This blog records my experiments and successes with fabric and fibers, surface design, stitching, weaving, photography and whatever else strikes my fancy. Enjoy ...
Where: Lourdes High School, 110 N Sawyer St Oshkosh WI
* Vendors, Bed Turning, Door Prizes, Raffle Quilt, Sale Items, Lunch served.
FREE ADMISSION
What is a Bed Turning? This is a special collection of old, antique quilts or other items with a special story behind them. They are laid out on tables in the shape of a bed, and one-by-one, each item is lifted up and shown while the story is shared. There will be 3 bed turnings during the day. The bed turning is in addition to all the quilts that will be on display throughout the day.
Here are my entries for the 2026 Fly In Quilt Show. It's been a
productive year! All of these were finished within the last year. These are all bed quilts or Challenge Quilts. No bed turning entries this year for me, although I signed up to help hold up the quilts as the stories are being read.
I am once again doing the registrations for the show entries, keeping track of the quilts and their paperwork to make sure they get hung with accurate documentation, and then get returned to the makers after the show. It's kind of fun -- in an order from chaps kind of way.
A simple abstract quilt to illustrate Ladysmith Black Mambazo's song "Homeless."
Homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
This will be entered into the "Quilt Jam Challenge" for the 2026 Fly-In
Quilt Show later this summer. This challenge is to make a quilt based
on a favorite song or a lyric. I've got 100 ideas for this challenge!
Here's a detail shot of the moon. It is the reverse (non-printed) side of a piece of scrap fabric that fit the requirements for a moon. I satin-stitched it to the background fabric. There is an extra piece of batting underneath to make it pop out, Trapunto-style.
I shibori-dyed the fabric for the moon's reflection on the water years ago, by wrapping fabric around a pipe, and scrunching it down to get the resisted white parts. It may even have been dyed in the indigo pot I had one summer. I never knew what to do with it -- until now!
This section also has an extra piece of batting underneath, but it is so tightly quilted, that this part comes out flat and stiff. Lesson learned. It still looks cool!
The background blue is a sheer fabric with some sparkle, not usually used for quilting. It was so light that I had to add some fusible interfacing on the back of it to "make it behave."
On the evening dogwalk where I live, we walk down by the lake and often see the moon reflected in the water. This is a common sight on my neighborhood wanderings.
Why is this one of my favorite songs?
Here's the long story ... Paul Simon's Graceland album came out when I was in high school. It soon became one of my all-time favorite albums. There was a lot of politics around Paul Simon's decision to work with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, an all black band from South Africa during apartheid, when the world was supposed to be boycotting South Africa. In my mind, it was the right thing to do. The world exposure helped the band, and it brought attention to what was happening in South Africa, which I believe helped to bring an end to apartheid. I wrote a paper about that back in the day ...
My undergrad degree from many years ago is in African Literature & Languages. At one time I was officially studying the Zulu language and could actually understand these lyrics. ;-) Music is a great way to learn a language, get pronunciation and cadence, and remember vocabulary. We were going to see them in concert in Madison last month, but we got
a gi-normous snowstorm so it is to be re-scheduled for a later date.
Here's the live video from Paul Simon's Concert in Hyde Park in 2012.
It still brings tears to my eyes! What fantastic vocals!
Here's the official LBM video without Paul Simon:
If you click to see it on YouTube, there is a nice explanation of the lyrics and the meaning of the song:
This is the official music video of homeless performed by Grammy Award-winning group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Homeless was released in 1986 by Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
HOMELESS was the first of many hits for Ladysmith as it launched their careers within the international market. The song was on Paul Simon’s collaborative, politically controversial yet his most successful album Graceland.
HOMELESS like any other Ladysmith Black Mambazo songs before and after the Graceland album expressed depth and meaning about the harsh reality of migrant labor, poverty, heavy hearts, family separation, politics, cultural heritage, and broken dreams however homeless is a tale of so much more.
The song also speaks about winning: “Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih), Yitho omanqoba esanqoba lonke ilizwi (ih hih ih hih ih), Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih) esanqoba phakathi e England....” Meaning that they are winners, they have won all over the world, they won right inside of England...They have managed to win over the hearts of people all over the world especially in England as their “Arrival” meant that they managed to escape the apartheid’s rules and limitations around social and economic exclusion because of the color of their skin.
Homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake Homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake We are homeless, we are homeless The moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake And we are homeless, homeless, homeless The moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Too loo loo, too loo loo Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo Too loo loo, too loo loo Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo
Strong wind destroy our home Many dead, tonight it could be you Strong wind, strong wind Many dead, tonight it could be you
And we are homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake Homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake Homeless, homeless Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody sing hello, hello, hello Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody cry why, why, why? Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody sing hello, hello, hello Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody cry why, why, why? Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih) yitho omanqoba Esanqoba lonke ilizwe (ih hih ih hih ih) Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih) Esanqoba phakathi e England Yitho omanqoba Esanqoba phakathi e London Yitho omanqoba Esanqoba phakathi e England - ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody sing hello, hello, hello Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody cry why, why, why? Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody sing hello, hello, hello Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih Somebody cry why, why, why?
Kuluman Kulumani, Kulumani sizwe Singenze njani Baya jabula abasi thanda yo Ho
I've been wanting to get back to doing regular journal quilts, to test techniques and practice my art. I've been seeing these line drawings on Pinterest -- I think they might be for tattoos? And I thought they'd be good for thread sketching, too.
This one could be entered into the Quilt Jam Challenge for the Fly In Quilt Show later this summer. This challenge is to make a quilt based on a song. The song is John Hiatt's "Thank You Girl." He wrote it for a girlfiend / wife, or maybe a car (?), but I always pictured it being about a K-9 friend instead. ;-) I've
always loved this song, and I always thought it was about a dog --
Probably because I had my own wonderful Keba-Girl at the time I
discovered John Hiatt, and yes, we were "rolling in clover" then!
This could also be #4 of the Stolen Moments Series depicting John Hiatt songs.
Here's a bit of the lyric:
Thank You, Girl by John Hiatt
You're a little on the thin side, but that's all right You stood by my me baby when I didn't think I'd ever see daylight ... Now we're rolling in clover ... We didn't see this in no tea leaves ... My fate was sealed before I met you, Darlin' Still you took the little love I saved I wanna thank you, Girl
I traced the line drawing to tracing paper, and then sewed through it.
The words were trickier -- I had to bone up on that again. I wound up doing some thread calligraphy / embroidery for the words. Could use a little more practice, but it worked in the end.
I used some leftover Dream wool batting, because it puffs up so nice even without washing it.
For this little quiltie, I decided to use a facing instead of a binding. So here is a video from APQS about how to do that:
Late edit: Turns out this little quiltie isn't big enough to qualify for the Fly In Quilt Challenge. It needs to be 16 x 36 in. It was still a good exercise, and I will definitely hang it up in my house!
The challenge for the 2026 Fly-In Quilt Show this summer is "Quilt Jam," where we're supposed to create a quilt based on a song. It has to be a new one, not something we've already made.
Looking back, I'm a little surprised at all the quilts I've made that have been based on songs. Songs / Music are wonderful inspiration for quilts!
Most notably, the John Hiatt Stolen Moments Series:
There are a few more Hiatt-inspired quilts that are still in the works!
But there are others ...
Eddie Vedder' Tattoed Everything (Black)
For this challenge, I am mulling over the possibilities, collecting songs -- hearing and seeing songs in whole new ways in light of this challenge! Stay tuned!
