What brown can't do for you

I'd been planning on taking Nora's quilt up North when we go camping next month (to drop it off at the quilt shop where I wanted to have it quilted). I sent a note to the quilt shop asking about having it quilted, though, and they said that it could probably be done earlier if I sent it up. This was appealing - maybe it will be done by the time we go up and I can bring it home with us. Great news, right?

It was, except it meant that I needed to ship Nora's quilt. I rarely have any trouble shipping anything, but the thought of packing something irreplaceable in a cardboard box made me VERY nervous. Yesterday, though, I worked up all my courage and took it over to the UPS store to have shipped. The guy gave me some waiver to sign and I was supposed to fill in the value of the item. "Priceless" was not an acceptable answer. Neither was "One Million Dollars". Mean, heartless man made me put a dollar value on my baby's quilt. I called it $500, which I think doesn't come close to covering the time and energy (and fabric) involved in this project, but he wasn't going to send it otherwise, so that's what I did and paid the extra $5 for $500 worth of insurance. Since then I've been anxiously checking the package tracking site every chance I get. Good news - this afternoon delivery was confirmed at the quilt shop. Pretty good service, don't you think? Felt like a million years though.

Yay!!!

I am always super-productive when Rob is out of town. I have trouble sleeping when he's not here, so my usual strategy is to get myself so exhausted that I have no choice. The main activity this week (aside from work, of course) was Nora's quilt and I am very happy to say that THE QUILT TOP IS DONE!!!!
It had been my intention to add a 3" border outside of the pieced border, but the fabric I'd previously purchased for that project looked too busy with the quilt. So, I went to my local quilt shop this morning to get the advice of their resident quilt genius. She told me that she wouldn't put another border on it because no matter what it was it would either clash or detract from the quilt. She said she'd just leave it as is and bind. Less work for me, right? Well it would have been if I hadn't asked my next question: "What would you bind it with?" Her response was: "Scraps - do you have more?". Do I have more - HA! So now I will be spending my afternoon piecing a skazillion more scraps for the binding.


During this process I also decided that I no longer liked my previously purchased backing fabric, so I bought some striped (quilter's) flannel to use instead (see below). Won't that look great with the pieced binding? I'm thinking of having it quilted in green thread.

Since this is almost done, I've started washing my fabric for the crib quilt. I can start that now, right?

Dilettante

dil·et·tante

1. a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement, esp. in a desultory or superficial way; dabbler. 2. a lover of an art or science, esp. of a fine art. –adjective 3. of or pertaining to dilettantes.

My friend B called me that once and truth-be-told I am a bit of a dabbler. I'm really good at starting projects and throwing myself wholeheartedly into the effort... at the beginning. I'm not so good at finishing things because I lose interest, or more accurately get distracted by something new.

As much as I've come to love sewing, staying on-task with Nora's one hundred good wishes quilt (OHGWQ) has been a challenge for me. I am determined to have the quilt top finished before we go up North in September, though. Really what's keeping me going is the burning desire to start on Nora's crib quilt and I know that Rob will never let me hear the end of it if I start another project before finishing the OHGWQ!

Here's the inspiration to move forward (this is the fabric for Nora's crib quilt, I bought it last weekend):

I think it is going to be so cute and I love the fabric! I'm a little intimidated by all the applique, though. I keep trying to machine applique, and I'm not sure that I like the results. Probably I will go back to hand (needle-turn) applique.

Weekend wrap up

I wanted to go to the Dragon Boat races today, but that was vetoed by Rob. Instead we went on a shortish (~4 mile) walk with Maddie in the park and had a nice picnic lunch by the lake. Then we came home, and while Rob read his book, I finished the assembly of the main body of Nora's quilt. Now all I have left are the borders (one of which is pieced, so not a trivial task, but still...). Here's a photo taken this evening. Everything you see here is now completely sewn together.

I hope to start on the borders next week. Once that's done, I'm going back to the crib quilt that I started forever ago. Applique is still not my strongest skill, but I've ordered a book from the library and will practice some more on the doll bed quilt.

To close out the weekend, I wanted to share a picture of the graphic on the t-shirt that Maddie gave Rob for his birthday (yesterday)... and, yes, I am the sort of person whose dog gives gifts. I thought it was quite a find - looks just like them!*

Happy Birthday Honey!! I look forward to many more adventures with you!

*except that the actual Maddie has floppy ears and would be in full-alert, critter-chasing posture.

Nora's quilt - update

I don't think that I've mentioned before my apprehension about the quilt project (at least not on this blog, if you know me you've probably heard it!). When we first started this process, I threw myself whole-heartedly into the experience. Anything that I heard we should do, I did because I didn't want Nora to miss out on anything. After a while though, I came to suspect that some of these supposed Chinese traditions were less rooted in Chinese culture and more a creation of the adoption community.

The quilt I regard a little bit differently - I think it's a great idea and I love having a little reminder of all the friends and family who care about Nora and are wishing her well. Some of them, like my Uncle Buck and Rob's Grandma Violet, have already passed on, so those are extra-special mementos of people that Nora will never know. I always intended to complete this project, but I didn't want to tell Nora that it was Chinese custom unless it really was. So, I braced myself for the cold, hard truth about the quilt and sent the question to a friend of Rob's who is Chinese by both birth and residence. Guess what? It's REAL! Here's his response:

I have consulted some classmates and some aged people in China, "Bai jiabei" (百家被 in Chinese) is something used to be popular in some areas in China, and maybe still popular in some places. The word "Bai jia" (百家)means a hundred families, "bei" means quilt, it was usually made by every family in the village when a baby was given to birth, and later it's simplified to be just several women in the village to make such thing.Another saying about this is that this thing was made by pieces of cloth that come from every family in the village. Whatever, people can express their love in this kind of ways to the baby...

