Oh. Em. Gee. It's Ogee!

That's right, ladies and gents, I finally finished it!

Rebecca Johnson's Curlicue Crush pattern, quilt along led by Lesly, at Stitch Literate.

Fabric is Sunkissed, Kona Banana, and some various scraps of unknown origin.

Time...
well...
it took a while. But that was mostly due to a cutting error on my part that required the resizing of every. single. piece.

And I'm totally thrilled with the outcome! This is a special sort of quilt. Not to say that all quilts are not special, just that this one holds special meaning to me.

I picked Sunkissed because it reminds me of warm and sunny Maine afternoons spent on the back porch at my grandmother's house. Usually with a Diet Pepsi and an italian sandwich in hand, and often interrupted by a brief and sudden thunderstorm, those afternoons are some of the best I remember. I picked it because it's happy and sunny and you can't help but smile when you see it. And I picked it because it reminds me of her.

When I originally saw this pattern, it reminded me of old ornate hanging birdcages I'd see in the junk shop that no longer exists downtown. She has a love for birds. Bird houses, bird baths, bird feeders. Beautiful little blue birds in her decor.

So I had to do it. I'd never sewn a curved seam before - Lesly's video is amazing. I took months to do this. I had it on my design wall forever. I started to hate it.

Then we almost lost my grandfather. We had one hell of a scare and I won't forget the emotions anytime soon. He's okay, he will bounce back as much as a man of his age can. He has Alzheimer's. I'm supposed to go home for Christmas this year and see him. He's not going to remember me. And I'm not sure I'm strong enough to handle that without bawling, but... I digress.

The scare kicked me into high gear. I'm 1500 miles from "home". I was 1500 miles from being able to hug my grandmother when the doctors told her he was going to die that day, no question about it. I can't do much from down here. So... I sewed. I sat with determination and finished this quilt, my grandmother's quilt.

The bluebirds are for them. He always wears plaid work shirts, so his wing is blue plaid. She's happy and free and colorful, and so are her feathers. They sit contentedly in a cage that can't really contain them. Tattered leaves of a life well-worn and well-lived scatter at their feet.







I didn't quite mean for this post to get so heavy. It's a happy sort of quilt. It just calls me home.


In other news, it is officially Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and I've joined a group of folks who are Streaking for Breast Cancer.

Streaking pink, that is. It's been a lifelong goal of mine to donate my hair, and I finally finally finally grew it long enough to chop off! Two 9-inch ponytails lighter, and one pink streak added, a bit of Ogee in the background and here you have it, folks:

The new and highly office-inappropriate Bree. No worries, I got permission.

I'm linking on up to QuiltStory. You can find their button on the sidebar... it's been too long since I've linked up!