Sweet as Honey

Life is busy. That’s a fact. Here’s another fact: No matter how busy life gets, we must make time for our loved ones!

My sweet friend, Nina, is entering into a new chapter in her life. Motherhood! She is expecting a baby girl, Kayla Rae, to arrive in December. When I visited with Nina this summer, I just knew that I had to come home for her baby shower. I figured even if it is only a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, they are precious moments.

After my plane ticket was purchased, I just needed to figure out what to make little Kayla! I had several ideas percolating through my mind, but I kept coming back to this Love My Honey fabric collection by Jenni Calo. To me it symbolized many things...

1. Sweetness: Honey is sweet just like Nina, her loving family and her soon-to-be-born baby.

2. Bees: We are all like busy bees, trying to keep up with our own lives while still keeping in touch with those we love.

3. Mint and Honey: The color palette of this fabric just reminded me of Nina.

Once I washed and ironed all of the fabric, I remembered that beehives are made up of several little hexagons. In fact, some of the material even had hexagons on it. So, I had a new challenge! All of my past quilts were squares and/or rectangles. As I made the template for the pattern with my grid paper, I started to get excited. This is where that 1^st and 2^nd grade math standard about composing and decomposing shapes to make new shapes comes in…I decomposed the hexagon into 2 trapezoids so I could sew everything a little easier! I love a little real-life application of math!

After I made the quilt top I had some fabric left over. I made a small, soft blanket for Kayla to hold, a dress and little shoes! Everyone brought a book to the shower instead of a card, so of course, I had to pick up a Little Golden Book…Yes. It’s a math book.

 

I love how quilts fold up so beautifully! 

And lastly, my Grandma Marge told me this weekend to do absolutely everything you want to do while you are young and still able to do it. For me, going to my dear friend’s baby shower was one of those things. I’ll cherish the memories of passing her the gifts as she opened them, finally meeting her sweet pooch, Lulu, and visiting with family in her beautiful home after the shower. Now…I just can’t wait to meet little Kayla! J