A week ago ....

I returned from the gathering of teachers, having attended a baby shower for a fellow worker who was taking maternity leave shortly, her baby expected in November. I am a new part-timer to this school and was happy to be included in all the activities. If I had known sooner, I might have prepared a small gift for the expectant mother or the coming baby.

Well, I guess it is never too late to celebrate a baby so, after returning home, I went through my bin of child-friendly prints and dug out something for each alphabet letter.

Some of the collections are a bit thin considering the box is crammed. For some of those letters there was hardly any choice ... kanji for K, nest for N, origami for O ... well. they are more or less covered .

Sewing the rows got done on train rides, thanks to "silver week" seats.

Over the weekend I added the borders ... a little hard to see but consisting of rows of hearts.

I had planned to just quilt in the letters but over the weekend I cut them out from solid fabrics, thinking it would help balance the colors a bit better,

This hand print had come from a friend who was cleaning out her stash and has been just sitting in the bin for a year while I wondered how I would ever use it.

Well, suddenly I had a thought that instead of sewing zodiac tenugui together and having the teachers sign their animal as I have done in the past, why not use this for the backing and there are enough hands for each staff member to sign or write a little message.

Today I laid it all out plus a big piece of batting that had come from the same friend. I usually use thinsulate but this piece was exactly the right size and the price was right. In fact, except for the thread and time, this quilt will cost exactly nothing.

The batting seems to be poly and about the weight of felt. It isn't as puffy and easy to quilt as the thinsulate. I think it will be OK to use as a cover or to put down as a floor mat. I have basted it on the floor in the loft to avoid major dog hair issues and begun to quilt each block in the ditch. I will quilt around each letter and then maybe an inch and a half inside the picture blocks. I think that will be enough but I will see how it is when I get that far.

I will have to come up with a plan for quilting the border. I had thought of mitered corners but the scale of the hearts wouldn't work.

Maybe quilt half hearts left and right in a row.

I bet a machine quilter would have this whipped out in no time

I left two blank solids along the bottom edge thinking one could hold the baby's name and the other the date. One alphabet square and one number square finished that row,

Some folded and cut snowflakes arrived in the mail a week ago as well so it looks like I will have more to do in the coming weeks than pull weeds and pick up dog hair.

As I was putting on my shoes to leave school Monday, I noticed a small framed message surrounded by photos of school children sitting on the counter above where I had left my shoes.

                                                  You are ....

                                                  Braver than you believe

                                                  Stronger than you seem

                                                  Smarter than you think

                                                  Loved more than you know.

                                                                          A A Milne

What a refreshing message to carry home! 

Enjoy!