I started thinking about quilting and what emotions it brought, so I thought I wanted something of my own. Of course, I didn't bother to get directions or ask for help, I never do and then am always astounded that things don't work out right. I just cut and pieced as I went. I often wondered what would Betty do? She may have liked the colors but she sure would have advised me against the folly that I was heading into. I decided that I would like to make my creation a "Levi" quilt because the squares looked like bandanas to me. Then I decided to back it will levi and then to hand quilt around the edges and in between the squares. Question: how do you quickly hand quilt two layers of levi material with batting? Trick question, you don't!!. I soon found that it was impossible, but I still wanted to do it (sure, like a machine quilting it isn't good enough!) so there are ten's of thousands of individual stitches around each block, between them and around the edges, looking OK on the top and TERRIBLE on the bottom. It is king sized and must weigh about 40-50 lbs. It is a monster; I sincerely wonder if a small child would not smother under the weight of it on a bed!!! It is done for the most part, I just have to find a machine strong enought to sew the binding together. It works for our Lincoln Bedroom.
My mother passed away this year. She had made two very beautiful unique quilts that contained a lot of artwork within them. They were given to my brothers. I don't mind that Mark and Dale have them, but I would have loved to have a quilt of her's (I did get an afgan.) So I decided that I was going to make at least 5 quilts so that each of my kids could have one. The levi quilt is going to be separate, someone would have to rent a Uhaul just do cart it away. These would need to be new quilts, where I actually paid some attention to quilting principles and patterns. My next quilt came about because of a Fons and Porter program that I saw once while on vacation. As a little girl, I was always captivated by kaliescopes. I would play with one for hours. So when I saw the program on Luminosity Stars, I knew that was for me. I have since found out that many call them Stack and Whack quilts. I ordered a back issue of their magazine (april 30, 2005) and started experimenting. I made several blocks and found it was fun to create such interesting patterns but could not find the bold patterns in the stores that were shown in the magazine. Again, I am new at this and did not realize that it had to be special ordered. But I did find materials that made "flower" shapes and since I love gardening, it was a good match. It did not take long to find that the quilt blocks were taking on a life of their own and were going to make a lovely old-fashion flower garden, which brought another childhood memory to mind. A primary song that I learned as a little girl back in the 50's called "My Grandmother's Old-Fashioned Garden". It always mean't a lot to me and so I call my quilt "Grandma's Garden". 
Lyrics to "Grandmother's Old Fashion Garden"
My grandmother dear has a garden,/Old fashioned and quaint as can be/The flowers so rare, that none can compare,/'Neath the plum and apricot and cherry tree./Would you like me to show you the garden?/Then follow me now and we'll go/'Round the old grape-vine arbor, back of the walk,/ where the birds and the butterflies and flowers grow./The daisies and lilies are telling of grandmother's kind, tender care/ Sweet william and peas, Heliatrope and heartsease,/And violets, modest' tho fragrant and fair./I still long for my grandmother's garden;/With hollyhocks, stately and tall/ And sometimes in my dreams I see her, it seems,/My dear grandmother standing there close to the wall./ In my grandmother's old fashioned garden,/ There are flow'rs of every hue/ Daffodils, pansies, and hyacynths and old fashioned pinks are there too./I belong to my grandmother's garden,/I was picked from the family tree;/So out in my grandmother's old fashioned garden,/If you come there you will find me.
My daughter Carren came to visit in September and of course I had to show off my quilts and secret aquistions of material (yeah right, like Ken didn't know how much I was buying.) I was telling her of my plans for a vivid bright quilt that I was going to call "Tropical Sunset". She observed that I had my spring and summer quilt, I ought to do a fall and winter one. Oops, bad mistake, that started me thinking and casting all caution to the wind. In the same 2005 magazine, there was another quilt that I quite liked but never considered attempting until Carren made her comment. Suddenly, everywhere I went fabrics were somehow jumping into my cart. What could I do but to bring them home. Each day as I drove to work, the colors on the trees and bushes became so brillant to me, I just could hardly take them all in. I wanted to make sure that each color was in my quilt. Every day I would try to notice all the trees and flowers, the combination of colors, and whether they were included...and this fall was the best ever because I took time to appreciate it. Imagine that! I just finished this quilt top yesterday and it is going to be called "Autumn Breeze" because it reminds me so much of the colorful leaves swirling about the yards.
Thanks Betty and Mom. I think I appreciate my world a little more because of you two. Next year will be summer and winter. I am not sure what I am going to do with all of the great "hawaiian" material that somehow made their way home. Hmmm.....
