Thursday, September 17, 2009

"Blue Belt" or "Blueberry"?

When my obsession with watercolor quilts began, I bought every sort of fabric you can imagine.  All colors, mostly florals, impressionistic to realistic.  Darks, mediums and lights.  It takes a lot to make a California King quilt!  I have all of these 2"x2" squares floating around my sewing/sun/Lego room.  What to do?  What to do?
This is Javimeister's senior year.  I knew I wanted to do something meaningful for him.  I mean, after all, I kinda like the kid and all and he's been such a huge help around the house all these years and very patient when I was finishing up just 'one more thing' as I've crafted through his lifetime.  A quilt is a gift of love.  Of sacrifice.  Of learning.  Of growing.  Perfect!
But there's just one problem...kids are expensive!  And we didn't have small, dainty, petite, eat-like-a-bird girls.  We had MEN!  Okay, small men.  Men in training.  Who eat.  A lot.  I mean a whole lot.  Everyday.  Sometimes more than three times a day.  Often...all day long.  And clothes?  Do you know how many pairs of jean knees a boy can blow out in a year?  Too many to count.  Plus doctors, dentists, optometrists, soccer, basketball, Tae Kwan Do, choir, band...and inevitably, a car.  Yikes!
So what's a clever and thrifty mom to do?  What women who have quilted throughout time immorial have always done...head to the scraps!  This is where all of those 2"x2" squares  came in handy.  I was on the move and ready to piece.  Once the blocks and triangles were in place...what possible fabric would compliment them all and set the pattern off?  This one was a stumper until a good friend...a kind, gentle, patient friend...picked out the sashing fabric you see now on the quilt.  I'm forever grateful!
I found the Asian cloud fabric one day at a break in a basketball toruney in our state capitol.  Middlest wanted to stay at the facility and *gasp* socialize with his friends instead of going fabric shopping with mom.  I was crushed (Lord, I know it's wrong to fib, but You and I both know I needed a little alone time).
This has been a WIP for almost a year.  I wanted crisp, white binding and I wasn't yet making my own.  Joann's kept running out of the kind I needed.  I finally finished the binding this week, washed and dried the quilt and gave it to Javi.  In one of the bottom corners, in the binding, are seventeen embroidered hearts.  One for each year he's been my boy and I've been his mommy.  Sniff. 
The good news is that I will get to enjoy this quilt longer than I would have if Javi had decided to dorm it at college.  I'll get to wash it for him and watch him curled up in it on a cold, winter's day.  Aren't our children wonderful!

6 comments:

  1. Love it!!!!! Squeeze that kid a good one for me. Okay, squeeze them all...

    KT

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice. I have been telling my 18-year-old son for quite awhile now that I'd like to make a quilt for him, but he keeps declining because his fave is a bed quilt that my mother made (and she passed away when he was in preschool). However, last week he decided that the quilt was going to wear out. He washed it very carefully, hung it to dry, and then folded it up and asked me to put it somewhere for safe keeping. And -- he asked me to make a new quilt for him. Now I need to make a "manly" quilt. Oh, dear.... Yours is wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can buy quilt binding?? Gosh I just fumbled my way through making my own... Actually it only took me an evening and it's pretty so I'm not too upset. :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. congrats on a beautiful quilt! and lucky boy (and you) to have each other! (and the quilt!)

    thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an awesome thing the Internet is...that women from around the globe can reach out to each other and share a love of quilting, colors, fabric and friendship! Thank you all!

    ReplyDelete

Love hearing from bloggers wherever you are!