central park flipside

Earlier this spring - just shortly after my return to my quilting hobby - pictures of Kate Spain's Central Park started popping up. Like many, I immediately fell in love. Of course, I was also having a hard time justifying the price. With two boys, it's hard for me to allow myself to buy things that will be just for me. You know..."giiiiirly" things. (Said with a nasal tone only a 7 year-old boy could produce.)



So, I put it off.  I thought to myself, "I can wait 'till it goes on sale".  Then Rachel did me in.  When I saw Flipside, I knew I couldn't wait.  I had my jelly rolls and pattern with the week.   The strips were cut within two weeks, and then they sat.

And sat.

Fast forward through the summer of WIP busting - in which I finished five other projects, woo! - and I finally get going on it.  In the meantime, though, the invitation to our favorite babysitter's bridal shower came.  I knew in my heart what I needed to do, but I didn't want to.  It was *my* quilt.  MINE.  [Insert stubborn little two year-old foot stomp.]

But I couldn't.  It's just her.  The colors, the design, the appreciation.  She truly was the best babysitter ever.  She started sitting for us when she was about 14 and our oldest was about two.  He's 11 now.

She's gone on our beach trips, jumping up to change diapers before I would even realize the baby was crying.  She's took on the additional responsibility of sitting for other kids on the trip so the parents could have an adult night out.  She made sandwiches, sat in the sand, and endured the endless teasing from the men in the house - including ice-water bucket tosses and dunking in the ocean.  She fixed breakfast so we could sleep in.  She loved my kids like they were her own.  In short, she's made it practically most assuredly impossible for anyone to take her place.

She deserved this quilt.




I finished it the morning of the shower - nothing like the last minute to get something done. We were at my BFF's lake house, so I had an awesome backdrop for pictures.

The piecing, as expected, went by in a snap.  The sashing and large blocks made it easy to put together.  I used leftovers from the strips to piece the back, too. 




I bought a generous helping of that backing fabric - I think it's my favorite in the entire collection.  I think I even have enough for a tote bag.  :)  A friend of mine suggested quilting with the back facing up - going around the flowers and leaves.  If I would have had time, I would have done just that - how gorgeous would that have been???  (Will be keeping that in mind for the tote bag.... ).




So anyway - I was a nervous wreck at the shower and, wouldn't you know it, my package got put at the end of the gift table.  Yup...last gift opened.  I was practically pacing.  See, she's an interior designer now.  Full of all kinds of knowledge about creativity, color combination, print selections, and all that designer-y stuff.  What if she hated it????

When it was finally my turn, I walked up to the front with my camera and jokingly told her, "they don't carry these in Target."  Her response was, "I've seen what you do and I was hoping this didn't come from a store!"  (Boy, that made my heart sing!)


Well, she loved it.  In fact, she told me the other day that she's been using it quite a bit.  Probably because I had given her the, "this quilt was made to be used" speech.  In fact - I told her if I found out she wasn't using it, I was taking it back.  And I wasn't kidding.  ;o)




So, now my Flipside is gone.  The quilt I just had to have is no longer for me.  It's in good hands, deserving hands, loving hands, but not my hands.  Wouldn't change it for the world, but it's funny how things sometimes turn out.  Bittersweet, I guess.

Good thing I got a Terrain bundle this week.... bwahahahaaa!