Meet the Break a Leg quilt.
When my nieces were younger, I promised them a trip out to see me for their first teenaged birthday. When the oldest niece had her trip, we went through patterns and books and fabrics so she could help pick out a more grown up quilt. (Her Winnie the Pooh quilt from when she was born just wasn’t cutting it anymore!) After a lot of digging and pulling, we came up with:
Can we talk about how long it takes to trim the half-square triangles for 83 bear claw blocks?! It’s a good thing I love that girl!
Why “Break a Leg”?
Niece 1 is incredibly talented on the stage. Whether it’s singing or acting, she absolutely shines. I know I sound like a biased auntie, but… well… Sometimes when I pick a quilt name, I go with something that I think flatters the pattern. Other times – when it’s for someone really special like Niece 1 – I title the quilt after them. Since she’s obsessed with all things theater, it seemed fitting to call this the Break a Leg quilt.
When we went through the fabric stash, she only picked the pinks and the background fabric. Now you’re looking at that green block and wondering, “What the h*ck, Aunt Joni?!” As I was making this quilt, I kept thinking about how special Niece is to me. She’s my first niece, we’re both big sisters to little sisters, and she just makes me so happy when I get to spend time with her. She’s one of a kind and stands out in a crowd. So, to me, she’s the green block.
And the joy of having two nieces is that Niece 2 is coming for her (delayed due to COVID) teenage visit in July! I cannot wait to get my hands on her and show her around DC and – yes – pick out fabrics and a pattern for her next quilt.