But before we get to the winners of my first-ever giveaway, let me share with you what I will be working on next.
Several years ago I was visiting with my favorite aunt, Josie (Josephine to others who also adored her). Aunt Josie and I were talking about one thing after another and somehow we ended up discussing quiltmaking. She had found in a magazine a very simple pattern for a quilt she wanted to make and was excited about getting started on it.
Aunt Josie’s quilt was going to be constructed of 4” squares of all the fabrics she had in her collection. The fabrics were remnants of dresses and outfits she had made for herself and for her daughter when she was a child. And somewhere in that quilt, Aunt Josie was going to incorporate alternating red and white squares. I don’t recall her ever showing me the magazine picture of that quilt, but my fuzzy memory tells me the red/white was to be an inner border.
Fast forward a few years during another visit, I had asked Aunt Josie about her quilt and told her that I had recently made a couple myself. Her eyes lit up and she went into her room and came back with a small paper bag and a rolled up bundle.
In that bag contained lots and lots of fabric squares; and the bundle consisted of many strips of 4” squares sewn together.
She handed it all to me, said that it was now mine and asked that I finish making her quilt. I’m not sure if she just lost interest or if her health (which had for several years been in decline) prevented her from completing the project herself.
Well, I’m sad to say that years slipped by since that day and I still had not done anything with those squares and sewn strips. Every so often an image of that bag would flash across my mind and I would feel a slight pang of guilt. To top it off, we lost our dear Aunt Josie last year, which only compounded my guilt for not following through.
This week, however, during what has become a frequent occurrence of sleeplessness (thanks to hormones!), Aunt Josie has been flooding my thoughts. So a couple of days ago I dragged out that bag and those sewn strips and took a good evaluation of what I had to work with.
After careful examination, I determined that all those that are already stitched need to be taken apart. The squares are not all uniform, the stitching varies from a scant 1/4” to almost 1/2”, and there are some stained/damaged pieces that need to be eliminated.
Again, I don’t recall her showing me a picture of the quilt in her magazine and all I have is my fuzzy memory and her hand drawn sketch of the layout (drawn on a piece cut from a paper bag).
She placed marks here and there, and some sections appear darker (highlighted?), but I have no idea what her intentions were. So I have decided that I will create my own design that will showcase some of the more interesting fabrics like this one of old movie scenes and actors:
And one that will pay tribute to a lady who was so well loved.
As you can see from Aunt Josie’s sketch, there are at least 418 squares! Which is a good thing, because I am going to make two quilts: one for her daughter and one for her son. Can you believe she cut each one of these using a paper template (assuming from that same paper bag)? Wow!!!
Wish me luck!
Now for the winners (who were selected by the Pawsitive Tails crew who licked, sniffed and tried to eat the paper strips with your names printed on them)…
Mary Engelbriet Fabrics: Sara of NE Ohio
4-Square Blocks: Shelly of Tennessee
And because there were only three entries (bummer for me, but great for you ladies!!)…
a Sussie (little giftie) for Kay of Oklahoma
Ladies, if you will email me your address I will get your goodies on their way to you. Congratulations and enjoy!
Oops! You need an email address don’t you? ivamcadams At sbcglobal DOT net.
Have a fabulous weekend…
Iva
