The Importance of Keeping up with Current Events

Well, this was certainly a few weeks full of lessons for me. As I had mentioned, I will be teaching a Quilted Toddler Jacket class in a few weeks at Country Quilts and Bears. I have been a busy beaver sewing up samples for the shop that illustrate the many methods that one could use to create this jacket. I wanted to show a variety hoping to encourage quilters to sign up and take my class. I had made a bunch of jackets but I gave them all to my beautiful granddaughter like any good Grandma would, so my "jacket stash" was depleted. They were her size, after all. So, in my infinite wisdom I decided that I needed to make a jacket that was suitable for a boy, and another one for a girl. Hmmmmmm, what do little boys like? BASEBALL! Not thinking much farther than that, I decided almost immediately on making a Boston Red Sox jacket because their socks are just so darn cute (and I already had an outline of socks from a prior project) and what a wonderful way to show off my applique skills, right? WRONG!

I worked on this Sox jacket hours and hours before my husband noticed and says in the sweetest voice, "Honey, do you really think that a quilt shop in Tampa Bay is going to want to put a Red Sox jacket on display in their shop? Especially since there is a very good chance that Tampa Bay will actually be playing the Red Sox in the playoffs?" WHO KNEW??? Let's think about those odds for a few moments... I could have died. Cut ahead one week, and guess who's playing who in the playoffs? Yep, you guessed it. It's the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox.

This past Friday I go marching into Country Quilts and Bears with my Boston Red Sox jacket in my tote bag and showed it to the wonderful owner, Marilyn. Oh, the look on her face. It was priceless. "Oh, my," she says. You see, as luck would have it, her husband and partner in the shop, John, is a die hard Rays fan and understandably this just isn't going to work. So home I go, humbled and laughing, with teal and yellow fabric under my arm, because after all, where do I live? TAMPA BAY! I really must start reading something other than quilting magazines.

So long story longer, here is the Tampa Bay Rays Quilted Toddler Jacket that is now prominently displayed on the counter in the quilt shop in Tampa Bay.....

Boston Red Sox Quilt for My Son-In-Law

Happy New Year everyone! Here is the quilt I have been referring to as "The Secret Quilt". I was forced to call it that because my most wonderful son-in-law is a bit of a snoop. He is also very smart and given just a bit of a clue, he can run with it and before long, the puzzle is put together!

All that being said, I am thrilled with how this quilt turned out. Bonnie Hunter did the quilting, and I created the appliqued Bo Sox emblem in the center, and naturally I did all the piecing. The quilting is an all over star pantograph done entirely in white thread, so it stands out beautifully on the red and blue fabric. The backing is solid red, so there the stars really show up well. My son-in-law really loves the quilt, and I do believe that he was very surprised by the gift. It so warmed my heart to see the joy this quilt created.

The photo below has my Granddaughter looking a bit perplexed. I think she sensed that Gammie was packing up to leave New York to head back to Florida. She is the cutest thing ever, I do believe. Big sigh...I miss her. I bet she misses me right now, too.