Blogger's Quilt Festival, May 21-28, 2010.

What an honour it is for me to be able to participate in this year's

Blogger's Quilt Festival

that is held from May 21-28,

2010

Organized by the one and only Park City Girl, Amy, who had this amazing idea last year of organizing a Quilt Exhibition By Bloggers for Bloggers: a virtual tour where for a whole week we can go and be inspired by fellow bloggers' Quilts and the stories behind them.

I remember last year's Festivities as it was during this week that I became aware of, and consequently hooked on Blogs. I discovered many of my now favourite Blogs through Amy's brilliant inspiration.

So, like I said, it is a great honour for me now, one year later, to be able to participate.

Natima reminded us a few days ago to be ready, and immediately My Baba's Old Country Quilt came to mind.

This quilt has become part of our living-room decor for the last few years, as stitch by stitch it is slowly being Hand-quilted. My young sons have received countless cuddles under it, they have watched tv lying on it, and like a journal of the little joys of our family's life with has already coutless memories stitched into it. I don't consider it a UFO with all the guilt and anxiety attached to such. This quilt just is...

The quilt was inspired by this piece of Fabric, a scrap of Green Paisley, that I remember as my grandmother's- My Baba's dress.

Too bad that I don't have a picture of her wearing that dress but here is a picture of her and my Grandfather.

Theirs is a true Love story, of courage, loss, struggle, hard work, love of family and true wealth.

Being separated during the Second world war, they found each other again in the chaos of retreat, they suffered detention camps together, they endured the fate of being labeled as Displaced Persons, being shipped to South America to find work and to build a home, not knowing where they were headed to, and finally immigrating to Canada.

My Baba always had a smile for us, always sneaked candy into our eager hands, always baked the best bread for us, always had something being stitched, crocheted, sewn, and later in life through their senior groups, even hand-quilted ( together with my grandfather!).

My Baba taught us the secret powers of a good back scratch, and how everything tastes better with sour cream. She instilled in us the love of flowers, especially daisies and sunflowers, and home grown vegetables. She would let us sleep in or wake us early so we could go and pick big raspberries from her gigantic bushes while they were still wet with dew. Then she would give us a few dollars so we could roller-skate over to A&W for ice-cold root-beer for breakfast...

My Baba always cried when we had to leave to fly back home, and I always felt that those tears were the most beautiful testament of her enduring and unconditional love for us.

And even though we did not share a common spoken language, she knew my heart and I knew hers.

psss... She also had the best fabric stash, ever... I think I get my love of fabric from her!

She was so proud of me when I started showing an interest in quilting and got to see one of my first quilts before she fell asleep in the Lord.

So this is My Baba's Old Country Quilt,

dedicated to

the woman who never met a print she didn't like!

Making it I learned to be confident to improvise, takes chances, and that things do not have to match to be beautiful. Also it gave me a deep sense of peace that having young kids did not mean the end of 'me'-time. And that my boys can be part in the making of my quilts. (They often ask to sit on my lap to see me hand-quilt...)

Now I hope you go and find a special quilt to share, and go join the hundreds of quilters participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival through the next week.

Thanks Amy, once more for organizing this for us, and Thanks to YOU, for visiting me in my little corner of the world,

from Cyprus, with love,

Valentina

Thank You, Elena, for helping me photograph my quilt at your beautiful Shop

Giving Tree.