Butterfly Races

Once in a while, several unrelated needs converge in one perfect solution .  There’s a word for that, I’m sure,  though I can’t come up with it to save my life. 

At this moment, I need 3 things:

a)  a quilt to enter in the Fryeburg Fair this fall;

b)  a quilt for my grand neice’s “grown-up” bed;

c) some pleasant and portable stitching to take on a month-long journey out West (we leave on Wednesday).

The answer:  a butterfly quilt!  Chloe will love it at age 6, but won’t outgrow it by the time she’s 16.  I can work the applique blocks one at a time while traveling, and get it quilted in time for the fair.  Perfect! 

So I’m off to the races with my butterflies.  Will I finish in time for the fair?  Stay tuned …..

The quilt in the photo is a lap quilt I made in 2005 as a wedding gift for my friend and co-worker, Helen.  The pattern is “September Butterfly,” by Lisa Boyer, author of That Dorky Homemade Look and Stash Envy.  

The story of this quilt is another example of  convergence, though of a different kind. 

Helen and her fiance made a trip to Hawaii.  Upon her return, she told me about a lovely quilt she saw there, and her disappointment that the quilt was not for sale, only the pattern. 

Hmmm …. I thought, was this a potential wedding gift? 

Checking out Lisa Boyer’s web site, I found the pattern, with this annotation:  “I was just sewing the binding onto this quilt when I happened to turn on the television–on the morning of September 11, 2001. Up until that day, I hadn’t selected a name. I decided to dedicate this quilt to all those souls who were set free that day.”

I knew instantly that this was the quilt I must make for Helen.  You see, on the morning that Lisa was sewing the binding on her quilt, Helen and I escaped together from the 67th floor of 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower).  We’ve been close friends ever since.