A Night Away

I’m at my older son’s house this morning, having spent the night here with my granddaughter and the two family doggies while the family traveled to visit my oldest grandson in college.

I gave my DIL this little pieced quilt last year during the Blocks 2 (Tara Faughnan) class–six months of playing with fun quilting ideas. Sometimes we forget how pretty the things we make are. I had such fun hand quilting this one, too. Plus, it was nostalgic as Blocks 3 just started this month.

The idea for this particular Blocks2 month involved the hourglass block, and I fell in love with the split rectangle version of it–and went on to make a whole big quilt using that block.

Almost every time I come here to visit, this piece is somewhere in the living area creating a spot of color and pattern that beckons one to come, look closer. How fun is that?

Here’s the big quilt I made–it’s a good lap size. One’s eye forms diamond images big and small everywhere if you slow down and just look at it. Eyes can make the most amazing patterns, which is a whole other subject.

I brought my current batch of six placemats made from 2-inch scrap blocks from that bin in order to sew down the binding while I listen to my current book. I’ve been listening to Freida McFadden‘s mysteries, and they can really wind you up as they always involve a young woman who is about to go into the house that we all know is haunted. But McFadden ratchets up that storyline with lots of plot twists–and all ends prettily happily. LOL, so far.

Each of these six placemats uses the same color family: blue, red, etc. They are meant to be a birthday gift for my special neighbor, who loves my quilty work and has loved the other placemats I made. She now knows this six will be hers as I can never keep such a secret when the intended recipient is petting something I’m making, like the ones she saw I was hand binding on my couch.

The backing is a piece from my stash where there was enough to use for all six placemats. It could make the placemat reversible, for sure.

I packed up for the night in a bag I made way back in Maine–using scrappy fabric slabs crafted to make the bag really fun to see.

I love this bag and don’t get to use it all that often these days. It has a big sturdy zipper and two zippered pockets on the inside. It’s perfect for an overnight or two.

We are hoping to get some rain these next few days. Hope is the thing with feathers…