Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Blue Plate Special

Maybe it is because it is February and my Grandma's birthday falls in this month...  

Maybe it is because she passed away just a few days after her birthday 10 years ago... This would have marked her 103rd celebration.





But the February Challenge Block caused memories to flood back to my mind...

Back to 1973...



this photo was taken last year when I went to the Tucson Quilt Show...


As I pulled fabric and pieced this block I kept wandering back to her house in Tucson...  to the trips we made there during the summer... the smells as I entered the back door and passed through a breezeway that she used as an office and painting room (she was an artist)...  the texture of the flooring as I went through the french doors and entered the dining room of the house (the wood floors with an area rug)...


Straight ahead was her china cabinet filled with stuff that was off limits to children... I don't really recall exactly what was in there other than a few sugar eggs decorated fancily with icing that dried like cement.  The eggs had Easter scenes inside them.

On the wall above the china cabinet hung a collection of plates in shades of blue.  There was a set of four, representing the four seasons...  These are not hers, and not exactly what hers looked like, but you get the idea, right?





And this Challenge Block takes me there... 




You may have noticed that I reversed the dark and light blocks... 



I have said it before, I say it again... I have a difficult time following a pattern exactly as directed.  No shame here!  I have to let the artistry flow!  I guess I may have a touch of "artist" in my blood from my Grandma T.  Not a bad thing... 


Are you one that welcomes challenges and changes?  
Are you a quilter that follows a pattern exactly?  
Or do you look for ways to make a twist to it to make it fully yours?

Leave a comment - I love to hear from my visitors!  
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Quilt happy!

Melva

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3 comments:

  1. Melva, Reading your little trip down memory lane made me smile. I'm so glad you shared a little about your Grandma, and the plates this color/block brings to mind. Thank you so much for sharing!

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  2. Love the pic of your Grandma enjoying life! I do like challenges. But I do like patterns and directions and often start following them but then deviate into my own way. That's been happening more and more lately which is why I think a lot of my projects stall as I make decisions and think about things before proceeding.

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  3. I love when the blog post includes more than just quilting. I too am participating in the challenge and it is pushing me out of my comfort zone. I have a difficult time sticking to patterns. My style is much more free flowing - the more restrictive, the more uncomfortable I get.
    I don't even cut patchwork pieces to correct lengths, I just sew them on and then trim off the excess. Prolly bad quilter habits but I don't care.
    Pop by for a visit some time - https://thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com/

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