A Quilt for Francesca Pearl

I love helping with a quilt, especially if all I have to do is give advice, and it was particularly nice to be able to help Claui as she organized a sea creature quilt for a friend's baby.

It was Claui's first experience as Person-In-Charge of a quilt and she had a lot to learn. ( The book I co-authored (Community Quilts) talks about the trials and travails of working with a group of people of varying degrees of skill, time, and commitment and though Claui did encounter some of these problems, the end result is lovely. ) Luckily, she's a quick study and a very skilled embroiderer.

The turtles, fish, shellfish, etc. were executed in embroidery and applique by various friends. When at long last all the different blocks were in, Claui and I got together in my crowded, messy workroom and I showed her how to use the sewing machine and how to put these blocks together, separating them with purple sashing.

It's a real moment of pride when months of work begin to come together. Still to go, one thin pale green border, another purple band, a wide blue border, and a lighter purple binding. Oh, yes, and embroider the baby's name and date of birth.

Then make a sandwich of the finished quilt top, the batting, and the backing. Now quilt lavishly, sew down the binding, put a hanging sleeve on the back --- whew!

It's lovely to see this tradition going on -- and Claui can be immensely proud of her first quilt!