Eighty.....

My mum turned 80 yesterday. If my dad had still been with us, he would have been 80 today. Mum and Dad were just one day apart in age but they were totally in sync. I'm really sad that he's not here but I'm so happy for mum that she can now be classed as an octogenarian. Don't get me wrong, she's had a rough time of it lately having just come out of hospital ten days ago following her second shoulder reconstruction. Mind you, given a couple more complaints that she'd like righted, she could almost aim for bionic status. Needless to say, with her recent surgery and recovery, celebrations for her 80th were pretty much put on hold. So much so, it caught me completely unawares. So just last Monday, a week ago from today, I suddenly realised I didn't even have a present for her (gosh I hope she doesn't read my blog!). What do you buy for an 80 year old? I couldn't think of anything that she didn't already have or couldn't possibly use. How about a quilt? Yeh....a quilt, I can do that. So last Monday I raided the cupboard. Some time back, I had won a Moda Botany charm pack from the lovely Lorraine of Small Quilts. It's the only thing I have ever won online and Lorraine was very gracious awarding me a random prize draw even though I didn't get the answer right! My prize was divine and at the time I set about building on it, gathering 3 more charm packs and enough fabric for the backing and binding. After the recent success of my sister-in-law's charm square quilt, I thought another was in order. So each night this past week I sewed a bit at a time to ensure that it was finished in time. Monday morning, idea, Monday night, selection and join the squares into pairs and fours. Tuesday laid it out on the floor and joined strips and front. Wednesday made backing and basted. Thursday night quilted. Friday night bought chocolate solid binding (because previous selection was soooo not going to work) and attached binding. Saturday night, hand stitched binding. Sunday morning stitched on 'Little Sew & Sews' tag. Voila! Happy birthday mummy! xxx

Quilt specifications:
Fabric: front 4 charm packs of Moda Botany by Lauren & Jessi Jung, backing Botany in Coral Pink, binding chocolate solid homespun from Spotlight
Measures: 62" x 54"
Quilted: free motion by me!
For: mum