Friday, February 11, 2011

Small Change

I had some fabric left over from the quilt I made for Lauren and Michael as a wedding present, see http://zebraquilter.blogspot.com/2008/10/excotic-honeymoon.html, so when they had a baby, I thought I would be fun to use that for the baby quilt. I used a different pattern so the quilt looks very different.
I hand pieced the top, and quilted it on my own machine, which I managed because it wasn't that big. The name of the quilt refers not to my guess that Maya would only bring a small amount of change to the lives of her parents - in fact, though she was small and cute (see photo below!), I know for a fact their lives will never be the same and that she is probably the biggest thing ever to have happened in their lives. Rather, the pattern used in the quilt is a variation of the Chinese Coins pattern, and the name derives there-from. Since nothing else related to the quilt is Chinese, I thought it would only be confusing to leave that in the name.

I hand delivered the quilt on a visit to Atlanta when Maya was about a month old, so I got to hold her and get a picture of her on the quilt - one of my favorite things! She looks pretty good on it, and as it is folded, it clearly is big enough for to grow a bit!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Kitties

I have to admit that every now and again I get just a bit tired of making baby quilts. Of course, I have loved making them for my nieces and nephews and for children of close friends. But, especially since moving to Kentucky, it's been a little harder to continue to be equally excited about making baby quilts for all the friends in Atlanta who are having babies when I'm so far away, not at all present for the pregnancy and often don't even get to meet the baby after its born.

I often joke that at my age, and since I didn't have any children of my own, it doesn't seem like I should know that many people who were having babies! But, of course, I'm quite happy to know and have friends who are younger than I am, and I am glad and reassured that the bright, creative, and loving young people Steve and I know are among those who are choosing to contribute to the next generation!
In this case, however, the parents aren't exactly youngsters. Baby Lila's father, Rob McDuff, is a long time friend of both Steve and myself, and an old-timer in the poverty law business in the deep South, who just happened to be very late in finding the love og his life, Emily, and in becoming a father!
It was such surprising and happy news that I was excited to make a quilt for this baby, even though she lives in Jackson, MS, and/or New Orleans, LA, and I have no idea whether I'll ever meet her.