Just for Grandma

My mom's mom is the only one of my four grandparents still living, and she'll be 89 on Tuesday. As I thought about what kind of card I wanted to create for her, I struggled. I don't know her tastes as well as I do those I make other cards for. I don't know her favorite colors, I don't know her favorite flower, and these or something from a conversation we've shared are usually catalysts for inspiration. So I perused my own gallery and hit on something I know is near and dear to grandma's heart--quilting.

I'm not sure what the first quilt was that she made for me, but I remember sleeping under them during vacations at her house. My sister and I and our cousin Julie all had flower quilts made from octagonal shaped pieces on our beds. My mother stretched some on frames and hung them to decorate the walls of her home to honor her skill. She made one for Michael when he was born. I've made one--ONE--because of her influence.

So, now that I had the theme, I pulled out a technique I found somewhere 2.5 years ago, and got to work. I started with a 4" square of Pretty in Pink and scored it down the middle on the diagonal in each direction to create a large "x". Then, keeping the paper positioned like a diamond, I moved the point to the first half inch line on my paper cutter and scored the paper. I did this all the way across and turned it the opposite direction, still on point, and repeated the process. It's harder to explain than it is to do, I promise.

Once I had my quilt grid, I filled in the squares with a very small pattern from PTI's Simply Stationery set. The stamp is mounted on an acrylic block, which Stampin' Up! will begin selling next month--hurray! Having the ability to see through the block was critical to placing the stamp inside each little box. I chose Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, and Mellow Moss as my color scheme.

Of course, as I am finishing up, I boff one of the inkings and it's not quite perfect. So, I use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to align the image so I can re-stamp it. Third one down on the left is the result. ARGH! I was not about to start over, so I had to improvise. Ribbon to the rescue! What mistake?

I matted the quilt on Mellow Moss and then on a Whisper White card base. It looked a bit stark, so I added a border element from another PTI set because it carried through with my sewing theme. The small sentiment is from Wow Flowers and is attached with glue dots.

Grandma's eyesight isn't all that good anymore. She can't do any handwork--besides quilting she knitted up a storm too (I received a beautiful large afghan and matching pillows as a wedding present)--so I hope she'll appreciate my version of handwork when she receives this in the mail. Happy birthday, Grandma! Your crafting influenced mine, and I'm so glad.