sLoPpy hApPY quiLt

It's still in my sewing room. The small quilt made for my daughter by my mother's dear friend. My mother's dear friend shall be known as Bea. Dear Bea. She was and is a powerhouse. In her 80s now, she gets more done in a day, month, year, decade than many half her age. How does she do it?

My mother used to ponder that question because, as one Bea was running circles around, it made her reflect on her own abilities. Usually, she determined that she just wasn't as capable as Bea. Then one day the light went on. Mother figured it out and shared it with me. "Bea is slap happy. She does everything quickly and without a lot of prep work, without a lot of thought, and without a lot of finesse." (My poor mom had no idea how closely she had described me as well.)

Mother, on the other hand, was careful in everything she did. If she made a quilt, it was nearly perfection. All points met and it was square. Mother made three quilts in her lifetime. Bea, on the other hand, has made hundreds of sloppy, happy quilts.

If my mom refinished a piece of furniture, it was impeccably done. When Bea refinished furniture, we could always find a bit of paint remaining from a former job. This especially blew my mother's mind. She would smile and beam and say, "Well done!" On the inside though, she was very concerned about the bit of paint.

Making wreaths was another task both women did for extra cash at Christmastime. When someone bought a wreath from my mother, it was an excellent value. Buying a wreath from Bea however, might mean that it wouldn't make it to the car. Still, Bea made a lot more money than my mother simply because she made more wreaths.

~red, white, blue, and wonky~

Back to the baby quilt in my sewing room — it has served its time and could have justifiably been sent it to the landfill. (For some reason, my daughter turned it down.)  However, Molly and Fioré like it and use it to cuddle with. The backing was torn and ragged so I purchased some matching material to make a new back. The quilt is made of red, white, and blue fabrics very popular around the bicentennial of the nation. Many of the pieces do not line up and there are puckers between the gingham lightweight fabric and the more substantial other fabrics. It is so far out of square that it is ridiculous. Oh it really is a happy, sloppy quilt.

~pondering a backing~

Here's wishing you a happy, perhaps sloppy, day!