This is a picture of my very young and stylish mother blowing out the candles on her birthday cake almost a year ago. It was a significant birthday and seemed to call for a special token or gift to mark the occasion. With the exception of my grandmothers, she is the one of the best ever.
I had been thinking about what I/we could do for her for about 6 years, meanwhile I kept special but worn out clothing that she and my father had given the children... one day the idea came to me: an I-Spy quilt. Finally all the velour pjs, alligator swim trunks, torn elegant shirts for boys had a place to be.
My parents, like many others', are IMPOSSIBLE to give gifts to, for any reason. My mother puts up with handmade goodies but really hates it when I spend my time making stuff for her. Really. I knew this project wouldn't be a hit with her. Her idea of domestic abuse is crafts, canning, sewing, decorations-- anything not Idea related. She enjoys travel and that includes traveling light. She and I are on the same quest to rid our lives of clutter. However, I like to make cool significant/useful things (Duh.) and although I rarely give them to people (topic for another post) this one, even though it would be coolly received, is what I had to do.
Here are the pieces on the dining room floor, not sewn yet...planning, arranging... (Late night photo shoot)
KISS principal in action. Keep It Simple Sister.
Each square is 6"x6". I'm not the most clever quilter...
Once the top was finished, a cool woman in Provo (Who taught me all about "Religionists" in the process! That was cool and helped me understand some men in my ward.) quilted this for me. She had a lot of fun and drew with the stitches things/patterns that supported the fabrics.
Voila, the finished product! What surprised me is that although my Mum left it in the apartment in SLC and my Dad didn't see it for maybe months, S, K, J, N and M LOVED it. Really. They loved watching me work on it, they all helped with it, they loved learning about the process and they adored the finished product. Gama didn't want to not take it and seem ungrateful (though she might not have really wanted to take it), but all the children wanted to keep it!
To make an I-spy quilt you need a lot of one or 2 squares of funky fabric. Gama's quilt is 12(6"squares) x 12 = 144 different fabrics. You are left with a lot extra... that's where the next idea hatched from... Christmas 2008 everyone gets their own quilt, that is it. No toys, no books, no clothes, no skies, no i-pods, no cash, no nuttin'. (I am filling their stockings with cool goodies from NYC!) This might not be what the economy needs but it is what we need. Less stuff, hopefully more meaning.
My bestest friend Ashley liked the idea and so we are making more together. We will make 9 quilts, plus possibly one for her beloved nephew and maybe the start of a few (smaller ones) to donate. Last night while the men went to priesthood meeting she and I snuck into my ward building, hung out in the primary room, turned the volume off and got to work. With laser like focus, we sorted all the fabric that we have cut so far, divvied it up for each child. We are short about 50 fabrics, although between the two of us I think we have them. They too need to be washed, pressed, cut, sorted.
The clock is ticking... These need to be assembled and quilted, and paid for (Gasp) and then the edges need to be bound. We meet every Wednesday and hopefully work on our own during the week.
I am also really excited about my idea for the Beehive Bazaar this year -- hope Noelle and Molly are too. Heidi and I want to have a space together, full of cool and a bit random things. More about that another time.
Right now I'm off to make Ratouille for Russell. Enjoying the rain and looking forward to Conference. Grateful for the time to write in a quiet house.
Did you hear Brother Anderson's talk Saturday morning? He spoke about Hadley, that is N's friend! He was riveted to the television listening to the Conference Talk!!! Whoa. At the end of the talk he said, "Hadley did a really cool thing!" She did. We had tears streaming down our cheeks at the end of the talk.
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