Oh Baby! And Waiting By The Phone......

The other day I made a momentous discovery.

I discovered that I, Molly Bawn, am a genius!

The OC took the news very calmly. Just smiled his Confucian smile, rolled his eyes and carried on. Do you think he suspected all along, and was wondering when it would dawn on me?

I used to think only astrophysicists, mathematical wizards, and saintly nuns could make such claims! Of course the Nobel prize committee haven't been in touch yet, but I'm a patient woman. It may take some time for word to get out. Meantime, I'll be plodding along, in my humble way, making quilts and evading the paparazzi.

There is one creature on the planet who may have had an inkling that he wasn't in the company of your garden variety Hausfrau. That would be El Pussygato. Animals, you know, are more tuned in to this kind of thing. How do I know that he knows, you ask sceptically? Well,it doesn't take a genius [ha!] to figure that out! Whenever I'm in my think tank, he's always right there with me, usually sitting near, if not right on, my current opus....




.......just in case he needs to fend off any quilt thieves who might be skulking nearby. Or.....maybe he just enjoys hanging out with geniuses! And when it comes to the nuts and bolts, the putting into action of all that brilliant thought, planning, and design, he takes up his position,




watching and marveling, "too proud of me to speak," as Shel Silverstein said.


So what is she blathering on about this time, you're wondering? If you've been here recently, you'll know that my thoughts are full of a little someone in a far off land. I've been holding out on you, teasing you, but, finally, here he is!






A very little someone, barely five days old!






Is he not gorgeous? And huggable? And squeezable? Oops! There go my fingers, itching again!

I knew he was on the way, of course, but not knowing his gender was a bit of a dilemma. At least as far as making him a quilt. I thought I should wait until I knew, but my fingers were itchy. I needed to be making something, for him. Or her.

"What would work for either a girl or a boy?" I asked myself. And that's when I remembered the teddy bears' picnic fabric I'd bought eons ago, because it reminded me of the song. I knew that some day, I'd use it to make a quilt for someone special.

So, I snipped and stitched, and laid it out on the floor in the think tank.




And wasn't sure I liked it much. But kept on stitching. Because of those itchy fingers ...... And when it was together, I thought it needed a narrow green border. But alas! I was a few inches shy of enough green! What to do? Then I remembered I had a teeny, tiny bit of red check left, just enough for four one and a half inch corner posts. Which was enough to solve the problem! I started to like it better.

I folded it up and hied me to the nearest quilt shop. Because no quilt is complete without the perfect border. And to my amazement, found it, right away [I usually have to look much longer.] So home again, home again, jiggety jig.....





and stitched it on, and stood back, and purred with pleasure at how nicely my mitered corners came together. El Pussygato was nearby. We purred together, and agreed it was shaping up nicely.





And then the Refugees from Winter arrived, and there was a flurry of wrestling with the OC, and splashing in the pool with Uncle Bean, and grilling in the sunshine. Then, just as quickly, they vanished down the road to a nest on the beach. But close enough to visit. So, off we went, a few days later, the Bean and I.[The OC could not be pried from his desk.] I had a secret agenda. One I didn't share with the Bean right away. We would be passing a quilt shop I'd heard of, but never been to. Certainly a situation that cried out to be rectified.....And besides, I was on a hunt for backing fabric for some teddy bears.

Loud were the howls of protest when I veered of the beaten path. But I was driving,[possession is nine tenths of the law!] Anyway, I'd only be a minute. Grousing all the way, he came inside with me, the better to enforce the "only a minute [or ten!]" promise.

Then a miracle happened. Perhaps because the name of the shop is Country Quilts and Bears? In sixty seconds flat I'd found the perfect backing fabric. Moda [always good] and fifty percent off!

But, there was one small problem.....There were only two yards and I thought I'd need three. But could not put it down. If I'd hunted all over Florida I couldn't have found a more perfect match. So I took it, determined to perform another miracle. And went to the beach and had a lovely time.

Back home, I tackled the vexing problem of the loaves and fishes.

And found out how brilliant I am!

I had triangles of red and green left over from the square-in-a-square blocks. And had had the foresight to stitch them into half square triangles right away, instead of piling them up to deal with "some day." And stitched the half square triangles into pinwheels....... So there they were, just waiting for the penny to drop with the genius in the driver's seat that they were ready and willing to help with the miracle.




Now all that's left is to decide how to bind it....Red or green?


Aren't all you quilters out there proud of me? I, myself, am pleased as Punch! Psst, if you're as impressed with me as I am, drop a line to those Nobel fellows! I'll be waiting for their call.


Note on the messy think tank: I've heard that creativity thrives on chaos. That's my excuse anyway.......