My Recent "Oh Crap" Moment

Have you ever had one? An "Oh Crap" moment? I have had 2 in the last couple days. The first one I won't talk about. The second one happened yesterday. I was gleefully surfing around some blogs and went to my good friend Sue's. I knew she had just finished a Sunbonnet Sue and I was excited to see it done. I had seen the blocks from the swap and know it is a quilt she has picked up and put away . Sue is not the kind of quilter to have a stack of UFO's. She does have a stack of tops, but they are never forgotten and quickly handquilted. I think she gets more quilts done than most machine quilters. So, I know this quilt is gonna be fabulous...1/2" crosshatching, applique border, alternate block with handquilted motif, piping inbetween each block...I can visualize it. WRONG! I was completely shocked....now just stay with me before you go surf over there to see it. I have no words to decribe what I saw. I was in total awe. This was "the" quilt. You know...the one quilt all quilters dream of making or have only made one of. Who would have thought a Sunbonnet Sue would be one of those. And the reality is I don't think she ever intended it to be her "masterpiece". She has a wholecloth that was intended for that and that is what it is. This one is even-steven and I am not sure she anticipated that.

Now my "Oh Crap" moment. While looking at the quilt, I thought "Someday I will start my Masterpiece" Now I have had the image in my head for 15 years and KNEW someday I would create this spectacular work of art that I would be remembered for through the generations of my family. It would be passed down from grandchild straight through to the coming of Christ and then it would be so fabulous that whoever had it would certainly not leave it behind...it would come into paradise. OK, back down to reality. As I went down to start dinner I pondered my masterpiece in my head. What if I can't do it? Maybe I am still not skilled enough to attempt it. Then I rationalized....I made all my kids and my husband a quilt. They can surley pass these down. Zachary's great-grandchildren may not want to bring the Spiderman backed quilt into paradise, but maybe they could use it to remember a great-greatgrandmother.

Ok, so they are just coverups. But they are hand quilted with love and Charlotte's even has some hand applique. And Zach will always remember picking that Spiderman fabric for the back and the frustrating never ending converstaions about how Spidey just can't go on the front, he doesn't look right. I even made one for my son and daughter-in law and the baby. I felt the wedding quilt was almost a masterpiece. It was like a whole cloth only solid blocks, each with a densely hand quilted motif...and that border of their wedding colors would definately make it a generational treasure.

There is TJ under his parents wedding quilt and below it is his quilt. My sweet hubby and son Kyle also have quilts I made. Kyle's is folded in quarters and placed in the bottom of TJ's playpen, but it will mean something to him again someday. At 21 he is not into construction equiptment right now. Even my parents have quilts made for them. A 30's reproduction with hand appliqued urns of flowers and birds of paradise should certainly suffice as a substitute for a masterpiece. Then I asked myself the question: "If I woke up tomorrow and could not quilt a stitch ever again would I be content with what I have done to that point." I know I would not be happy about it, but 16 years of quilting should bring about contentment in the quilts I have created. There are many others I have not mentioned that, if we just mixed them all together they could count as one spectacular quilt. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking what I have done. I am very proud of the quilts I have made. I just know I would not be content. The image of "the masterpiece" would play in my head for the rest of my life. The generational story would be, "This is the spiderman quilt your great-great-greatgrandmother made for your great-greatgrandfather. She had a vision of a masterpiece all her adult life, but she was too intimidated to create it and then got to old to actually do it. This is the wall where we would hang it if she had the courage to even attempt it. At least we have this picture she drew out so now we can visualize it too." "Oh crap!"

So here is the first step to my masterpiece. The *drawing of the first block. It is drawn on plastic (I placed it over paper so you can see it) to be used as an overlay for placement as I hand applique each and every leaf , flower, bird, and piece of fruit. Today I trace the freezer paper pieces and select fabric. Ok, you can go look at that Sunbonnet Sue now (make sure you click on the picture to see it up close).

* The block is traced (not drawn). You can shed that envy Linda .