Another Undone Project

Several years ago I was shopping for something and came across a paper pieced quilt block pattern that intrigued me. I have never paper pieced anything in my life, but figured it couldn't be too hard. Right! Well, when I opened the pattern up, my eyes just glazed over. It made no sense to me and seemed to consist of over 100 tiny pieces! Arghhh! Finally I called a friend who said she thought she could help me. I think she was thinking of several pieces...not hundreds. Nonetheless, I finally got it done! Now the question was, "What should I do with it?" Easiest would maybe be a pillow, but eventually I decided on a quilted wall-hanging with other representative blocks. The question then became, "What should be on the other blocks?" While I pondered that, we went away to West Virgina for 18 months while the one block languished in the bottom of my sewing box. On returning from West Virginia, it was time to start making some decisions. Some blocks seemed clear, and others evolved and changed until the very last minute. I went to a class where I learned how to applique things and decided that would be the way the other blocks would be made, along with a bit of embroidery to enhance them. Here is the original block.



The next block was the last one finished. I originally thought it would be some sort of family tree, but after several tries, it just turned into a name block.


Next is Roger's block. He lived many years in a little log house in Alaska, so you see at the top, the Northern Lights above the little cabin and the spindly little jack spruce tree.



Nancy grew up in Indiana where the state bird is the cardinal and the state tree is the tulip tree. Those were the inspirations for this block.



Blaine's block is salmon leaping upstream as they go to spawn, representing his love of fishing. I like their beady little yellow eyes!



Kristin's favorite color is yellow and she loves flowers, so her block became a yellow daffodil.



It seems like every weekend, Kathleen used to announce that she wanted to bake something. Then she would make us a yummy dessert. In our family, instead of birthday cakes, we all preferred birthday pies. Rhubarb Custard Pie is a great family favorite.



When Bethany was home, it seemed like the piano was always playing. I loved listening to her and the other children playing duets and singing together.



While Kathleen loved to bake, Jana just plain loved to cook and try out new recipes. The candy cane on the cook book represents our family tradition of making candy canes during the holidays.



Now that the blocks are done, I just have to sew them together and get it quilted. Hooray! The end is in sight!