The snakes are growing! The snakes are growing!
Which, actually, has turned out to present two big ole challenges. First off, this is the biggest quilt I have worked on since The Hubby made my design wall (aka two felt backed tablecloths tacked to the wall...) And, it turns out, to see the quilt, I have to drag my cutting table into the middle of the room. Where it can't stay, due to space restrictions. I may try laying this out horizontally soon.
Problem #2 is that- while, we took the original pattern from the book to the copy shop and had them enlarge it the specified 400%, it turns out, that was too big! My blocks are about 2 inches too big, and, last night I realized- I was going to run out of the lavender background batik! ACK! I had enough to finish the blocks, but, not enough for the borders. And even though the quilt will probably be long enough that I could skip top and bottom borders, the sides were not wide enough. Grumble. I didn't want to piece a border from the various snake fabrics as I really love the border-free look of the original. So today I hightailed it to an LQS that I only like for its batik selection, and where I bought the original. And, they had another bolt. Which is good, because I finished the first bolt months ago. I intended the fabric for the background of another quilt, and then it was going to be for Love Beads from the Modern Quilt Workshop, but now I'm planning to do that one in grey- and purple. Anyway! Crisis resolved, I bought 4 more yards, and now, I can continue! Ahem, I may also have bought another 3 yards of fabric, but, let's not talk about that stash enhancement. Or, do you want to know? 1 yard of a cute retro pink poodle flannel, for Princess Girl's Xmas present. Hmm, I should probably start that. And 2 yards of an amazingly cute ice cream cone print.
Oi, what a weakness for novelties I have.
Meanwhile, I am reading the most fascinating book I have picked up in quite some time. And eye-opening, and heartbreaking too. The Girls Who Went Away is an amazing read. It is the story, written by an adoptee, of women, young teens and early 20s mostly, who gave away babies for adoption between 1945-1973 (the end of WWII to the passing of Roe V Wade...) The Hubby is actually one of these babies, and I have always wondered about his other mother, and that connection being out there somewhere. What is so shocking to me is how naive these girls were, and how cruelly treated. The idea that anyone could give up a baby and forget about that baby forever seems ludicrous to me. (Especially with the 2 of my own.) And often, these babies it seems were pretty much forced away from the young mothers, who knew nothing of their own rights, and received no support from society. These poor girls received so little information that some of them were taken into the delivery room, still not knowing where the baby would come out. I cannot imagine the terror! The author of this book has done an amazing job balancing first person interviews with historical research, and also her own journey as an adoptee. It is depressing to read of how so many of these young moms never recovered emotionally... I have to say, I'm doing a lousy job trying to convey how simply amazing this book, and the chunk of American history it exposes, are, but, really, what an amazing read. It's so darn good I may not work on the snakes at all tonight, even though the kids are tucked safely in bed after a wild and crazy and H*O*T day at a local free kid festival. Every year it seems to hit the hottest weekend of the summer.
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