Shark!
September 2022

Back in July, when Jocelyn over at Happy Cottage Quilter sent the baby quilt tops that I finished into Polka Party 1-4, she also sent a box stuffed full of scrap fabrics and remnant pieces. One of the remnant pieces was the shark fabric, which I thought was too cute to fussy cut, so I used it as bands at the top and bottom. I also used some blue scrap fabrics she had sent, and pulled a bunch of scappy blues from my scraps box to create the center section. The pieces to create the rows were 1.5″, 2″, 2.5″ and 3″ (unfinished).

I had read an article recently about quilting “rules”. I apologize for not noting down the author’s name, as it was one of those articles that you see go by, you do a quick read, and then move on to the next article in your feed. I then spent a bit of time reflecting on her take on quilting “rules”, which was basically that the creative process thrives with no hard fast rules. However, the creative process usually does well when there is a plan – that may include some tentative rules – at the outset of a project. For this quilt, in addition to using blues as one rule, I decided to use a pattern for the rows, as opposed to just placing them randomly. So, for all those out there that love to figure out patterns, what pattern did I use?

I will be sending this quilt to Little Lambs Foundation based in Utah, as part of the 2023 Hands2Help challenge comfort quilts being hosted by Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Little Lambs Foundation provides backpacks full of comfort items for children from newborn to 17 who are transitioning into foster care, emergency shelters, or hospitalization.

Where Pink Happens
September 2022

Did you know that scientists question the existence of the color pink? I hadn’t really been looking for information on the topic of the color pink’s existence, but the internet seems to have many rabbit holes for one to fall into! It is actually quite a fascinating topic – one to tuck away for a potential conversation starter. My take away from the Scientific American article is that I’m quite happy that our brains provide us with the sensation of color, as pink has always been a favorite of mine. When my sisters and I were kids, my mother always dressed us in an “assigned” color. From my eldest sister down to me, we were purple, blue, yellow and pink. Family pictures were always so colorful!

Back in July, when Jocelyn over at Happy Cottage Quilter sent the baby quilt tops that I finished into Polka Party 1-4, she also sent a box stuffed full of scrap fabrics and remnant pieces. There were a lot of 2.5″ wide pink and purple scraps, that I combined with some of my pink and purple scraps to make the 5×5 scrap blocks. The white/stars and the lilac fabrics were also part of what Jocelyn sent, which I used to make the larger chevron blocks. I finished this as a quanket, backing it with pink fleece.

While I had intended this quanket to be donated to a foster child, sometimes life just has different plans. In mid-2022, my connection to CPS sort of just dried up. The facility I had been dropping my quilts off to, closed. I left many messages for my contacts with CPS, to no avail. So, the quilts were just sitting, waiting to find a home.

In early 2023, my Dad was admitted to the ER. It’s a long story. Anyways, Toni, a family friend, was a huge support to myself and my siblings, giving us the peace of mind that someone was hanging out with him, and advocating for him, while he was in the hospital, as we scrambled to make arrangements to relocate him closer to myself and my sister in Southern California. I gifted this to Toni as a huge THANK YOU, and as a remembrance of her time with my Dad.