Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A 30 year old PIP and...it's finished.



I started this quilt when our son was about 3 years old (he is 33) ...
I was about 15...
(if you believe that...I have a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge, you might want to buy?)

I apologize in advance...my photos are NOT good
and there is a good reason why I can't retake them =(
Machine quilted (not by me...I am NOT that good)...with a bear paw design...why?...o, I dunno...

The fabrics date around 1979-1981.  It was somewhat (very) difficult, back then,
to find 100% cotton, large prints...or anything other than very small print calicoes.  One of the
log cabin fabrics is a thin stripe.  Stripes and plaids were discouraged in quilts
because, "It's hard to keep the lines straight with seams".
"Discouraged"? ...doesn't that mean "give it a try"?
Well, I was thinking it did.


Maybe a Bear Paw quilt design is a weee beeet too predictable?
Predictable isn't really a character trait I like to flaunt. I prefer to follow along the lines of tempting.
I fussy-cut the bears in the fabric to make sure that there was a
BEAR in the middle of each log cabin square.  I cut one square of clear plastic
big enough to make a nice frame of fabric around the bear including seam allowances.
I, then, placed the sqaure over each bear and drew a #2 lead pencil line around as a cutting line.
I cut each one out individually with my Gingher scissors.

Why BEARS?
 I was a bit of a bear collector in the 80's and...
I used to call our son... (sorry, Eddie, I know you hate me to say this! You
might throw a pie in meee face...that's ok, just make it chocolate!)
Eddie-Teddie...
... because he was just as cuddly as a teddy bear

 I did the quilt using the original

...my first edition has a spiral binding.

I gave this quilt to our son when he came to visit for
our daughter's graduation this last weekend.  He took it home to share it
with his three little girls.  

A great rationalization about my procrastination comes to mind...

It's a good thing that I "waited" to finish this quilt until 30 years later. Yep a good thing.
You're probably saying,  "Why is that?"
Well, if I had finished the quilt 25 years or more ago...maybe it would've gotten
all worn out?  After 30 years, it's still new to touch the lives of
THREE generations.

Howz that for some great rationalization skills?




8 comments:

Terri said...

so cute!

Anonymous said...

Love your 30 year old finish! I'm sure it will be treasured by Eddie-Teddie and his three lil ladies!
Jacque in SC
quiltnsrep(at)yahoo(dot)com

Miss Hillbilly said...

Oh, I think the timing is perfect!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Darling quilt! It sounds like it will be well loved.

Patty said...

Great looking quilt, and you give me hope that the (ugly) quilt to be might someday be a quilt(only 20 years hiding. LOL

Sandra said...

Congrats on getting this project finished! It will be a wonderful keepsake for your son and his family.

I can relate to your excitement. I have a quilt that I've had in the closet for over 25 years. The top is now finished and I hope to have it machine quilted and on the bed soon. Victory is just around the corner!

suemac said...

I always enjoy your posts. They are always guaranteed to put a smile on my face. I am working on a log cabin quilt with stripes also. What was I thinking.

dluvscoke said...

Haha. You are the best rationalizationer (is that a word?) I know :)