Stichin' time

It's been so long time since I took time to sew. Everything got so out-of-control busy that I never felt at liberty to just take that time for myself. But last night I cut and sewed for about 4 hours straight, and what a treat! I worked on a simple baby quilt: It's a pattern I made once before—Sweetie Pie by Darlene Zimmerman. I've had the pleasure of writing a brief profile of Darlene—turns out she's from southern Minnesota, not far from where my relatives live.


The first time I made it out of pinks and greens and made an error in laying it out. It looks fine, according to friends I've queried (and that's what good friends should say, after all). I got kind of wonky stars, rather than diamonds and it just bothers me—the hourglass blocks were supposed to be turned 90 degrees in every other row.


So I decided to make it again. I'm not wild about the fabric—some rather pale 30s reproductions. I've gotten so used to bright, saturated color fabrics that these seem a little anemic. But I bought them when I first started quilting and am trying to do a little stash reduction and I had all these fabrics on-hand. When I went to bed last night I was a little disappointed with the one block I'd laid out, but this a.m. I like it a little better. They're fun kid fabrics, with mice, Scotties, circus elephants, jump-roping children, and more.