Some nights, after a good soaking rain, my father and I took flashlights out to search the sodden ground for night crawlers. We had to be quick! We envisioned our next fishing trip.
On autumn and winter nights my mother and I sometimes went for walks, bundled in sweaters, or coats and mittens. Down our macadam street away from the houses toward the edge of our little village we meandered with no destination and no hurry, just a time to enjoy the night. The stars shone bright and high and we came home refreshed and ready for sleep.
Many childhood memories came to mind as I brainstormed ideas for this "childhood" border. Several would have made great borders, but night and the stars won.
As it is now this quilt measures about 35" x 39 1/2". The blue border will finish at 6".
The theme for the next border is log cabins, chosen by Cathy at Big Lake Quilter. I love log cabin blocks! There are so many kinds and so many colors to choose from. They have many more seams and this will be a bigger border: I better not procrastinate anything about this border. Another round of fun begins!
If you'd like to see other Gwennie-inspired medallion quilts, click over to Cynthia's blog, wabi-sabi quilts, where you can see plenty of luscious beauty! It's not too late to join!
--Nancy.
.
It turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenna!
DeleteWhat a beautiful border Nancy ! Your stars sparkle in this dark blue ! I love it !
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind compliment, Cecile. I appreciate it.
DeleteIt is beautiful!! Love the stories behind the stars, and I love the little snips of star that show here and there.
ReplyDeleteYour new flower centers look good, too, Nancy. Good call!
Thanks, Janet. I debated about those little stars. At first I kept wanting to push them out of the way with my hand, just like I would do with a bug. I guess they grew on me. I'm satisfied with the flower centers now but I suppose some might think they are a little mild or boring. Quilts look different in person than they do in a photo and I think these work in person but may not hold their own in the photo.
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. As always, I appreciate it.
Nancy... I love your border (it sort of reminds me of Japanese boro - patched indigo pieces -) with the stars. Those little added triangle bits are really effective in making your starry night sparkle. And you paint such a picture of an idyllic childhood playing outside!
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, Cynthia, I can see that boro would come to mind when looking at the border. I almost removed those little triangles. I kept wanting to swipe them away as I would a bug buzzing before my eyes, but in the end, they stayed. Thanks for your kinds words. I appreciate them.
DeleteWonderful border!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda.
DeleteI love those twinkly stars! (I went on a lot of those nightcrawler hunts, too, as a child!)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gayle. Did you grow up in the midwest? Of course, hunting nightcrawlers could be common anywhere that there's rain.
DeleteBeautiful border. I feel like I'm laying in the yard staring up at all the twinkly stars. Hugs
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy! It wasn't common for us to lie in the yard to look at stars but we did look up. Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.
DeleteLove your stars in the night sky, just a perfect balance of night to stars. Great memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind compliments, Sandi. I appreciate them.
DeleteSo pretty! Your post made me remember summer evenings playing tag in our front yard. Your right, we didn't stop until it was too dark to see each other. No lightning bugs here in the West though.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Robin. It was interesting to have "childhood" as a theme for this border. I remembered things I'd forgotten about my childhood. I have heard that there aren't lightening bugs out west. Members come from Utah to Ohio and are so excited by the lightening bugs -- and we take them for common. Ha!
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.
I love your border!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy. I like it but I'm not sure I love it. I think I still like making traditional quilts more than "liberated," modern quilts.
DeleteSuch a fantastic addition!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lori.
DeleteYou really captured your summer evenings in your border! Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Rebecca.
DeleteVery beautiful border.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Béa.
DeleteVery nice round...
ReplyDeleteVéronique
Thank you, Véronique.
DeleteLove your description of your childhood summer nights, and love how your beautiful border echoes the starry flowers in your basket. It's perfect!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind compliments, Martha. As I was working on the border, adding the stars, I was wondering if they worked with the flowers or against the flowers. I'm pleased that you think they work with the flowers.
DeleteYour childhood sounds a little like mine, except winter wasn't too cold, and we didn't go walking. We sat out on the stoop a lot, though. I love the sound of yours, and I really like the border you made. It's scrappiness is perfect with those stars - and I see those four-pointed corners DID make it in! I really love the flower centers even more now. =)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind comments about this border, Susan, and for the comment about the flower centers. What a challenge they gave me. Lol.
DeleteI don't know if you're may age or younger but my childhood was so much simpler than my life is now, or even the lives of my children were when they were younger. Does anyone even take time to look at the stars these days?
Your work so far is just wonderful. I love your story and you captured it so well and it looks so good with your basket. I could not decide if you changed the color of your flower centers on the basket. It looks perfect whatever you did. I love the whole graceful feel of your work so far.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind compliments on this quilt-in-progress and for my description of its inspiration for the first border. You are very generous.
DeleteI did change the flower centers and am glad they seem to work in the photograph. I think they work when looking at the real quilt.
What a marvelous border!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie!
DeleteOh, yes! Childhood games until dark. Perfect border to depict those days of yore (and yours) (and mine).
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy.
DeleteYour night and stars bring back memories for me. I remember laying in the grass after dark and gazing up at all the stars in the sky and watching lightning bugs flitting around. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I don't think we laid in the grass. By night it was usually already damp with dew. But we enjoyed watching the stars while sitting or standing.
DeleteYour treasured memories are captured beautifully in your border design, Nancy! I LOVE both your story and your interpretation of it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karin. I appreciate your kind comments.
DeleteI love your indigo border and the liberated stars and little bits of white (fireflies) are wonderful! It's so fun to read everyone's memories of their childhood. I think we all had a pretty good time!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. It has been fun to read all the childhood memories shared to go with this border. I think most of us are enjoying the process (even if one us --me!-- is our of her element). Thank goodness I have a few more weeks for the next border. Even so, I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone interprets it.
DeleteSpecial memories, and love how you added the stars as your medallion border! Great fabrics, too... that's the perfect blue!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind comments, Debra. I'm not a huge fan of blue but I like the range of blues in this border. It seemed to fit a night sky.
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.
What a fabulous choice with these memories shining in each stitch, love it
ReplyDeleteThank you, Esther! I appreciate your kind comment.
DeleteWhat a treasure! I love it and the story as well. This has been a really fun theme.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Wendy. This has been fun. I had such a hard time deciding between so many options for the childhood theme. It was such a broad topic. Log cabins -- they're a little less open but still fun.
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate it.