In 1996, I made a quilt inspired by watching autumn leaves drift lazily to the ground.
I didn’t have a huge fabric collection, but I did have a number of inherited scraps. Those little pieces became the sky in a quilt that I have loved ever since.
One of my favorite parts was arranging the blue scraps into a gradation. The blues moved from the dark blue of a summer sky to the almost-white sky of winter. Against that changing background, I carefully placed the leaf blocks so they would look as if they were floating gently toward the ground.
At least, that was the PLAN!!
Every September since then, this quilt has hung in my home. It has become an old friend that returns each fall, bringing memories of those scraps and the pleasure of putting them together.
This past week, I was having breakfast with my husband when I glanced up at it…
And there they were.
THREE leaf blocks.
IN A ROW.
Facing the EXACT SAME WAY!!
How did THAT happen?
I remember carefully arranging those leaves. I remember wanting movement. I remember trying to make them look like they were drifting down, each taking its own little path.
Apparently, three of them decided to travel in formation!!
For thirty years, I have enjoyed this quilt without that little lineup bothering me. But now that I have seen it, I can’t UN-SEE it.
Every time I look at the quilt, my eyes go straight to those three leaves.
It is driving me CRAZY!!
I still love the quilt. I love its scraps, its changing sky, and the fact that it has been part of our home for so many autumns.
But I would really like those three leaves to stop demanding my attention!!
Have you ever noticed something in a quilt YEARS after you finished it—and then found that you couldn’t un-see it either?
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