Cruelty to Grandmas

Is there a society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Grandmas by Wolves? If there isn't there should be. My children really didn't like the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Our Nana was a lovely and loving nana, they children had a close relationship with her, as did we. The boys got upset when I told them about Little Red Riding Hood going through the woods to find not Grandma in bed but THE BIG BAD WOLF! Even though I assured them Grandma was ok, she was just locked in the cupboard, they still weren't keen. True confessions here, one day when Nana had annoyed me over some slight, I told the story for my gratification regardless of their upset!

So why am I making a Little Riding Hood quilt? I liked the fabric. Not all children are maybe as sensitive about Grandmas and wolves as mine were. I am hoping my friend Irene isn't worried about the wolf when I give her this quilt for her daughter and granddaughter!

We are heading to a end with this one. The current state of affairs is that the quilt is quilted and bound. I just have the ends to sew in now, and then wash and tumble.

 I ran some straight lines along the main 9 squares, following the seam lines.

 I then stitched around the inner squares, again in straight lines.

 This followed up with some quilting around the trees, and that's that. I think I do prefer straight line quilting for children's quilts.

The backing fabric is a mish mash of little bits of left over front, and lots of red zig zag. The red zig zag is laid out in varying directions to add a bit of interest. I like to make a baby quilt with an interesting backing, handy if it gets something spilt and needs to be flipped over. My favourite bit is the wolf peeking out in the back.

Guess what? I bound it with some red spot. I bought some in a quilt shop last week, but I like it too much for binding. So, I went back to my usual pile it high shop, and bought some of the usual red and white for the binding. The finish here is so close, I can taste it. An hour or so, just burying the ends for a finish. I forgot to take a photo with the binding, but you have seen it before! The metre I am keeping is more of a red and white chambray. Could that make shorts do you think, or would it end up a bundle of wrinkles?

I took these photos in the garden during a skiff of snow. I love how the red and white of the quilt shines against the white dusting of snow, and the white of our dogwood tree.

Today we were in the market and our usual fruit and veg stall had the shiniest red apples I have ever seen. You would have thought somebody with an OCD in shiny apples had spent the morning polishing them. I lifted a couple and said, I am going to buy these bright shiny red apples for photographing my quilt. This resulted in a blank look. I misunderstood this blank look as disapproval for the purchase of red shiny apples.  Reluctantly I put it back. Then it dawned on me. Wrong fairy tale! It is Snow White who has a run in with shiny red apples. Anyhow, I forgot about the apples but wished I had bought them anyway. Maybe Little Red Riding Hood would like her quilt photographed with the three ripe figs I bought! Maybe I will make some buns or whatever it was Grandma didn't get to eat! We jokingly took a photo of our shopping today. Fruit, veg and bread from St George's Market, and then a trip to the wine merchant. Who would think a wine merchant would have a sale? Wonders will never cease.

The sun was shining and so we got a quick walk on the way home. It was good to be out of the house. Our winters are nothing like the winters in the USA or Canada, but it has been cold enough for me. So here are two photos of me. Or rather of my sweater. I had blogged about it a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't wearing it in the photos. Maybe they were better photos.

Helen x