I've been kindleized

Last week we had a special occasion here. On Thursday night we had a dinner table surrounded by family--Brita, Ben, Jan, Serra and Aurora! It was so fun to have them all here from near and far, and I sort of forgot about the fact that the next day was my birthday. But they didn't let me forget, and brought cake and presents! Jan brought me buttons, very special ones from Britex, she knows me like only a sister can!
And Bob and the kids totally surprised me with a Kindle! Something that I had been lusting after, and it's not even a textile! So I lost some sleep time that night while figuring out how to make use of the various features. So far I am learning on just the free stuff, which includes a lot of classic books and many games. Did you ever play that dots and squares game? I remember doing it during church on the back of the bulletin, working out a grid of dots and then challenging whoever was sitting next to me to connect the dots and claim squares. Well, that is now in the electronic version on my Kindle! Who would have thunk it?

Today I am watching the rainstorm, the second day in a row of big storms. Everything is very well watered. And I am up and down to the basement between quilting and checking the weather. This is what I call the Katy Quilt, and this is why I love quilting! Can you say Marimekko?!

If you don't know what Marimekko is, you need to read about it here. When I think 'Marimekko', visions of the 70's come to my mind. I'm not sure why, but I have always been a big fan of the designs and colors from that company. I think it is partly related to my time in Sweden in 1971-72 and living in the midst of the Scandinavian design style. Plus Elna, my Swedish mom, was an interior decorator and had lots of beautiful fabric swatches that I loved to look through.

So when Katy of Mammoth Lakes inquired about making a quilted wallhanging from a panel of Marimekko fabric, I was immediately interested. Turned out she had in her possession a vintage piece (1975) of classic fabric by a Japanese designer. Katy is a graphic artist/designer who works with my son, Dan, and he brought the fabric to me on his trip home at Christmas. I found out what Katy had in mind for this project, and put a simple border around the panel. We both agreed that the printed selvage edge should be part of the picture, kind of like the artist's signature.

So today I have it on the quilt frame and will finish up the quilting. My goal is to have the binding finished in time to personally deliver it to her in 2 weeks when we go to Mammoth for a vacation. She said she likes yellow, so there is lots of that!