Do you have a favorite?

Park City Girl is hosting a virtual Quilt Festival, asking folks to post a photo and the story behind their favorite quilts.   My Kowabunga quilt has to be in the top 5 of my favorites - you can see I even turned it into my blog banner!

In 2006, I gathered some terrific orange fabrics which were so completely out of my comfort zone.  I started searching for the perfect pattern to use with them, and decided on a pattern called Zuzu's Petals, designed by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  Putting the scrappy orange and white blocks together was so much fun, and the colors just made me smile the entire time I worked on it.  There are some really sparkly orange fabrics in it too, and I really love the added pizazz (like an orange quilt needs extra pizazz!!).

I found a wild surfboard fabric for the border.  In retrospect, I think it detracts a little from the orange and I wish I had stayed with something more subdued, but I tend to overthink these things.

When I finished the quilt in early 2007, I emailed a picture of it to Carrie Nelson.  Later that summer, I was lucky enough to take 2 classes from Carrie at the Buggy Barn in Reardan, WA.   One of the participants asked her how she felt about different interpretations of her pattern designs, and she began to tell a story about a wonderful quilt she had seen made from her Zuzu's Petals pattern in wild oranges and pinks.   It took me a few minutes to realize it was my quilt she was talking about, and I've never been so flattered.

She shoots, she scores!

I think I might win the prize for the most boring quilt blog ever!   It's not that I am not sewing, but I am working on another TOP SECRET quilt that I cannot blog about.

So how about I distract you with pictures of my adorable daughter?  She had her first basketball practice last night.   She did very well for never having played before - about half the girls on the team haven't, so she is not alone, but she seemed to be having fun and even made a few baskets.  If nothing else, she is the cutest player ever (not that Mom is biased or anything)!

How did this happen?

It seems like I blinked and the next thing I knew, my baby boys turned 12!  I remember when we brought them home from the hospital - it took their dad, my mom and me about a week before we could tell them apart - they look so different, there's not a chance of that happening now!  Happy Birthday to 2 of the sweetest boys a mom could ask for - they are smart, funny and talented as all get out, and next year they'll be TEENAGERS!   Happy Birthday Boys!