Archive for the ‘sew it’ Category

I’ve been missing for the past few days, I know.

It’s been a busy week.  I’ve been writing quilt patterns… which is not for the faint of heart.  My goal is always to be clear and to keep my instructions simple and complete.  If only the goal was to be wordy and hard to understand ; ), I could write a pattern in a day.

I’ve been working on the Kite Strings quilt pattern of course, which should be ready later this week.  I’ve also been writing a pattern for the wonderful quilt above, Oh My Stars!  This quilt was designed by my mom.  It may look a little daunting, but it’s really quite fun to make. You can see, the stars are made with triangles in the sashing.

The other fun thing that happened this week is:

Early last week my son came home from school excited about the mock student government the 5th grade would be creating. They were even going to have campaigning and elections to learn about the workings of our government.

Over dinner he talked about what position he wanted to run for… maybe for the House of Representatives but probably for a Judge.  My husband said, why don’t you run for Senate… or even VP or President?

“Dad, a really popular kid will win for President. I’m just normal… I could never win.”

I piped up at this point and said, you never know Ben, you are nice to everyone.  “I AM NOT running for President.  I could never win over so and so or so and so….  They want to win and they are the most popular kids.”

On Wednesday, Ben came home with a sheepish smile on his face.  A friend had nominated him as a Presidential candidate in his party, and after the primary elections, he had won his party’s candidacy.  Another very nice boy in his grade was his VP running mate.

The election would be held on Monday (yesterday) but on Friday the boys needed to bring two posters, a handout for the whole grade, and give a speech in front of 100 5th Graders.  GULP.

On Friday, despite super nerves, Ben and his running mate both gave wonderful speeches- fun, funny and heartfelt.  The focus of their speeches was making every student feel important and included in school.  Since their party was the Patriot party, they had made posters with Uncle Sam, and stickers.  Yesterday Ben walked through the door with a wide grin.  He had won the election.

I was so proud of him.  I was also heart-warmed.  Nice guys can finish first… in the 5th Grade at least.

I just finished putting the binding on my newest quilt.

I played with the idea of using half square triangles to make kite string ties over a year ago, but I couldn’t decide how I wanted to make the strings.

Then about a month or so ago I was looking at vintage quilts and noticed a lovely Irish Chain quilt and had a light bulb moment.  It would be a perfect string!

The Irish Chain turned out to be little 4 patches… but the idea was the same.

I love the cheerful 30’s fabric for the backing which even has a little kite flying boy.

The quilting, done by my very talented Aunt Karen, evokes the whimsy of the wind on a perfect kite day.

I’m still working on the pattern and hoping to have it available soon… for sure a baby quilt size, like I made, and pretty sure in twin size as well.  I think the pattern would look perfect on a child’s bed.