Saturday, January 26, 2008

Everyday Life 30 :: 20

Play is such a luxury. Free time and resources, materials, skills, and the patience of everyone dependent on you... I am a lucky woman.

I wonder: Do I make my own designs, because I enjoy designing, or is it because I loathe following directions? And... do I loathe following directions, because
it's loathsome or because I am not very good at it? Furthermore, what if I were patient and applied myself to learning more skills, would patterns and instructions be less loathsome? Just wondering.


James and Deanne's baby is due to be born any day now. Exciting. Sweet and joyful. We are going over to see them tonight, to eat pizzas, play with Sammy, their dog, and check out their iMac. I can't wait to see the mural Holly painted for the baby's nursery, and I hear that James and Deanne have been very busy preparing, organizing and setting up for baby... sounds like serious nesting has been going on!


When I saw the pictures of the tree Holly painted, I knew the fabric I found was going to be perfect for a baby quilt. I love the story book depictions of a mother and son enjoying a day in the woods, fishing by a brook, exploring a meadow. It's full of charming details, like frogs on rocks and curious ducks. And I even found complimentary fabric for the backing. The chocolate, lime and blue stripes were leftover from Geoff's birthday quilt.


Wow, even when I decided to keep it simple... there's quite a bit to piecing, squaring, basting, trimming, sewing and tying a quilt. I must love it, or I wouldn't be dreaming of the next one!


A lot of quilting can really flatten and stiffen a quilt, and I wanted this to be light and lofty, so I thought about tying it. Ties may not be an ideal choice for a baby's quilt, so using my machine, I satin stitched leaves, like tacks, at regular intervals. It came out pretty nice; fast too.


A quilt for baby. For snuggling, and keeping cozy. For comfort and for play. To take on picnics, to play peek-a-boo! To roll in. To roll on. A hug from us, to hold Everyday.

3 comments:

Anna Banana said...

So beautiful, no wonder you wanted to go to the duck pond yesterday! What a lucky baby...hey, is it 9 months already??

Missy said...

What a sweet comfy looking quilt Natalie. What a lucky gal you are to have a new sweet smelling blessing entering into your circle of friends and family.

DasBecca said...

Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog-- I came by to check yours out, and I'm in complete awe. I failed Home Ec three times, so anyone who can create such gorgeous (and I mean GORGEOUS) quilts has my respect. :-) I'm so looking forward to reading the rest of your posts.