It Started with This...

...a basket on Etty's table at our last meeting. In honor of her Significant Birthday, Etty was giving out gifts of fabric. We were free to choose whichever one we liked.  I had trouble deciding between the purple & blue hand-dye on the right and the solid purple right in the middle. In the end, the solid purple won, I guess because I love purple so much, and also because I've started to use more solids in my quilts.

Of course the next dilemma was, what to do with it now that I had it. On Sunday morning I remembered an amazing little quilt of Andrea Balosky, one of my very favorite quilters.  I think Andrea had already "retired" from quilting and was living in a mountain village in India when she learned of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. She came out of retirement and made a number of small quilts which she donated to the sale. Each and every one of these quilts is a little gem. You can see them on the AAQI website, www.aaqi.org. Just do a search for Andrea Balosky and you will see what I mean. Quite simply, Andrea's quilts take my breath away.

The first one I ever saw was her Ribbon Sutras, and that was the one that got me hooked on her work. I decided to make one too, all from scraps, what else? The purple fabric from Etty got used for the binding.  No two quilters' scraps being the same, the colors I used were different from Andrea's, and the size isn't the same, but I wasn't aiming for an exact replica anyway.  Have already started to quilt it by hand. It will give me something nice to do on the long trip to Houston.

Of course this isn't enough to keep me busy for the two weeks I'll be away, so I had to look around for something else small and portable for the trip. For about half a second I considered starting something with HEXIES, but then my rational brain kicked back in and I knew that it would never happen. I would wind up making something HUMONGOUS and it would take me the rest of my life to quilt it. So that idea was SCRAPPED. Instead...I pulled out the bin of repro scraps and made a sample one of these. 

 Like many quilters, I have an irrational Fear of Y-Seams. But truly there was nothing to be afraid of. This little Spool block went together so easily and fast, even though it was all hand-stitched. The finished block will be 3". There is something very soothing about hand-piecing. I'd forgotten how nice it is. So now I'm going to cut out a bunch of pieces for Spool blocks and take them along with me on my trip. Another good way to work my scrap collection down! 

 

 

In other news, last night was the Bat Mitzvah celebration for my granddaughter, Temima. She is a lovely young lady, always cheerful, and with a heart of gold. Even with just immediate family at the party, there was quite a crowd of people and it was a very joyous, meaningful, and fun event. And look at that gorgeous cake. Her best friend made it for her, with the help of an older cousin. I love all the things that can be done with fondant. The cake inside was yummy too!