Tiny, tiny triangles

With each new quilt I like to expand my skills at least a little.  I'm wondering .... do you ever get to a point where you know and can do everything?  I'd like to think that before I leave this earth I'll make one "perfect" quilt.

This picture caught my eye on pinterest and I've been going back to it repeatedly so I finally decided to make it.  I don't have a pattern but I can see that it's just nine patch and snowball blocks.  I'm embarrassed that I actually did two pages of math (plus a glass of spilled wine) to figure it out. 

After trimming the blocks I've got a nice little pile of tiny triangles.  I'm sewing and sewing in my spare moments and then anticipate trimming and trimming but hopefully will have a sweet little border someday.  The tiny half square triangles are actually taking as much time as sewing the rest of the blocks all together.

In the end I'd like to showcase a simple hand quilting design  in the blank white areas.  I'm not a fan of hearts or swirlies but all my attempts at freehanding a design look shockingly like a pentagram.  If anyone has any simple design ideas I'd appreciate a link or a picture.

Thank goodness for a snowy, snowy Sunday to have a nice excuse to stay in and sew with Downton Abbey as my background noise.  What could be better?

Another woman's quilt blocks

Last Thursday I was getting my hair cut by my long-time hairdresser Kim and I was telling her of my new found love of quilting.  She mentioned that years ago her mother was learning how to quilt when she was sick so she could make a quilt for each of her grandchildren.  She died before she finished the last one ...  for Kim's youngest son.  Recently Kim found all the finished blocks and fabric and had been wondering how she could find someone that could put them together and finish the quilt.

I am so honored to be able to sew these blocks together and complete the wishes of a woman who wanted to leave each of her grandchildren a memento of her love.  I've thought of her a lot as I've been pressing and trimming and sewing the blocks that she made with hopes of leaving a gift of comfort for her grandson. 

I'm going to add a border and hand quilt and then bind with navy blue.  I really hope I can do this quilt justice and make it as nice as she would have and that a young boy thinks of her as he snuggles with it.