5th in the Quilting Series
Available
Now!
To order your copy of this new CD from us:
A new Quilting CD - finally! It is full of happy songs, like Martha's quilt for Queen Victoria and Buzzing at the (quilting) Bee. More songs about history, more about the peculiarities of being a quilter in this era.
We recorded in August of 2010, and I wrote about the process every day on my blog: http://www.singingquilter.wordpress.com. Included are things like how we recorded the CD, a description of my collaborators, and my thoughts on various instruments.
Because this recording celebrates 10 years as the Singing Quilter, and my 10th solo recording, I have included a couple of my "pre-quilting" songs for your enjoyment. This is the fifth quilting CD in the series that began in 2000.
By the way, the cover is a crazy quilt that I embroidered while the CD was being made. While the musicians did their bits, I was up in the control room, stitching away!
The Songs:
Buzzing at the Bee
It's all about the modern quilting bee - with kazoo solo, of course!
Dance Beneath the Moon
This is a song I wrote in 1991 the day after two friends got married. It
was performed at our wedding in 1997.
Listen to a sample.
Duncan's Cove
I wrote this one about an idyllic village near Halifax Nova Scotia - but it's
really about home, wherever that may be for you. It was recorded on my first
album in 1985, but I love it so much that I wanted to record it again.
Listen to a
sample
I Remember You
A lovely jazzy standard style song, written for Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative
http://www.alzquilts.org/
Listen
to a sample
Little Crazy Quilt
I found this wonderful old Patti Page song from 1955, written by Leon Carr and
Hal David, before he started working with Burt Bacharach. It screamed to be
the title song of the CD
Listen to a sample
Martha
Martha is a story about a quilt made in 1892 for Queen
Victoria by a freed slave from Liberia. Kyra Hicks has written a charming
children's book based on this story, called "Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen
Victoria".
http://www.black-threads.com/
Listen to a sample
Midnight Knitters
There is an international fad aka "Yarn
Bombing", or "Stealth Knitting", where knitters, under cover of
darkness, "tag" stop signs, fences or bicycles, etc. with colourful knitted
yarn. It's more fun than graffiti, and it's becoming very popular.
Listen
to a sample
The Oak Leaf
Came from a story in Ruth E. Finley's "Old
Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them" (1929). If you have a
copy, check out the unfinished Oak Leaf story on page 53 of the 1992 reprint!
The song is in the style of a traditional Celtic ballad, telling the
story of a young girl who falls in love with a whaling captain, whom her parents
consider unsuitable for her. After she elopes with her sailor, a single,
unfinished quilt block remains with a rusted needle, awaiting her return.
Listen to a
sample
Panguitch (a piece of Mormon history from
Utah).
The first year the town of Panguitch was settled, winter caught the families
unprepared, and their crops froze before they could harvest them. Mid-winter,
they realized they were going to run out of food, so seven men were sent to the
next town of Parowan (30 miles distant) to get food from them. After ten miles,
the men were unable to go further because of the deep snow. They held a
prayer circle, spreading their quilts on the snow. They realized that they
could walk on the quilts without sinking into the snow, and proceeded by
spreading their quilts on the trail ahead of them. They were successful in their
journey. Now, there is a Quilt Walk festival every year in Panguitch to
commemorate this miraculous event. I premiered this song at the Utah state Quilt show in September
of 2009, and it was met
with rave reviews.
Listen to a
sample
Quilt of Belonging
This quilt was made by hundreds of volunteers, thanks to the enormous vision and
persistence of Esther Bryan. Canada's extraordinary 120' x 10' quilt features blocks from all the countries in the world,
plus 70 native nations in Canada. It is a hugely impressive work of art.
http://www.invitationproject.ca/
Listen to a sample
The Sewing Machine
From the movie "Perils of Pauline" in
the '40s. This song was originally sung by Betty Hutton, while flouncing
around in a sweatshop. You can see the YouTube video of the scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=999ph8iRT4o. We have added two instrumental
jigs, to give me time to breathe!
Listen to a sample
Treat it Right
A song about the care and feeding of a
quilt - and what not to do with it!
Listen
to a sample
Two Peas in a Pod
John's solo on this CD is all about quilters' husbands who can identify each
other, even when they're nowhere near a quilt show!
Listen to a sample
You Just Might Be a Quilter
And this is how quilters know they are truly bitten! Paul (the producer) thinks
this might be the hit song of this CD!
Listen to a sample
Are you a shop interested in CDs? Wholesale information for Canada, USA, Australia.