The title of this quilt pattern is Posh Penelope, and as one commenter said, “That is a name that needs to be changed.” So I did.
Summer Flowers is quilt #307 and measures 80″ tall by 69 1/2″ wide.
At first we tried this building for the photographs (click to enlarge). Love the building, but it’s not really working. And I had my QHH (Quilt Holding Husband) grab it by the side. Whoops! (This is how I knew the label was sewn on sideways.)
It only took me seven pieces of fabric to audition for the binding, and I sewed it on by machine. There are times when you just have to get it done.
We got the direction correct on this photo. Even though I sewed the label on the wrong way, I’m not changing it. So, this is finished!
You are all aware, no doubt, of the corrupted digital files saga in my life (see the highlighted pink, above.) After multiple calls to Tech Support, I have resigned myself to the fact that all the files with little down-arrows are pretty much gone, and these date from last month to way back into my history of making little digital files.
So when I’m on Low Energy (lately, that’s been a lot), I sit and go through them, dumping them one-by-one, then when the trash on my computer gets filled up, I dump them. Gone. Never to be seen again.
It looks like I’m fully in the Age of Subtraction, my Dad would say. For years I created and compiled and wrote. Now I’m dumping all that unceremoniously. I lost about half of my journal files. The ones I could recover, like when I had four teenagers in the house, were hard to read, frankly. They were filled with sturm und drang (aka “storm and stress”), and nobody wants to remember that time of life. Reading backwards into my life has triggered some realizations.
One: I chose well in deciding to be someone who makes things, if that can be a choice. I have donated dresses I made long ago, but they served their purpose and maybe someone, somewhere is walking around in them. My family now runs when they see me coming, but I have managed to give away quilts, too. That work lives on until it doesn’t, but at least I won’t have to be the one dumping them in the trash.
Two: I also chose well when I decided to chronicle my life in writing, which is a choice. You are perhaps used to my public-facing writing from reading this blog, but I have come to learn that personal writing is something done just for yourself. That in this kind of writing, we struggle on the page to capture an event, and to write it for our future selves, or for our families, if they don’t throw it all in the trash (just trying to be realistic here). And now that I’m way beyond the baby-toddler-children-teenager stage, I’m glad I have some writings to remind me of how busy a mother of one (or few) can be. I’m glad I have some written evidence of that to which I gave several decades of my life.
Three: Taking photos has surpassed the writing. Is it because we always have our phones on us? When I first started shooting photos of my life as a young mother, it would take three months to use up one roll of 24 shots of film. That was by design, as film was a cost, and developing was a cost, and I was always broke. Now we can capture 24 images on a walk around the park in the morning and compile thousands of photos in our digital drives. Interestingly, I didn’t lose any photographs in this Great Subtraction, as they were not part of the save-to-drive-that-may-have-been-corrupted-which-was-then-uploaded-to-the-cloud-which-was-probably-a-faulty-process-in-itself.
Four, and last: Quilts last. Scrubbing the house doesn’t. Laundry doesn’t. Our digital lives won’t. Our real lives will someday end and fade away, but a grandchild or someone who is the recipient of our charitable work can wrap themself in a quilt and know that someone’s hands made this, a transfer of self via cloth and stitches.
Keep quilting–
Too Many Other posts about this quilt:
Road to California 2022 • Part I
Writing Poetry
Incomplete
Don’t Ask Me — they all just crept in!
March 2025 This and That
If I Do This, Can I Do That? April 2025
Flying Through Rainbows
This and That: No June Gloom, please.
The Zeigarnik Effect: the Power of the Unfinished
Summer Flowers (aka Posh Penelope)
Thank you, dear!
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It’s such a beautiful quilt. Thank you for your musings on life and past events. I’m there, too.
Blessings,
🙏
I, like you, think that my quilts will be around much longer than I will be. Hopefully someone will enjoy them as much as I had making them.
It’s a beautiful quilt! I, too, would have been tempted to re-name it, probably “Finally Done”. And I enjoyed the story about the blessing dress.
This is a glorious quilt. It’s lovely to see it finished. I’m sorry you’ve lost so much writing but I’m glad your photos are saved. I was musing much the same as you lately when I found Typepad had gone. Some lovely blogs I followed just disappeared by some faceless company. It makes you realise how tenuous all these digital things are…I hope you have a good week 🙂
Summer Flowers is a beautiful quilt Elizabeth. Do you think you will keep it or give it away? While you are sad about the lost files, consider all you have retained, made and given…. Your blog is a wonderful reflection of your talent and your giving. Your words always resonate. Happy sewing!
The quilt finished beautifully. Nice quilt holder too. Sorry about the lost files. After seeing several friends loose everything this year with the fires and my sister loosing everything in her move, I realize that the really important thing is the time spent and memories made. Those cannot be taken from us. It’d be great to leave them quilts, etc., but so much better to spend time with them teaching them baking or sewing. Those will last them a lifetime and they have memories to carry with them as well.
“Summer Flowers” turned out beautifully! Even though I know the pattern well, some of those blocks look round, and that’s amazing to see. I’m so glad you can call your PP finished (sideways labels are just fine). I’m still piecing blocks, and will quilt mine, so a finish is months away. It will keep. So sorry to learn about all the files you’ve lost. It’s a horror I don’t even like to think about. As for writing, you make an excellent point about personal writing. I keep thinking I’ll do that, but there’s no time… gotta keep making those things that transfer myself into stitches! Ha, ha. I love that thought. And you sure do have a great QHH. You have no idea how fortunate you are!
Summer Flowers is a stunning quilt! Well worth the finish and yeah, sideways labels are a design feature. We willingly entered The Age of Subtraction with our downsize to the current house a few years back and it was quite freeing, though I realize by-choice is quite different from technology-decided (so sorry). Thank you, as always, for these peeks into your life, like the adorable hiding grandchildren and that glimpse of sweet DHH. I find These Current Times give me Low Energy, and quilting helps me with that. Wishing you something inspirational to sew now that Summer Flowers is done and dusted!
Beth
I’m glad to learn that the photographs were not part of the digital losses, and I heartily agree that physical quilts will outlast me, and for that I am grateful. Congratulations on the finish of Summer Flowers, I think it turned out beautifully. Do you have plans or thoughts on keeping or gifting it?
what’s in a name? Love, love, love it, no matter what you call it! Always so much fun sewing with you.
I changed computers this year and in cleaning out files found a number that our password protected and I don’t begin to have a clue what the password is. I think it’s probably for the best.
Summer flowers is beautiful- great fabric choices! I like the name change and it’s still on my “to do” list if I live long enough 😊. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on “subtraction” – I feel much the same way (except perhaps for my fabric collection!😊). Trying hard to live in and enjoy the moment(s).
Summer Flowers is a lovely garden showcasing your quilty life. So sorry about losing your files. I’m trying to focus more on writing and doing something with all those photos from years ago that represent my childrens’ lives. Like you, I made a roll of film last and all I have to show for it is lots of mediocre photos. I feel overwhelmed by all those old photos and bringing some order and meaning to them while I’m able. Can’t even think about the thousands and thousands of digital photos waiting for attention. At least they are far better quality images.