Happy Pinwheels

I started teaching a class last night at Quilt in Joy (the LQS where I work part-time) on how to make this baby quilt. We used the "layered squares" method to make the half-square triangles, and then put together some pinwheels. There were four great ladies in the class, and all their pinwheels looked FANTASTIC! I found the pattern on http://www.modabakeshop.com/, Pinwheel Baby Quilt pattern. Next week the ladies will add the borders and prairie points.

My grandmother crocheted afghans and booties for all seven of her great-grandchildren, and countless others for friends and their grandchildren. I still have the ones she made for my girls; they are so soft and such beautiful colors. I often wonder how may well-loved blankets created by her hands are out there in the world...

It is such a joy to create something beautiful for a new baby. This is my favorite quote to put on the labels of baby quilts:

Every child born into the world

is a new thought of God;

an ever-fresh and radiant possibility.

If that quote and some pinwheels don't bring hope to your heart and a smile to your face, then I don't know what will!

Italian Tiles progress

Yesterday I got all four side triangle units sew on the center, so now it is on point! But now I can't decide about the border... the pattern calls for a 3" border of more light tiles and grout, but that seems kinda boring to me. I was thinking of a 2" border of light tiles and grout and then maybe another border of 3" square-in-a-square alternating with solid 3" blocks. But that means math and fussing, and I'm not sure I'm up for that today. Any thoughts?

(Elsie would do whatever fussing and math necessary to get it the way she wanted it... guess that's my answer.) Did I mention that I am cursed with a wicked case of perfectionism?

All things Italian

My husband has an affinity... okay let's call it an addiction... to all things Italian. The food, the wine, the art, the language, you name it. We've been lucky enough to travel to Florence, Rome, and Venice, and he loved them all (me too!) He wants to be an Italian when he grows up.

So last fall I made this wall hanging for our 2-story foyer and he willingly hung it for me. But now it is February and it is STILL hanging there. Long story short he wants a new one hanging there before he takes this one down. He helped pick a pattern and chose... drumroll here... Stoneworks - a pattern based on actual floor tiles from the Basilico di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica to us English-speakers) in Venice. He really likes batik fabrics, so I've been working on it and the top is almost done! This center will be on point with four more large triangle units on each side.



Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Shelley

Away we go...

Here is my inaugural post! I'm not sure how this will turn out, if I'll be faithful in posting, if I'll have anything to say worth reading, or how long it will last. I do know that over the past few months I have loved reading about other creative people and their projects, and I often discover that I am conversing with myself (silently... in my head... not time to worry yet) in a sort of "blogspeak" manner throughout the day. So I decided to leap in!

I am an avid quilter and fabric collector. I learned to sew from my paternal grandmother, Elsie. She was a remarkable woman. Many of the things I write here will likely be thoughts that I would share with her if she were still here. Maybe this is my way of communicating with her, even though I know she sees and hears all I do everyday already. I hope she's proud of how the skills she taught me have made such a huge impact on my everyday life.

As for what comes next, who knows? Like many decisions in my life, I am making this one on the fly, as the result of a whim or a "wild hair". But so many of those decisions have been GREAT ones, that I just have to go with it!

This is a photo of my grandmother with my eldest daughter who is now 15. Miss you tons, Grandma!