Ms. Kate Quilts!!!

And we thought shock and awe was just the invasion of Iraq!

Saturday, we helped Sarah move into her new apartment and met Kate, Steve and Mr.B in Oakland. Steve went on to a party with a college pal and Kate, Mr. B., and Sarah came back up to Santa Rosa with us.

We'd hardly had time to sit and relax when Kate came in and placed a darling tote bag on my lap. As if that wasn't good enough, my clenching fingers detected the texture of something quilted within. AHA~my sneaky daughter made me a Bento Box quilt, had it quilted with a little help from my sneaky "sistah" Kathy B. It was quilted by Kat McCarty who owns A Thread Runs Through It (also one of my sneaky pals) who did a wonderful job. Also joinning in on this enterprise was my sly husband who told Kate, "send me updates whenever you want, Jan never reads my email." Hmmmmmmmm.

Anyway, this, from the girl who proclaimed "I didn't get the sewing gene," and ""We can make that' was the most traumatic thing you used to tell me when I was a kid."

Little does she realize that continuous exposure from early childhood has infused her with the quilting gene......clearly nurture v. nature!

After all was said and done, she went stash-diving for more fabric and ended up taking home some fabric and a pattern I'd collected last year for a quilt for hubby Steve. It will mean more to him coming from his wife and it will feed her habit so it's a win-win.

This picture is Kate and I working on her Christmas Quilt in 1979. The quilt ended up being named "The Eighteen Year Christmas Quilt" because I started it in the fall of 1979 and presented it to her on Christmas Eve 1997. A few thing interrupted the making of this quilt--the pregnancy/birth of her brother, a divorce, the births of her younger cousins, my two great-nieces and at least five friends babies (all of whom got hand quilted quilts from me), back to school for me and working full time and a few other life-changing events. Oh well, as John Lennon said, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans."

Here is a picture of the entire quilt. Kate started with a Fat Quarter pack of 10 and chose some added fabrics with the help of the ladies at Quilter's Paradise in Fresno. I think she has great color sense and balance and she did a marvelous job on the quilt, even the binding, which is not easy for a first-timer with no on-site mentor!

The most touching part of this enterprise is the title and theme. Kate and I have an inside joke about "the acorn not falling far from the oak tree," because we share more than a few endearing and irritating qualities. She used a number of fabrics from the "Acorn Hollow" line and named the quilt "The Acorn" and included that on the label of the quilt. I love it!!!

Thanks to my babydoll for the second amazing gift of the year!!! (To see the first, visit: Mr. B's blog).