Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Palm Beach in winter

My grandparents are snowbirds. After Christmas each year they drive down to a small town in Florida near West Palm Beach to spend a few months out of the cold. One year, maybe the year after we were married, my husband and I went down to visit them in their golf course community. We took golf lessons, went out to eat, shopped. It was warm, but everything looked windswept and crispy, dry. Being Florida, the decor in many of the restaurants and shops included aquamarine blues and a fair amount of magenta. This quilt reminds me of the memory of that trip. Does that make sense?
In truth, this quilt was born out of panic. After my son was born, I didn't have time to craft at all. In those first few months, I was worried that I would never again be able to devote time to quilting and the other handwork hobbies that I love. So I panicked, and bought a few Amy Butler Midwest Modern II charm packs. I'd never bought charm packs before, but I needed a quick fix, and these hourglass blocks fit the bill. I added in some Heather Bailey prints along with a couple of other things from my stash, and made several blocks each nap time. Until I couldn't make any more.

There are 169 blocks in this quilt. It measures about 47.5" square. I have seven or eight leftover blocks, but I couldn't even make enough more to finish out another row of 13. I was burned out on hourglasses. I wish it was a little bit bigger, but it's a decent sofa lap quilt for the basement.
I love the backing fabric, a cotton/linen blend birdseed print (that made the quilting a little bit tricky). I think it's perfect for this quilt. This quilt was actually finished several months ago, and has been serving couch duty since then. The quilt may have proved that I can find time for crafting with an under-one-year-old, but there certainly doesn't seem to be all that much time for blogging, too!

3 comments:

Robin said...

What a beautiful quilt! And good for you, eeking out a little bit of time for yourself, despite baby duties. Being able to take time to be creative really does feed the spirit. :)

SNOWBIRD said...

The quilt is beautiful. Also like the Christmas stockings. May have to check those out on Ravelry.

Cameron said...

Hey Louise! Thanks for reading my blog. Love the quilt - wish I was that talented! Hope all is well with you guys. Glad to have another friend in blogland!