When I was a kid
there was a dairy in my small town
that had a soda fountain.
It was a treat to go,
sit on the stools that swiveled, and
order a strawberry ice cream soda
served in a tall glass
with a red and white straw.
I don't remember when
I came in the possession of some vintage
churn dash blocks that reminded
me of those delicious ice cream sodas and
those cheerful red and white straws,
It was during this quarantine
that I finally got this special quilt finished.
Sippin' Sodas
2020
Last November I began the process
of taking these 20 blocks apart
and resewing them to make them
all the same size.
These are all happy blocks
that look great sashed with
the medium gray print.
I decided to save time by machine quilting
in the ditch and doing straight lines in the borders as well.
The quilting went with the simplicity of the blocks
and, of course, the striped fabrics.
Okay, the original idea was to then
hand quilt the vintage blocks,
but the more I thought about it
and reevaluated the vintage fabrics
I concluded the fabrics were too brittle.
I decided that hand quilting the blocks
could potentially break the fibers.
The blocks are 9 inches,
leaving a pretty large space not quilted,
but this quilt is one that will mostly be
admired rather than used.
The original maker of these blocks
is unknown, so I'm hoping
she would be pleased how they were finished.
Maybe her inspiration was a
special time
she had had at a soda fountain,
enjoying a strawberry ice cream soda, while
sippin' through a red and white straw.
Until Next Time-
Kyle
