A New Quilt

For Mandy's 18th birthday present I thought long and hard about what to get for her. I wanted it to be something she could keep forever and mean something to her but not cost a lot of money. She told Jeff that she wanted a new bread spread for her birthday present. I thought that was boring. Jeff is the type of person who gives me a list of what he wants for a present for birthdays and Christmas, I would rather be surprised. I would rather buy from the heart and get you the most wonderful and perfect present you didn't even know you wanted. More often than not people don't like my crazy gifts, but every once in a lifetime I will find the perfect gift for someone.

I happened to be on the website Brad's Deals while I was thinking about Mandy's gift and came across a special at Overstock.com on Egyptian Cotton Sheets. I asked Mandy if that was something she would like and she was overjoyed. She picked the black ones and they arrived and weeks later are still in the package unwrapped. Mandy loves Egypt more than any other place she has ever been and she loves to sleep. That may have been a miss. I am thinking of going in her room (something that is forbidden) and putting those damn sheets on her bed!

Mandy also wanted a new bedspread, too. We took her out shopping to all the stores and she found nothing she liked. Nothing. We talked and I offered to make her a quilt like I made for her sister. She wanted me to make a dragon in the middle of her quilt. I have trouble sewing a straight line if someone else threads the machine. I did some research and discovered that at Art.com they sell something called a fabric poster. We found the most perfect one, it is of two dragons around a yin/yang symbol. When it arrived in the mail we discovered that a fabric poster is a very fine delicate material like a silk handkerchief. We then went to the fabric store and picked out some fabric for the rest of the quilt. We discussed and I drew several designs until we found a design that Mandy liked. Then I put it on the computer to show her what the final quilt would look like and she was not happy so we re-made the design again. Now all we have to do is buy the fabric and make the quilt. I have to do the measuring again with the new design first and figure out how much fabric and how big to cut the pieces.

I have only ever made on quilt before and I had all that stuff figured out for me. It is very difficult to design a quilt from scratch with absolutely no experience. I miss my Grandma who passed away from Cancer last year. She was the one who quilted and got me to do my first quilt. She taught quilting classes. I would visit her sometimes as a little girl and she would teach me to crochet, knit, sew and we even made homemade pasta one time. We had it strung all over the house to dry, enormous 6 foot or longer strings of pasta hanging everywhere, such a vivid memory. I hope that this all works out and the quilt is lovely. I think it will be memorable something to last a lifetime? I it doesn't end up at the bottom of her closet like the one I made for Lily. I keep telling myself that someday that quilt will mean something to her. So far not so much.

I promise to someday take pictures and show you all the stuff, for now you will have to use your imagination.

The Fabric Store

Two posts in one day, can you tell I have homework to do? This morning we were out the door by 8AM to drive Mandy 40 minutes to the orientation for her new job. Mandy told gave me driving direction to this place which is about three cities away. We live in an area where there are about 20 cities and they all run together in such a manner that unless you are good with a map or have lived here your whole life it is difficult to know which of these cities you are in at any given moment. Mandy's directions to this place included two left turns and a dirt road. Leaving a lot out of the actual directions. I am sure there was a couple of lefts, I never saw a dirt road, but she left a lot out. So I asked her yesterday to look up this place we were going on the Internet to find directions and she looked up the city we were going to and not the actual building. I did it myself, I mean knowing where a city is located is a lot different than knowing where a building within a city is located.

We left the house, we drove 40 minutes and I found the building with no wrong turns. Are you excited? Jeff took our second cell phone to work with him, which he never does, so I waited around for a bit to make sure that Mandy was ok, at her request. Mandy's new job is at a grocery store and this is another grocery store of the same variety a couple of cities over from us. I decided to go on in and buy a couple of things instead of waiting in the car. Whenever Lily and I go into a grocery store, she likes to run/walk up every single isle to say hello to all the numbers. So we strolled the practically empty store together, saying hello to all the numbers. Lily also talks rather loudly and she never stops talking. So imagine us walking up and down the isles of the store saying hello to the numbers and Lily rambling on about every little thing that pops into her head. Everyone in that store heard this entire ramble. But, I am used to Lily.

We paid for our water bottle and a diet Sierra Mist and Mandy joined us. She had misunderstood and was not supposed to come to an orientation today, but instead an orientation on Saturday. You know how much Wednesday and Saturday sound exactly the same. Right? So we drove home. Except I decided to make a few stops along the way. Mandy was livid that I dared to make stops along the way, because she was in her dorky looking uniform of Khaki pants and a white button down shirt. Poor girl was so put out by me. You know I am trying to teach her to not have this entitlement issue but lord knows it is not sinking into her head.

First we were in the neighborhood of the smelly Asian market, so we stopped and got some sushi rice. Then I went to the down town section of our city and drove around looking for this fabric store. I have been looking for this store for a couple of weeks but can't find it. I decided to park the car and thought maybe walking I would have better luck. So we walked up and down the downtown section of our little city. We found the fabric store, only it was 30 minutes before they opened. We decided to walk back to the car. Only Lily had refused to wear socks this morning and her little feet were getting sore from all this walking without socks. She wanted me to carry her. It is very hot, very muggy and she is very heavy. Instead I stopped at a drug store and bought her some band aides for her blisters. We continue on and stop at the cookie store (Whole Foods) to buy Lily cookies that don't have any of the crap which makes her sick (flour, egg, corn). We continue on to the car only Lily insists that I carry her, me with bags from the drug store, bags from the cookie store and Lily.

We drove back to the fabric store and found the best most amazing fabric to make Lily's quilt. I am so excited. I have been to many fabric stores and I found something so wonderful I am just tickled to death. I explained to the nice Fabric Store Lady that this was my first quilt and just how excited I was to be making a quilt with my grandma's help, etc. The nice fabric store lady offered to help if I have any problems at all, she said, just bring it in if you have any problems and we will help you out. That is what I love about Mississippi. All in all a productive morning. Now I am going to go and take a shower, put on some clean pj's and do my homework. Fun.

quilt

When I was a little girl my grandmother made me a quilt. I slept under that quilt until I got married at the age of 31. I still have it all wrapped up and preserved, the quilt is very close to my heart. As a young girl I would go and stay with my grandma for weekends every once in awhile. She taught me to crochet, sew, knit, make homemade pasta, garden, etc. The only thing that I can remember is how to crochet. I mentioned to my grandma on a phone conversation that I had recently taken a quilting class. Grandma used to teach quilting classes. I was very excited to be learning something that makes me feel close to my grandma. She is so smart and crafty. So grandma sent to me in the mail all the things necessary to make a quilt for Lily just like the one I had as a little girl. It is a quilt with embroidered little girls. Anyways I will post pictures of it if I think about it. I am very excited to be starting this project but also very nervous.