Friday, June 12, 2009

Torn!

I worked some more on my grandmom's quilt last night, ripping seams, squaring up the squares, and playing around a bit with placement. (I should have been CLEANING since I have company coming for the weekend, but it is my sister/friend and her kids, and she is the kind of friend who loves me for me, dirty house and all, so I didn't bother with the panicky last-minute house cleaning that I usually do when I have company. Besides, with 4 kids, ages 7 and under, the house is going to be be a sticky mess by the end of the visit.)

Anyway, back on topic. As I was playing around with placement, I was thinking that what I'd really like to do is add some color. Since the fabric is old (at least 70-75 years, by my guess), and since the quilt was very well worn, all the fabrics are washed out. No matter how I arrange them, they are still going to look washed out. Therefore, any designs that I might make with the half-square triangles are going to be very hard to distinguish from the muddled background squares. HOWEVER, this is not MY quilt. It seems almost sacriligeous to add too much to this quilt - I want to honor and celebrate the original quilter, not drown her out with my own ideas and preferences. New border fabric seems the least intrusive - basically a frame for the "old quilt". But somehow, I just don't think that is going to satisfy me. Oh, what to do...

Kid update - I was listening in on a conversation between the boys this morning. Apparently, there is a bully in the Pre-K classroom who not only pushes, scratches, kicks and throws dirt at Donald, but also calls him "Donald Duck". I knew that was coming, I just didn't realize that it would happen this young. Anyway, Jason, the big (6 year old) brother, was telling Donald that he needed to tell this bully that if he didn't leave him alone, he was going to have to deal with his big brother. Donald's eyes got round and he asked breathlessly, "What are you going to do to him? Are you going to GET HIM?" Jason said, "No, I am going to have a serious talk with him in a FIRM VOICE!" I nearly drove off the road, laughing! I've been telling him that he needs to be firm with our puppy to make him behave. Apparently, that works for bullies, too! (I'm just relieved that he wasn't planning to "get him!")

I sure do love my kids!

5 comments:

Lane said...

Hey, Erin. What if you made your own signature block and added it at random through the remade quilt. Something like a star, or if you want it to be different, some flower applique. Then, you'd have the original, and where you needed to add fabric to bring the quilt back to size, you'd have your own "signature" block to fill in.

Glad to find you here! Lane

Cheryl Willis said...

Hey, glad to see ya, pretty fancy stuff you got going on. I am still considering moving but am thinking I can do two. this one is taking more time than I planned on. cw

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

Your two boys are a hoot. Actually maybe the "serious talk with a firm voice" will do the bully some good. At least I hope so because this bully will only get worse.
About your quilt, I think I would just put it back the way it was and get something for the border that wasn't too stand outish. Your right to Honor the quilt maker. It is a hard decision to make.

Nancy said...

Glad to see you here, and so sorry to hear about your being sick- yucky! Hope to see you Monday a.m. - lots of catching up to do!

Love the story of the boys! They are such a hoot!

Auntie Em said...

Thanks for sharing such a cute story from your little karate champs. Jason is a very cool big brother, and I'm sorry to hear that your little guy is having bully problems.