Gretta, Lindsey and I hatched a plan in the early winter, to make a quilt together for Theo. It took us a while to come to consensus on the fabrics and pattern, but once we decided, we kicked into high gear.
We bought a bit of three different Charlie Harper prints and filled in the rest of the fabric with bits from our stashes. Here you can see the praying mantis, the luna moth and the nesting birds that we chose.
We picked “stacked coins” for our pattern and decided that each one of us would make a stack, sewing some of the Charlie Harper fabric and bits from our own stashes. That way we would have a cohesive colorsheme, but with some individual variation, too.
Here’s a text message from Gretta, showing us her completed stack of coins, posted from Ypsilanti, MI. My stack went out to Detroit via the postal service.
Thread, backing, quilt top and batting… ready to quilt.
All three of our stacks ended up in LIndsey’s sewing room, where she put the quilt top together, using the lovely KONA solid cotton that she and Gretta shopped for. We ordered the ferny/seaweedy fronds designed by Dear Stella from Gather Here, (after much deliberation.)
The top and backing arrived via the USPS here in Vermont and I added batting to the formula. I basted and quilted it in my studio and sent it back to Lindsey. She sewed the binding to the front of the quilt.
In April, Gretta, Lindsey and even Hannah took a turn at sewing the binding onto the back…and I finished it while staying at Hannah’s at Cranbrook. Sewing is not really Hannah’s favorite thing to do. She did a great job and was such a good sport, and now her love is stitched right into Theo’s quilt.
Here’s the finished quilt, spread out on Hannah’s floor
And here it is, draped over the fence in Lindsey’s backyard after being washed and dried…to give it the gentle puckering that we all love.
When Stewart (Theo’s papa) was a little boy he was an avid junior entomologist, so we kinda loved the bug fabric for that reason. Young Stew was in absolute heaven when the cicadas had one of their epic hatchings while we lived in Chicagoland.
The quilt was gifted this past weekend, at Theo’s shower in Ohio, which had been postponed from earlier in the spring. I was sad not to be there, but the kids shared a video and photos, which were so thoughtfully sent.
So friends, that’s the story of another fun Reed family collaboration. I find such happiness working on projects with my loved ones, especially when we are so far from one another most of the time.
Dearest ones, let me leave you with this image. I took this picture on Saturday afternoon, up on our ridge, on our way home from the farmer’s market and running errands in Montpelier. This was another reminder to me that life is filled with blessings if we just stop to notice them. Keep your eyes open, friends…may you find things that cause you to stop, notice and fill you with peace. xo