belated quilt blocks

I finally finished my third set of blocks for the modern quilting bee.  A little belated, yes, but I'm hoping it was worth the wait. November's quilt was an alphabet quilt. The only direction given was to use some of the dark grey fabric that the host sent to us. I was assigned the letters C and W. The 5-year-old was eager to offer ideas for the blocks (and some very good ideas, at that). I used her idea for Clothes hanging on a Clothesline, and I came up with a Writing desk set against Wallpaper.

 The letter C gave me fits as I tried to piece it into the quilt instead of appliqueing it on. I opted for embroidering the W.

ordered chaos

from Block Party

So the block I made for September? This is an approximation of how the finished quilt will look. The idea and instructions for this quilt come from Block Party - The Modern Quilting Bee: The Journey of 12 Women, 1 Blog, & 12 Improvisational Projects. Isn't it amazing? This and the other 11 quilting projects in the book strike me as ordered chaos.

I get tired just thinking of trying to create a quilt like that by myself. Randomness and disorder are not easily contrived. Consider the numerous online tutorials for "messy hairdos" of one kind or another. Or how much time and planning it might take a teenager finding their own style to put together a mismatched outfit. Apparently mismatched socks are all the rage and actually being sold - my sock-eating dryer saves me money in that sense (though Allyson, your kids seem to be trendsetters). But take quilt blocks from 12 different people following some general guidelines and, voilà! There is your ordered randomness.

Although for most of my life I've thought of myself as someone who religiously follows instructions, patterns, or recipes, I have recently become enchanted with the idea of creating, pattern/recipe-free. Sometimes I go a bit overboard and end up with an unwearable item or an inedible meal (just ask my husband). But this quilt block was such fun to work on since there really was no recipe for success. I found the process quite liberating.

thoroughly modern

I feel like I've just been picked to be on the cool kid's team at school. I've been coveting the chance to be in a modern quilting bee ever since I saw this and this (aren't her squares amazing?). And then my amazingly talented friend started one and invited me to join! The premise of a modern quilting bee? There are twelve members, each member is assigned a month in which to pick a theme as well as fabric if desired, then all other members make quilt squares that meet the guidelines. By the end of the year, each member of the quilting bee will have a quilt.

What do I like so much about this? 1) I am notoriously bad at finishing big projects, like quilts. 2) I get incredibly sick of pumping out square after identical square for quilts, but overwhelmed by putting together a more interesting, free-form quilt. 3) I have faith that I can, actually, finish one to two quilt squares per month.

I haven't much experience in quilting. I have made three quilts. The first was when I was 16. It has purple-ish calico cows appliqued all over it. It permanently resides in my parents' house with all my other embarrassing early forays into the world of crafting. The next was a white on white wedding quilt for my older sister (I used to be afraid of color). The third was a wedding quilt for my younger sister using a set pattern, white space and rich colors. I liked the way this quilt turned out. I felt a glimmer of hope that I could, too, learn to create beautiful quilts. I then began having children and haven't quilted since.

I still owe my brother and my other sister a wedding quilt. As well as myself.

With my position secured in this modern quilting bee, I feel like my time to do some excellent quilting has finally arrived.

I just finished the block for September. More on that soon.

well loved: quilts and kids

Not to make anyone jealous (although I realize it may be impossible to avoid on this one), but my mother-in-law makes quilts for all of her grandchildren -- sixteen and counting. And not just any quilts, but unbelievably well-crafted and perfectly chosen quilts. She has a way with colors and patterns, and the patience I have never developed to match corners and stitch in tight lines. These are what most people would call Heirloom Quilts.

Our kids call them "Bama blankies."

When our oldest was born, my mother-in-law chose a deep red color scheme for him, and filled it in with patterns and angles perfectly befitting his alpha-male intensity. My husband and I talked about the blanket and what we should do with it. Heirlooms and kids don't generally go well together (case in point: all of our desks). So we debated: Should we hang it on the wall or bring it within reach of dirty hands and drippy noses?

We chose to bring it down.

The blankets have been dragged around, snorted on, wrestled with, and tied into halters. They have been slept on, sat on, jumped on, and pulled. After a few years the cotton starts to wear. Holes develop, opening circles in the squares. Bindings go next, and then whole sections. That first blankie is down to one remaining square; the second so full of holes the twelve year-old often wears it like a cape, with his arms thrust through the holes. Once in a great while, as I watch them dwindle, I wonder if we made the right choice.

Then I come across pictures like this:

And this:

And I'm reminded about how obviously right it was to let them be loved.

These blankets have produced an heirloom something pristine on the wall never could. They have been surrogate hands and shoulders and open arms of a grandma far away -- fifty miles, and then fifteen hundred miles, and now four hundred and sixty-two miles -- our kids have been able to haul their grandmother around with them.

As I peeked in on the baby tonight, sleeping wrapped in his Bama Blankie like a dog in its bun (a banana in its peel? beans in their tortilla? Clearly I need to work on my metaphors -- all of these images are making me hungry), I thought about fourteen years of wrapped up babies and comforted toddlers and tweens looking for a little reassurance. So many moments in my mind and scattered through my photo library, images of these kids enveloped and warm and safe.

Thank you Mary. You are a wonder.