Happy 60th Birthday, dear Cathy!!!

I have a dear, special sister-in-law who celebrated her 60th birthday a few days ago. She's one of the few people I know who looooves anything and everything Asian. About a year ago I asked Thayne what were her favorite colors (red, gold, purple) as I knew at some point I wanted to make a quilt for her. So I started collecting Asian fabrics. What fun I've had and I've come to really enjoy and admire Asians--they are stunningly beautiful and the designs are lovely and elegant and flowing. Most Asians are shot with gold thread, so they just glimmer. I have a huge stack of them--more than enough now for several quilts! But I will enjoy working with them and am looking forward to my next Asian project!
So. Make a quilt for Cathy for her 60th birthday. The only problem with that was finding the time to get it done (that is frequently my problem with making quilts these days). Serendipity! The doc gave me "house arrest" so sadly I was unable to attend their daughter's wedding in San Diego. It was the first family wedding to which I was invited that I couldn't go. It was really hard for me as I love weddings--any wedding!--but family weddings especially. So I decided to spend that time that I was missing by making Cathy's quilt! And now it is done, she got it in the mail today, so I can share this beauty with all.
Another serendipity. Cathy loves cranes (frequently used in Asain design) and I just happened to pick a focus fabric for this piece that is made up of cranes. So beautiful. No way do any of these images do justice to these gorgeous fabrics. They are all shot with gold thread (well, gold colored thread!) and the colors are glorious. And the gold fabric is really rich and beautiful. Just doesn't show up here (you can click on the photos to enlarge them).

I think she likes it!!! She called a little while ago so we could talk about. I'm happy that she likes it as I was so pleased with the way it turned out and hoped she would be truly blessed by my gift for her. She is so special and does so very much to make everybody else feel good, so I'm happy to do something special for her.

The only problem is that I wanted something that would be warm and snuggly and she would enjoy curling up in on that odd Phoenix evening that might actually be a little cool. It's not soft and snuggly, but oh well--guess I can't have everything! (Anyone out there hoping for an Asian quilt???)

Now, the fun thing was that I went to the post office on Saturday to send this off to her and got a box in the mail from her! She sent me a "wedding" box chockfull of all the wedding favors and guest gifts that they used for Hayley's wedding! How fun. The fabric they found to decorate the reception tables is absolutely stunning and she sent me a couple of those. I have them on my table and am especially enjoying them. (I have a thing about beautiful fabric!!!) I know the wedding was lovely and I can hardly wait to see the photos.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CATHY!!! And many more!