Starting an Alphabet Quilt While Ruby Naps

     Today during Ruby's afternoon nap I started on a new quilt.  I had sketched the idea a month or two ago and I was finally ready to jump in.  The main themes are primary colors and the alphabet. When I started cutting squares I had yet to decide if I was going to use applique to letter the blocks or whether I would use the fancy embroidery machine we have.  Then inspiration added another option.

     Midway through cutting out my squares (its an excellent time to gather one's thoughts) I remembered a quilt that my mother had growing up.  It was a true piece of art, white blocks with a deep red grid and on each of the white blocks was a  red hand embroidered picture. Some were flowers, some were animals, or different scenes form around a farm.   (I don't think we have a picture of it sadly) She had purchased it at an estate sale my aunt had been running (she got many amazing quilts and linens this way) it was my favorite blanket in the house and we used it often and still do. In fact, when I was home in New York over the summer my daughter and I sat on it while we played in the front yard, Ruby ran her fingers over the threads of the pictures and drooled happily.  The quilt was so well made that none of the seams gave but now after sixty or more years of heavy use the fabric itself is thread bare and tattering. Despite its beaten appearance it is still a favorite.

  It occurred to me that is the exact kind of life I want my quilt to have.  Many years of service to a family, with memories and love surrounding those that wrap themselves with it as the years go on.

     It was that quilt that inspired me to hand embroider each letter onto my blocks. 

 Although I certainly wont be creating a masterpiece like the one my family spent so many years loving, using, and at times abusing, I like to think that twenty years from now the child that gets my alphabet quilt could give it to their baby.  It is one of my favorite things about what I do, the knowledge that the effort and care I put into a project will mean it can be enjoyed by an entire family for years