Helen Kelley Patchworks

Dear Friends, I taught a couple of workshops in Des Moines last week. I had a lovely time. Someone asked me how I’d fill my time if I retired. I chuckled. I’ll have to live to be 110 years old to finish what’s on my list right now. And that doesn’t include what will come up between now and then.

Dear friends, Pine needles, snowdrifts, snow on the steps….. this quilt kept wanting one thing more and one thing more. I thought it would never be done. But now I think that it’s ready for a border and the frame.

I’m still working on my Canadian Post Card quilt. I’ve struggled with the pine trees and nothing seemed to work until I realized that I am not making "pine needles". I am making a "pine forest" and I took a different direction. My instincts told me to simply outline basic trees and I hated what I was doing. Then I stood back and looked at it. It’s better than I envisioned. I just had to readjust my sights.

Someone asked me, “What is your favorite thing.” and I replied, “Orange, the color orange.”

I am sitting here looking through the window into a brilliantly sunny autumn day at a world of red and golds that melt together into a cauldron of swirling orange. It is so awesomely beautiful that it fills me with pure happiness.

Dear Friends, My daughter (who manages this web page for me) told me that it’s time to update it again. I’ve been doing so much up-dating lately that my mind has shut down and I am now down-dating.

That’s the wonderful thing about quilts, though, the fact that they can be updated. Even when they are bound off, and done, they can be updated. You can always quilt it a little more, add a little touch of embroidery to balance the color, or add an appliqué patch to cover the boo-boo you hoped would disappear but didn’t.

Dear Friends, I’m working on my Canadian postcard quilt. It will be the 23rd in the series of 24. It’s a collage of several wonderful Canadian experiences. It took me forever to get to it because I couldn’t find the right starry sky with northern lights. I finally found it in a heap of rags in a discount store. You can see some more of my postcard quilts in my gallery. Just click on "My Gallery" in the list on the right.

I was on television yesterday. I do enjoy hearing from people who saw me. But I am amazed at how many great quilters watch TV at 8:30 in the morning. I thought all quilters stitched all night and slept late.

Dear Friends, You all know how much you mean to me. I’m so glad to be able to share this page with you. So grab a cup of coffee. Make yourself at home. And Enjoy! …Helen