Return to My Roots

My life as a sewer/crafty person started with quilting. The first quilt I can remember making was peach and forest green (blech!) and true to the country decor of that decade (I'll let you do the math!). I don't know what happened to that quilt, but it started a life long obsession with "projects."

I once spent an entire summer (yes - summer...don't ask) quilting a massive navy blue and white quilt that the entire family, including the cat, still fights over.

But somehow, in recent years, I have strayed from my quilting roots. Clothes, toys, orders, and gifts have monopolized what little time I have. And I'm beginning to miss the joy of watching tiny scraps grow into beautiful patterns.

So #2 on that prominently displayed list of goals is, "Return to my roots." Get back on the quilting horse.

First project - A quilt for Belle's big bed.

I spent some time combing through Flickr for ideas and then called Belle over to help me pick the final design. I had 4 relatively simple examples to show her, and after scanning through them all once, I got ready to show her each one again so she could decide. Unfortunately, she caught sight of all the other favorites I had marked and fell in love with a huge, rainbow, string-pieced, diamond quilt and that was it. She had to have THAT one.

"Are you sure? Don't you love this one? Or this one?" NO! So, diamonds it is...I guess. I sketched out a color plan and figured up dimensions with the resulting number of blocks to be created...

48!

This may take all of 2011 to finish! But, she loves it...and I'm beginning to love it too. I decided to work in sets of 8 blocks at a time. Yesterday afternoon, I prepped the first 8 and began to sew, hoping to finish 1 or 2. I was so excited by the results of the first one, that I dropped pretty much everything else so that I could do the other 7. Thank goodness for Chinese take-out!

But with 40 still ahead of me and all the quilting to be done after that, it's going to be a long time in the making. I guess the longer it takes me to finish the quilt, the longer she has to sleep in her little girl bed...this quilt is looking better and better every minute:)

2011 Sewing Goals:

1. STOP HOARDING!

2. Return to my roots.