken from a coloring book drawing by Florence Sarah Winship.  The background fabric was hand-dyed by Carol R. Eaton formerly of Shelton, CT.  

The song, “The Bluebird of Happiness” made famous in 1945 by the opera tenor, Jan Peerce, had special significance for my husband because his father used to sing this song to him when he was a little boy.  Sadly, his father died in 1950 when my husband was only 8 years old.

In late 1976, when we had begun dating, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he asked for a copy of this song.  Well, in 1976, the Internet (as we know it today) didn’t exist - and because of that, I spent many weeks of frantic searching, lots of praying and then by a small miracle - I found a vintage record shop (over 50 miles away) in Hartford, CT  that had the exact song he wanted.  The song was in an record album that even had a picture of a bluebird on the cover! I will never forget the look on his face when he opened that Christmas present.

 "Bluebird of Happiness"  ©2016 

Birch Tree (Genus: Betula)

I made this art quilt to donate to the 2015 SAQA Benefit Auction.  All quilts submitted to the auction must be 12" x 12" in size.  My donation quilt, Birch Tree (Genus: Betula), sold for $100.

Birch Tree (Genus Betula) by Virginia M. Millington

Thread Cabinet

By chance, I found this vintage four-drawer silverware cabinet (in like-new condition) in an antiques warehouse near where I live.  I thought that it could be re-purposed as a sewing thread cabinet so I bought it.  I really love it!  I didn't realize how many spools of thread I had until I started to organize them into one place.  Not only can I see how many and what colors I have, I can see what colors I still need to add to my thread collection.  So far, I have almost filled three of the four drawers.

(My little treadle sewing machine music box is sitting on top of a small art quilt made by the late Karen Loprete.)

My Thread Cabinet

Spool Block - Windham Textile & History Museum - 25th Anniversary Quilt

I recently created a spool block that was included in a special quilt made to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Windham Textile and History Museum in Willimantic, CT.  This group quilt is composed of 25 different spool blocks made by members of the Connecticut chapter of Studio Art Quilt Associates. (SAQA) This quilt will become part of the museum's permanent collection.

The Spool Block quilt can be seen at the WTHM along with a special exhibit called Inspiration Quilts: Then and Now which pairs 12 antique quilts in the museum's collection with 12 contemporary quilts made by twelve SAQA artists who were inspired by them.
For more info go to: www.millmuseum.org

My spool block is on the top row, block #4 when viewed left to right.  I used the selvedges of various fabrics to make it look like thread wrapped around a spool. A portion of the whole quilt is shown here.  All the unique and colorful blocks in the finished quilt were amazing and unfortunately my photo doesn't do them justice.