Lovely Rita - Thank You!

There are two “big blogs” that are consistently at the top of my Must Read list.  One is Maureen Cracknell Handmade.  The other is Red Pepper Quilts (Rita Hodges).  These blogs are a constant source of inspiration, with their fresh, modern designs and brilliant use of color.  

Rita’s Etsy shop has wonderful modern quilt patterns, but her finished quilts tend to sell out as soon as they are listed.  As Garrison Keillor would say, “They’re a real hot item.”  You can find Rita on Facebook, too.

Well last Saturday, when I picked up the mail the post office had been holding for us while we went to Colorado for granddaughter Erin’s high school graduation, there was a package for me from Australia!  (Did I mention that Rita lives in Australia?!)

And when I opened up the package, here’s what I found!

And when I untied the fabric packet, I found a veritable rainbow of vibrant fabrics!

A super-sized charm pack!  Charm packs are 5” x 5”  (12.7 cm x 12.7 cm) squares of fabric, usually “precuts” from the same fabric line.   These fabrics were designed by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller Fabrics, and are part of her Edges fabric line.

I had admired a flying geese pillow cover that Rita had made using those fabrics. 

I also love Rita’s quilts, like this giant pieced DresdenPlate quilt:

 Or this kid-friendly I Spy quilt:

I am in awe of Rita’s meticulous precision piecing, her color sense, and her ability to find just the right binding and backing for every project.

As an added bonus, Rita included this adorable bicycle postcard:

I just had to send that to my daughter in Brooklyn!  She was my biking buddy during her teens, and she would fully appreciate the fabric and pincushion as well!  She still brings home mending projects for me whenever she comes to visit.

Once, after our 42-mile round trip bike ride on the MoPacTrail, Allison burst into song.  She sang, “We are the champions of the trail” to the tune of “We are the champions of the world.”  The song We Are the Champions was a ballad written by Freddie Mercury and recorded by the British rock band, Queen, in 1977 – more than a decade before my daughter was born!  Allison knew it because her mother listened to “oldies” music while she was growing up, and often sang along to the songs while driving in the car, much to the dismay of Allison and her brothers.  (Ahem! … Yes, that would be me.) Okay, so I was slightly off key, but I knew all the words and I sang with enthusiasm.

So, lovely Rita, THANK YOU from the bottom of my grateful heart!!   I am going to use some of those beautiful fabrics to embellish linen zip pouches I’ll be making – some with bright little hexies and some with squares, I think.   Stay tuned!

TTFN

LeAnn aka pasqueflower

http://www.etsy.com/shop/pasqueflower

http://www.facebook.com/pasqueflower

http://pasqueflowerponderings.blogspot.com