Don't forget to make your bed!

When I was young (as my son likes to tell me - a long time ago) I had a quilt that was made of yellow cotton and white blocks with big bright flowers that took up the entire block. My Grandma Guajardo made it for me. It was one of my prized possessions as a young girl. I would carefully fold it back each night and each morning make sure that the purple flower was centered on the bed as I made it. Sadly, that quilt is beginning to fray I really hate to use it anymore. So, I decided to make me a new prized possession.

I finished a quilt and three shams today for my king sized bed. It was a whipping - I mean a beating. I long armed the quilt with a tight stipple that took me two - three hour sessions over Superbowl weekend - my husband was VERY patient with that and the shams took me about three weeks and one quilt retreat to do. This may be my one and only king size to do, but it was worth every stitch, every missed play of the Superbowl and three bottles of wine!

 But unlike my yellow quilt, it is hard for me to pick just one block that is my favorite! I love them all.  It is a simple pattern that I took from a book I had and really is made from random sized blocks. I think it is the fabric I used. I made the quilt from Moda's Etchings - Three Sisters. The moment I saw it I fell in love with it. The way the grays and tans danced together made you want to wrap yourself in the creamy lushness of the patterns. I loved the drawings of the French buildings and I wanted to get lost in the map of Paris, I wanted to see so much more of the red floral and read the love letters that are written on the fabric in beautiful cursive. The entire line was just gorgeous. I even loved the solids I mixed in because you could see the stipple that covered the block.

I think the favorite thing about my bed are the two linen pillows that finish off the bed.  I bought them last October in Canton. I picked them up at one of my favorite shops LaurieAnn's. It is a cottage oasis of unique finds. Every time you turn a corner there is another exciting surprise waiting to be discovered. So, when my eyes feasted upon these pillows I just knew I had to have them. And look how great they sit against the gray paisley of the shams. It is like this was an ensemble just waiting to happen.

Each night that I crawl under the quilt, I fall in love with it all over again. I love the way its warmth wraps around me. I love the weight of the double batting. I like to stare at the hand stitching that finishes the binding. Surprisingly the binding only took me two days to complete.  Binding is the last step of a quilt and the time I am allowed to bond with the quilt before I usually have to part with it. But in this case I got to keep the quilt I had come to love. I get to fall in love every night with the beauty that is made of "sand," maps and natural tones.

Good night - Sleep tight!