Monday, November 28, 2016

Plan for J. I. Case Quilt

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from one of my brothers.  I couldn't take the call, and the transcription was totally bizarre, but I now know that in addition to COPD, he has emphysema.  He and his wife live in South Carolina, and I think I've seen him only two or three times in the last 25+ years.  He's spent much of his life as a big rig driver, and the last time I saw him was when he had a load from California that took him through here on I-40.  Most of his driving was much farther east.  Once he retired, he taught driving for some trucking companies and schools.  At this point, he's digging water wells.

Despite the fact that he's been smoking for at least 45 years, or maybe because of that, I think he should have a prayer quilt. I have a J. I. Case/International Harvester panel that reminds me of a shop/lumber/supply business that we used to patronize in Gridley, Illinois--back when we were the farmer's kids.

He was driving a tractor by the time he was seven or eight years old--and would have been happy to be a farmer all his life if Dad hadn't sold the farm.  After all, his name, George, means farmer.  Fortunately, he also loves driving big rigs, and that was a good career for him.

 As luck would have it, these are not my usual colors, so I had to go shopping.  Kokapelli Quilts/Southwest Decoratives just off I-25 and Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque had a well-timed $2.00 fat quarter sale.  (I discovered last summer that I have almost no real reds.)

Ann Silva's Bernina had some lovely grays, which I chose because our soil was rich, black loam, but my aging eyes didn't want to contend with a lot of black.  I just might tease him that these were the colors we found in his ears at the end of each day on the farm.

This is my starting plan; the plain blocks are approximately where the colors are in the panel.
These patchwork blocks and their placement may very well change, and I may substitute some other blocks.  At least I now have a plan, although not much time to execute it.  I really hope that when I retire, I'll have boundless energy, and many, many years for quilting.  For this quilt, however, I'm figuring a much tighter timeline.  Three weeks until winter break.

Happy quilting, knitting, sewing, and crafting,

5 comments:

Osage Bluff Quilter said...

I've seen that panel made up and it turned out really cute. It was auctioned at our church picnic last year.

Good luck to your brother. Mine lives in California (I'm in Missouri)we've only seen each other a few times too in the past 40 years!!!

Be sure to post the completed quilt!

Sew on ~ ~ ~ ~

Missy Shay said...

I am sorry your brother is sick. I think the quilt is going to turn out great!

Doreen said...

What an awesome idea!!!! This will be a treasure for him to receive. You have chosen well!!! Looking forward to seeing how this comes together!!!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

That will be a nice quilt when it's done. I see my brother every time I go to Texas, but, I'm the one who initiates everything. If I left it up to him, I wouldn't ever see him.

O'Quilts said...

good idea and good job

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