Need a Hug? Try a quilt

Last April the mother of my adorable granddaughters said, "When I wrap my child in a quilt I made, it is like physically wrapping them in my love."  What a lovely way to describe why we make quilts for the people in our lives.  I submit to you all that it is impossible to have too many quilts, if they each represent the love of the maker.

This has been a tough week emotionally.  We're off to Idaho tomorrow for the funeral of an irreplaceable friend.  This afternoon I felt utterly lonely, and wished my mother or my sisters or the grand-babies who love to be hugged were here.  Then I walked into the room where Marjorie's splendid Daisy quilt is on the bed and was reminded of the depth of the friendships I have with my sisters, whether their DNA matches mine or not.  Sometimes physical things can give us a lift emotionally. 

Some of us have loved ones who figure they have enough blankets, and why would you cut up all that fabric just to sew it together again? Some of the people we love wouldn't treat a quilt well.  I think we have a right to give them one anyway.  Many of us make quilts for charitable causes. Sometimes the cause is our own need to give a gift of love. So, make a quilt for someone you love, even if they think they don't need one.

Plates, plates, plates, and fans

 

 

Remember my scanner bed is too narrow to show the full 10" square. 

I am having a great time with my Christmas Candy Dishes, made from the Riley Blake layer cake I won at the Quilt Market Bloggers Meet-Up. Progress report:  I have five more plates to applique to their background, which is a quick way to say I have eleven done.  Eleven!!  This is so much fun I'm going to do it again, but with a layer cake of prints I've been saving for a rainy day. Okay, so I was out pruning roses all morning in the sunshine, how can I think about rainy day projects?  Easy, I don't have enough projects in the "Finish Someday" pile.

Side Bar:  We are already gathering the prizes for the Third Annual Sisters Quilt Weekend UFO party awards.  Check back next week for the dates for this fall.  It's never too late to to start an unfinished project.

Back to the plate project:  The plate/fan wedges are just the right size for using 10" squares efficiently.  (Efficiently = left overs so small no one thinks we should save them)


After making a plastic template, trace 6 wedges on each 10 " square.  The cutting diagram is below:



 



Note that this cutting diagram only works with non-directional prints.  If you're using fabrics with a definite direction ( and you don't want upside down trees on half your wedges) that's a whole different discussion, and there are no scraps when the six wedges are complete.








My Plate Project uses the same fabric as alternate wedges in each plate.  Those wedges are cut from 5" width-of-fabric strips.

There are pictures of the piecing of the wedges in the May 25 post

As I re-read this, I realize that my writing style is even more disjointed and parenthetical than usual.  Must be the unaccustomed sunshine.