Did you love the movie "How to Make an American Quilt"?

I sure did. I loved the way that the construction of a wedding quilt for the reluctant Wynona Ryder revealed the life stories of her grandmother's quilting circle. You just think they're a bunch of old ladies who like quilts, but you find out that some of them were pretty wild in their heydey.

Making a quilt seems painstaking, but the results are beautiful. I've had it on my bucket list for some time. I figure if I want to be good at it by the time I'm an old lady, I had better start now!

To be clear, it's not an "old lady hobby" anymore. The quilting class instructor tells me that it's usually half younger and half older women these days (but no men, I gather). And fabric choice (of course) can influence the style of a quilt, making it "act its age."

I love the fabrics I chose:

Bicycles, polka dots and flowers - love, love love them!

I'm heading into my fifth week of beginner quilting, and things are really starting to come together. We're almost done making our squares and supposedly by next week, we'll be putting the top together. I say "supposedly" because I'm always skeptical about beginner classes actually delivering on what they promise.

Here's a recap.

Week Two:

Rail fence block

Nine patch block

 Week Three:

Friendship star block

Eccentric star block

Double X block

Shoo fly block

Aren't these names great?

Week Four:

Jacob's ladder block

Double nine patch variation (so fun!)

I've got a wee bit of homework to do, finishing up a last block before we sew the final two in class. This will be called a sampler quilt because we sample a number of different styles.

I will call it my living room quilt for snuggling and watching movies during Christmas holidays!

First couple hours in Paris: the rain cleared up and it was a beautiful day along the Seine.

The first of many "wine breaks"

At the Louvre

The Arc de Triomphe: Way bigger than I expected it to be.

With Matt's aunt and uncle in their Paris "appartement"

La Tour Eiffel

Beautiful Paris

Aix-en-Provence: All the kids were drinking this creme de menthe concoction, so Matt also decided to try it. He didn't order a second one.

Beautiful architecture and art in Aix (behind us, we're not it)

Walking (okay, posing) along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France

Parc de la Chateau in Nice

Renting beach chairs and a parasol in Nice was a genius idea: 28 degree air and 25 degrees in the ocean!

Breathtaking Manarola, part of the Cinque Terre on the Italian coast

Riomaggiore, another one of the five towns

An almost vertical street in Manarola

Our sailboat caption, Faust, and his first mate

Steak Florentine: 2.2 pounds of regret

"Due cappuccini" at a real Italian coffee bar. It was delicious.

Mile-high gelato

The gorgeous simplicity of Italian food: just add lots of cheese!

Learning anatomy in Florence. This is the fake statue of David, I know, but by this point, we were tired of line-ups.

I drank the kool-aid.

Looking out over Florence from the Campanille di Giotto

Tuscany takes your breath away

Yep, we could drink that.

Siena's seashell-shaped piazza. I'm hiding somewhere in it if you look really closely!

At the Capannelle winery in Tuscany.

Looking out the front doors of our B & B in Tuscany

Borgo Argenina was as quaint and rustic as Tuscany in the movies

The proprietor, Elena, picking fresh figs for us to try (they were wonderful)

Making an authentic Italian feast with other guests at the B & B

The Spanish Steps in Rome

The Trevi Fountain - amazing.

Circus Maximus, where ancient chariot races were held. That day, people were eating their lunch there instead.

Strip of pizza for ya?

The Colosseum

Tunnels underneath the floor of the Colosseum

Piazza Navona

The Vatican's nutella station

In St. Peter's Square

Entering St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

Looking back over the crowds in St. Peter's Square

Inside the Basilica

The colourful Swiss Guard

And I'll finish with the Holy Triduum of Italy:

Pasta!

Pizza!

and Peroni (beer)!

To tie it back to Prairie Sown, I took great artistic inspiration from this adventure; from the romance of Paris to the colourful towns in the Cinque Terre. I don't know where and when these images will turn up in my handmade goodness, but rest assured, they will!