Friday By Request

One of Grandma’s quilts. I think she’s waiting
for me to learn how to put the backing on!

Today's request came from Dinphy. She sent the request last Friday. Now the FBR rules state that if don’t have a request, I’ll do leftover requests from the previous week. Since I don’t get requests every week, if I get a second request, it’s a pretty sure thing that request will be the next week’s Friday blog. But it also says that if I don’t do your request, feel free to resubmit! Right now, I seldom have to worry about an overabundance of requests, so I just keep track. If it becomes incredibly popular, then I’ll have to stick to the rules and request resubmitting the request. Can you imagine, to someday have multiple requests every week? Wow.

Anyway, Dinphy’s request ended up bumping my cousin, who had the number two request last week! Now, his request will be for NEXT Friday, but Rina has been encouraging her sister to give me a request too! FBR has a little surge of popularity going right now and I just LOVE IT!

So Dinphy’s request is a scrapbook request. She isn’t challenging me to do a layout, she is asking me to tell about a layout with more than journaling to it! Her request was “...I’d like a happy/humorous or fun post. A layout and the story behind the LO or how that LO got together, the photos or why you made it.” She stipulated that it was not to be a story journaled on the layout already.

Well, there is one layout that has a humorous story behind it that is NOT journaled on the layout. I don’t know that’s it’s “bust-a-gut” funny, but it is giggle-worthy!

Quilt For A Waterbed
For Dinphy

Credits - Inspired by Iken’s “Quilt” at Digital Freebies,
Quilt Pattern - John’s Pinwheel from the Quilter's Cache/Marcia Hohn,
Sea Swept Papers by Rachel Dickson

This was my first quilt! True, it was my first layout using a quilt pattern. I like to use quilt patterns as templates for scrapbooking. It adds a classic touch, especially great for heritage or country-style layouts. But there is a story behind this layout and WHY it was the spring board for me using quilt patters!

When my hands aren’t on the keyboard to do crafts, I paper scrap, I crochet, I do counted cross-stitch. I don’t quilt! Every woman in my family had a handcraft that was hers. I have a gorgeous hand-done quilt on my cedar chest that my Great-Great Grandmother made. I have throw pillows that my Great Grandmother made with smocking. Grandma did beautiful appliqué work when she wAs younger and my Mom did rug hooking. I guess I‘d have to say the cross stitch is all mine, because none of the other family women were known for it and because it’s the craft I’ve done the longest. I taught myself cross-stitch in my late teens with a mini-kit from Big Lots! That framed bling ship ornament hangs in our downstairs bathroom.

Grandma started quilting about ten years ago and she went full speed into her new hobby. It took her no time to amass a collection of fabrics, threads, templates and other notions. She has a number of quilt projects in different stages of completion. She’s been trying to recruit me for the last few years. She says “Somebody has to know how to finish all of my quilts when I’m gone.” My answer has always been, “Then I guess you’d better stick around and finish them! I don’t want to quilt.” It’s an expensive and time consuming hobby!

Not that my other hobbies don’t get expensive and time consuming too, I just don’t have a keen interest in quilting. I don’t have the bug! But I have watched Grandma quilt and do get the concept enough to make sure that I have all the stitching and the border on my layout!

This one is called “Quilt for a Water Bed,” since it’s showing off a few of my water towers. I told her I‘d made a quilt square for a water bed and she was skeptical. Then I showed her this, for a chuckle. Of course she smiled and said, “You’ve got the right idea! So, are you ready to learn quilting NOW?”

Just last weekend, Grandma was delighted when I told her that I thought I wanted to learn quilting. My Honey has a ton of t-shirts that are in different stages of worn out, but he won’t part with them! some are from places he’s been, some from events back in hs college days (he earned hs degree in 1988!) but they have sentimental value! I asked him if I made a quilt out of the most worn ones, would he part with them, making more room in his T-shirt drawer. He said he thought that would be an acceptable alternative to throwing them out. I think it’s an acceptable alternative to him wearing them, especially the ones that are more holes than t-shirt! Grandma as a friend who made a T-shirt quilt, and she says she’s gong to get me the instructions from her. So for Grandma, persistence DID pay off!

I taught her how to use the computer and she taught me to crochet. I thought it was even! Ah, but Grandma has always been the generous sort and as long as I can remember she ‘s had that gift Mom had. Give it time. In the end, she’ll have been right all along!