A Sister's Thank-You

Recently I fell in love with (and purchased) this 33 x 41 fabric panel by Grace Popp for Studio Fabrics, titled Beneath the Stars.

The scene depicts what my sister Karen and I have done several times since 2019.

Her camper is modern, not retro, and her boats are kayaks, but everything else--stars, moon, fire, chairs, trees and lake--are right on. Except, replace the guitar (I wish one of us could play that!) with a nice bottle of shiraz, merlot or cab.

I don't want to surprise her with a wall quilt that she might feel obligated to hang. Instead, I want to make a quilt she can snuggle up under while watching tv; a quilt that will remind her of her lake retreat and of all the laughs we have when we're there.

My favorite quilt blocks are log cabin blocks, so I decided to at least surround the panel with a row of those, and then see what it needs from there.

And then it hit me...of course log cabin...we grew up vacationing at the same lake, in our Aunt's and Uncle's log cabin!

Me left, Karen right, swinging on a rope. Cabin at rear.

Our brother John with Karen,
between cabins. 1971.

So....apparently the muse had joined this project, and now I was pumped!

I figured 8-inch blocks were going to fit best around the panel, 4 each at the top and bottom, 5 down the sides, plus corner blocks. There might be some adjustments necessary in seam width and maybe a need to add sashing somewhere, to correct any spacing problems. But I've decided to plow ahead and trust the muse.

So, we'll see where this goes. I'm thinking I'll probably have to give up that narrow green outside border to make the blocks fit, but am hoping to save it. Not a big deal, though. Crossing fingers--no, trusting the muse--this will all work out!

Linda