Children are so observant. They see details that we adults pass right by.
Some of the first quilts I made were for grandsons. There are now three teenagers, but at the time of the quilt you see pictured at the end of this post, there were two toddlers. I saw an episode of Simply Quilts in which Judy Martin demonstrated the large block which dominates this quilt. I had bought some Tom Sawyer themed fabric and companion pieces, and I went to work.
I made the largest block, (24” square, I believe) using two different scenes from the toile print in the center. One was of the boys fishing, the other of them painting the fence. I made smaller blocks using the fabrics I had in the collection and coordinates from my stash. Now that I think about it, I was using my version of improvisational piecing from this beginning. I laid blocks on my design table (otherwise used for eating dinner; the design wall came much later in my quilting life), measured spaces, and inserted filler pieces or blocks.
Now I sometimes lay out such a design on grid paper, calculating dimensions using the squares, but in 2002, I wasn’t so deliberate. I gave the two quilts titles based on the toile, “Mimi’s Boys Fishing” and “Mimi’s Boys Working” and presented them as Christmas gifts.
Several years later, one of the grandsons attended a quilt show with me. I’m not affirming or denying if bribery was involved. I saw a quilt with familiar fabric, and exclaimed, “look, this quilt has fabric like yours.” I was quickly corrected, “Well, not exactly. This boy has pants on.”
“Yours aren’t wearing pants?”
“Not the ones going swimming.”
His mother was as surprised as I was. She hadn’t noticed either.
Back at their house, we all examined the quilt to see that, yes, indeed, the fabric I bought prior to 2002 had skinny-dippers. I don’t know the manufacturer’s storyline, but I’m guessing someone was offended, and subsequent yardage was more modest.
Yes, I have scraps of the risqué print, even a bit of yardage. Hmmm, I think there’s a story quilt idea.
Quilt details: Finished measurements: 36″ x 50″, batting was probably 80% cotton, 20% polyester, quilting was straight lines with walking foot.
Some of my quilting sisters think I’ve recently “gone to the dark side.” Now that I’m taking art classes with artist 
Further details of this quilt: This was early in my life as a hand-guided, freemotion machine quilter. I had previously used matching or transparent thread attempting to make my irregularities less noticeable. Here, for the first time, I dared to try the continuous curves using a heavier, contrasting thread. I marked a one-inch grid and used that as a guide. The border fabrics are batiks, the vine is a quilting-weight cotton cut on the bias, batting is Dream Cotton request, and threads are cotton.
Fun!
Friends and I were discussing the Tidying Up bestseller at dinner last night. I’ve not read the entire book, but I have read a lot of it. First, let me say that this woman’s definition of tidying up is different from mine. My idea of tidying up means someone is coming over and it’s time to run the sweeper and stash some items in the closet. (I will admit that I later straighten the closet and periodically purge it of unused items, but not on a rigid schedule and not enough to invite visitors to admire.)
If I had known old ladies had so much fun, I would have aged faster.
I always love to take classes. Yes, I could have enjoyed being a professional student.
This photo is my unmarked free motion design from this afternoon. Red Mettler 50 weight cotton thread in the top, Aurafil 50 weight cotton in the bobbin. Echoing is done with 60 weight Kimono silk thread.
Early this morning I got a text message from someone who loves me. My son-in-law is literally halfway around the world on a work assignment and sent the photo you see here. He said, “I saw all this fabric and thought you might want some. There is wool. There are wool/silk blends. There are more. Tell me what you might like.”
Today at a community event where I was invited to share my quilting story, members of the group were invited to bring some of their family quilts as well. Several did just that. What fun to hear others’ quilt stories.
Now I’m itching to grab some hexagons and assemble them in the pattern these women used.
Many quilts are made in small units, or blocks, which are then assembled into a larger quilt top. Most quiltmakers I know have an abundance of “orphan blocks”. These can result when a project is abandoned, when extra blocks were made to test color combinations or size, or when the stitcher simply changed her mind about where the design was going.
Some of these baskets and bunnies still reside in a basket awaiting their opportunity to shine. The photo you see here is a quilt top that came about when my minigroup needed a quick project for a donation effort a few years ago. The timing was Spring, my stitching sisters remembered my collection, and we got busy. The completed top was quilted by a local longarm expert and we had a sweet little quilt in record time!