163. Books for Ella

 This is Ella. She came into our family at three months of age from the county social services system. Our son and daughter-in-law, Aaron and Christa, are wonderful parents with huge and loving hearts, and from the beginning it was their hope that the placement would eventually end with Ella being adopted.

There were ups and downs along the way, lots of ups and downs, and many times of uncertainty as to the final outcome, but nearly a year ago, shortly before her 2nd birthday, with many friends and family in attendance, Ella Jane Wiens became an official and forever member of our family.

I've made quilts for each of the grandchildren.

We are a family of readers. After seeing Ayumi's Books for Baby block in her book, Patchwork Please!, I knew that was the quilt I wanted to make for Ella.

At the same time, it was my turn to request blocks from two different bee groups, the Mid Century Modern bee, and the Sew Sisters bee. I only requested one book block from each member, but for some reason, several of my bee mates, many of whom had followed this nearly two-year journey with us, made more than one block.

Blocks started arriving in the mail.

Several friends who were no longer part of these bees, or had never been in a bee with me but knew Ella's story, asked if they could make blocks too. In fact, there were so many cute blocks that I only made two myself!

It was overwhelming. Some even did extra special fussy cutting for that little sliver of text at the top of the book, special messages if you look closely.

As soon as I saw Megan's (@lushknit) Books for Baby quilt on Instagram, I knew how the blocks needed to be framed and sashed.

One of the two blocks made by me

She was kind enough to let me copy her quilt, and oddly enough I had the same fabric in my stash that she had used.

Several months ago, Amy Friend, a long-time and dear friend I have met through social media, invited me to be part of a blog hop as her new book, Intentional Piecing,  had just been published. She chose  the "Tell Me a Story Quilt," where each block can tell a little story with some fussy cutting. I decided to make 12 blocks, intentionally choosing fabric that would represent me, so Ella would know a little more about me. If she looks closely at the blocks, she will know that I love art, drink a lot of coffee, play the piano, love to read, think a day at Disneyland is the best, love opening snail mail, like to knit and crochet, would prefer to dress nearly always in denim, love to sew, like to eat pizza and Mexican food, prefer real clocks and watches, and love rainy days.

Also, nearly all my friends sent signature blocks so I added them around the story blocks.

As soon as I saw this backing fabric, I knew it was the perfect choice for this quilt, with words like family, friends, warmth, love, and most especially, chosen.

I used two blocks made by special friend, Carla Timberlake (@lollyquiltz), for the label, and added names of contributors who hadn't made a signature block.

I finished the binding  and took it to the children's section of one of the local libraries for a couple of photographs.

I can't imagine our family without this special little girl.

She is so dearly loved. The warmth and generosity of my friends has made me feel cared for beyond measure. Words can't begin to express my thanks to every single one of you who contributed to this very special quilt.

Title: Books for Ella

Pattern Design by: Ayumi Takahashi, Amy Friend

Completed: 2016

Quilted by: Darby Myers