My Crazy Memento Quilt

About a year ago, I started on a new crazy quilt project.  I did a few blocks and then put it down to do some other things.  I've been working on it again so I thought for today, I would tell you about it.

I have been saving things almost my entire life.  Just little things that my grandmothers gave me, things from my childhood, things from my mom, my cousin and friends.  It seems a shame to leave them just sitting in a box so I'm using them, on this quilt.

The purpose is to save my little things and my memories.  It'll be a reminder of the things I love.

I think part of the inspiration came from the fact that I've had a lot of losses lately.  My very dear and beloved aunt and godmother (my mom's sister) passed away about a year ago. 

In November of 2014, my long time close friend, Lula Chang (artist and needlepoint designer) passed away.

Over the years, Lula had sent me all sorts of wonderful little embellishments to use on my crazy quilts.

So anyway, before I start crying, I'm going to save all these little things that I collected and that were given to me over the years on a new crazy quilt.

The blocks will be 6 inches square.  I have no idea how many blocks there will be and I don't care.   I have a wall open here in my little pink room so I have plenty of space.

As I do each block, I will share with you the specifics, the mementos and the memories.  I have also set up a special page with a link in my side bar so you have quick access to looking at the blocks.

So far, I have 12 done and I will share them with you as I have time.  Then as I do more, I will share the details on those.

So here goes with Block number 1:

I'm a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs.  I love baseball.  Ever since I was little.  I remember my dad listening to the Cubs games on WGN radio in the Summer.  My paternal grandfather always had the Cubs game on, my maternal grandmother and great aunts always had the Cubs game on and even though I was little and didn't really "get it", the sound of the game was a comfort to me.  It was just always there.

When I was about 6 years old, we lived on the northwest side of Chicago (Harlem and Irving) and I remember mom taking me downtown on the Addison bus one day.  When the bus stopped at the stop light at Addison and Clark (1060 W. Addison), my mom told me what that building was.  She said it's Wrigley Field and the Cubs play baseball there.

At that point, I didn't really know what baseball was or the Cubs but mom made it sound like Disneyland!  To this day, I can still remember being in awe!  Mom just made it sound like the coolest place on earth.  Little did I know!!!

So this block represents my love of baseball.  The little bat & ball buttons came from Lula.  There's a little baseball bat charm in the bottom right-hand corner.  Mom bought me that.

Historic Wrigley Field is known for the ivy on the outfield wall so I tried to give this block an "ivy" theme.  The little green leaf at the top right is a pin from Avon, I think from the late 70's.  My mom sold Avon for many years.  It was in my jewelry box and I thought it was perfect to again, keep the theme of ivy.  I added some pink to the block because I had to give it a little bit of "girly-ness".  LOL!!!

Finally, the buttons are vintage Mother Of Pearls.  They represent the baseballs!

I'll share Block #2 when I have some free time.

Seashells and Baseball

I started adding lace to my newest purse project:

I love doing sea themed pieces.  I painted the lace appliques this morning but still have to sew them down.  I'll be stitching on this as soon as I get done on the computer.

Our temps are finally going up a bit and the snow is melting.  Slowly, which is a good thing for people in flood prone areas.  We had a dusting of snow over night but the sun is out now and although I saw some Robins over the weekend in my sister's backyard, it was from a distance so I'm still waiting to see some closeup.  One of these days, I'll look out in my yard and I'll see one or maybe a ton of them!

And with the temps rising, my thoughts also turn towards baseball.  It's the only sport I like.  Cubs baseball.  Yes, poor me, I'm a Cubs fan!  LOL!!!  My dad told me they used to be called, "The Loveable Losers".  I've referred to them as morons from time to time but still, I'm a die hard fan.  Ha, ha, ha!

I always get the baseball itch starting in March and to satisfy my need to be done with Winter, I start watching my favorite baseball movies about this time of year.  It holds me over until I can watch or listen to the pre-season games.

This morning, I pulled out The Natural with Robert Redford:

My favorite baseball movies are, Eight Men Out, Field Of Dreams and A League Of Their Own and I always tend to put those on first but for some reason, I grabbed this one out of the DVD cabinet to watch later today.  I haven't watched this one in a few years and kind of forgot the story line.  So I read through the little booklet that came with the movie.

When I got to the end of booklet, there was a quote by Roger Towne, who was the story editor at Columbia Pictures at the time the movie was made.  Something told me to post it here.  Perhaps it has meaning for me and perhaps it will have some meaning for you too:

Roger Towne:  "Even the most gifted and most natural people are hurt by the capriciousness of fate.  Yet they are often given a second chance to make up for the past.  This is what THE NATURAL is all about."