And, more good quilt news ... tonight I finished my last block! I still need to assemble the squares, finish the last partial rows on the bottom and side and add my borders, but you can get a really good feel for how it's going to look. This will be a twin size quilt. I've decided to have it quilted at the shop we visited up at the North Shore, so I need to have it ready to go before our Fall vacation.

Next post I'll tell you more about another Chinese tradition that Jasper told me about.

Quilt update

It's been a while since I've given an update on Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt - and for once that doesn't mean that nothing is happening! I have been diligently piecing away and have now completed 13 of the 24 blocks needed for the main body of the quilt. More than half, which feels really great!

Right now the 13 blocks aren't yet sewn to eachother, I just have them laid out in order so I can see how it's going to look and feel some progress. I'm really happy with it so far, but seeing it like this makes me question my choice of border, binding and backing fabric. I'll have to see how it looks once I get all these blocks together and the inside border on.

I've found that I really enjoy sewing. I keep thinking up new projects, but I'm resisting the urge to start anything new until I get this quilt top done (I will probably not quilt it myself, since I'm not really set up to handle something that size). Next up will be Nora's crib quilt - remember the ladybug quilt? - I think I need to take an applique class, I'm really struggling with getting it to look good. Maybe I just need more experience with my sewing machine...

First two quilt blocks!

I've finished the first two blocks of Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt!!

I have about a zillion more to go, but even this little bit gives an idea of the pattern and the scrappy feel. I'm really happy with how it's going so far - the star points are coming out better than I expected and I love using my new sewing machine.

Holy Hannah, what was I thinking???

Perhaps you remember Nora's One Hundred Good Wishes Quilt. I started collecting squares more than a year ago and am finally getting to the piecing. I've selected a pattern called "Morning Star" from the book Nickel Quilts by Pat Speth. I think it's a really nice pattern if you have a lot of scraps.

I've spent the entire day trimming and arranging the patterned squares on the dining room table. See your squares in there?? Some are on reserve for the border and anything flannel or fleece is going into a stroller blanket, but everything else is in there, including Steve's Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety polo shirt (just typing that makes me smile!).

This afternoon I moved on to cutting the background pieces (as you can see I've commandeered the kitchen island for this task - good thing we don't cook much).

Tomorrow I start sewing. Christmas shutdown needs to be about a month longer, I think. There's no way this is going to be finished in the next two days!

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to Nora's quilt. I know that this will be a very special keepsake for her and I am really looking forward to playing "I Spy" with all the great fabrics and telling her the stories behind each piece.

Let the Sewing Commence!

I have an early birthday present - a new sewing machine! I am so excited, because this means that I can start on Nora's crib bedding and her one hundred good wishes quilt. Of course I need some practice first and my "How to use your sewing machine" classes don't start until June 22, so I'm inventing some smaller, low-impact projects to get some sewing experience.

Since my Mom and Dad are sending my old doll bed (which my Dad built for me when I was a little girl) for Nora, I decided that I would make some doll bedding that would match Nora's crib bedding. Nora's basic bedding - sheets and bedskirt - are Company Kids hot pink gingham and I found a lady bug quilt pattern (shown in second photo) that I plan to make for her in hot pink and apple green. The crib bedding will be a scaled-down and slightly modified version of that. The photo shows the ladybug bodies in progress in the five hot pink fabrics that I selected for the doll's quilt. I think it will be really cute. Of course I'll post a photo when it's finished.

P.S. If you are interested in the ladybug quilt pattern, it is "Ladybug, Ladybug..." by Teri Christopherson. I ordered it online from The Winding River Quilt Shop http://www.windingriverquiltshop.com/

Nora's Second Personalized Item!

This is truly amazing. Manette from the January DTC group made us each a personalized quilt square with the group's logo and our baby's name (I blanked out our last name in this photo). As if that wasn't enough, it is on a beautiful tone on tone heart fabric. The photo doesn't do it justice, it is absolutely beautiful and so special to us. I am going to make it into a decorative pillow for Nora's room. Thank you so much, Manette, you have outdone yourself.

Paper and Scissors and Adhesives, Oh My!

I've been trying to take control of the quilt situation and at least get the wishes in a scrapbook. Not being a scrapbooker, I think I've underestimated the level of effort needed to glue down all these bits of paper in a somewhat presentable fashion. The supplies have also taken over the dining room table! What's worse is that I'm no longer sure that it's all going to fit into ONE scrapbook.

Rob is talking about getting me a new sewing machine for my birthday, so I have two months left to get all the paper organized and prepare myself to begin tackling the sewing projects. Wish me luck!

What's the number for swappers anonymous?

If ever there was any question regarding my tendency to go a little overboard, the OHGWQ (one hundred good wishes quilt) fabric swaps should put all doubt to rest!

There is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt" to welcome and celebrate a new life. It is the custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. We thought that this was a charming tradition and wanted to make a quilt for Nora to welcome her into our family as well as provide a connection to her Chinese heritage.

We received many beautiful squares and wishes from our family and friends, but I found a quilt pattern requiring 237 squares! So, I decided to participate in a few fabric swaps to fill the gap. Well, one thing led to another and now I have about 500 squares.

Luckily, many of these are destined for special projects such as a Chinese Zodiac book, an alphabet quilt and a state/province quilt. The others will go toward Nora's OHGWQ. I still need to take some photos of the squares - including the many precious clothing items - that we've received, but I do have a photo of the squares I've contributed to the various swaps. (pictured above)