Mary Kay, I love your Bella Bella quilt and wonder every once in a while how it is progressing. The story of it's name is wonderful as is the quilt. I think it's very special.

And Florence it sounds like your 2 quilts are going to be something special too. These quilts all sound like they are meant to be!

Problem is, the floor in that church WASN'T the small mosaics... I'm trying NOT to have to start from scratch, although it looks like there WILL be some drafting in my future...I'm thinking of doing one of the smaller quilts, putting it on point & adding corners, but can't decide if I should just do 2 colors or 2 different patterns...
Florence

I really think someone is telling you to make your version of that FLOOR into your quilts.
If that pattern is not in the BELLA BELLA collection I hope you will try to draft it your self. To make those quilts. YOU might tear some hair out in the process but the results would have been worth it.

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR QUILTS

I know this is off the topic, but I had to chime in about "baby brothers." I have twin brothers that are 13 years younger than me. I like to refer to the youngest one (by 3 minutes) as my baby brother - partly because he is so buff and likes to have a tough guy image. I will get to spend a day or two with him when I get to Houston, since he has decided to come and help my SIL set up.

WOW!! Talk about serendipity!!! That gives me chills! Good luck with two graduation quilts!

OK, I have too many things to say on THIS thread! so I'll start w/ the shortest, my brother is 13 years younger than I am, so I know that story too! Some reason he's not too fond of me referring to him as my baby brother, since he's now mid-30's!!

Next:

I'm in the planning stages for not one but TWO Bella Bella quilts, for my twins' high school graduation, as a remembrance of our trip to Rome last year, as they got a real kick out of me taking pics of all the FLOORS everywhere we went!

Problem is, of course, I'm trying to make this more difficult than it needs to be...Most of the patterns in the book are for mid-size quilts, 50x50, but the graduation quilts I've made for all my neices & nephews have been bed-size, twin and larger, so I don't want my own to feel shortchanged. I'm trying to figure how I might best adapt the patterns to bed-size. Plus, I had to rule out the Venetian patterns since we were in Rome I really wish the photos in the book were identified by location!

And of course there's that twin thing-- don't want to make 2 of the same, but want them to be sort of equal in terms of size and complexity. Might do the same pattern but in different colors... (but don't want to revert to the red baby/blue baby thing! )

AND I asked them if they REALLY wanted their quilts BEFORE they go to college, or do they REALLY want it to be a surprise, b/c I don't know how on earth I'll do two in secret in 8 months!!

But here's a funny thing... I was looking at Google images for inspiration, key words something like FLOOR, ROME, CHURCH and one of the photos took me to a sight for Santa Susanna, the American Catholic Church in Rome. As I scrolled down the page, there's an image of the sanctuary, captioned "Easter Sunday, 2007" -- OMG :shock: At the very bottom of the photo (taken from the choir loft, at the back rear of the church) is my Mom, DS#2, me and DS#1!! :shock: :shock: I recognized us immediately b/c I knew my Mom was wearing MY blue jacket (which I was wearing in my profile pic, taken another day on that trip at St. Peter's) :shock: :shock:
Unbelievable!!

Florence

I am close to finishing something I've always dreamed of - a wholecloth, hand quilted whitework quilt. It was fun drawing all the designs, using stencils and making grid lines. I have a bit more to quilt and then trim and bind. I'm going to use white satin binding in hopes that it might be used at my future grandchildrens' baptisms (kids aren't even out of school yet!). So far, I've kept track and I've spent about 50 hours quilting. It's only 72" x 45", so it's a nice size to hang on the wall or wrap a baby in.

Otherwise, I dream of doing a king-sized neutral quilt, but still can't decide on a pattern. I don't really want to do something with really small pieces, since the quilt needs to be so large. I've been collecting fabrics and have quite a bin-full now.

Chilly, but lovely in Western NY, Nancy

How special is that!!! I didn't realize that their wedding was last week-end, but think that the name you've chosen for the quilt is just PERFECT! I also have a brother who is 14 years younger than I am, so I kinda know what that connection is all about! Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt!

Margo wrote:
Thanks for the kind words, Margo!

I am in the final stages of finishing the Bella and look forward to posting it on a blog when finished....

I need to finish the center and then add a border. I am still thinking about the quilting (since I have jumped head first into doing the quilting myself!)

And at their (Luke and Abby's) wedding last weekend, I found the quilt's name - Agape (the Greek word for love that doesn't have boundaries). Is that a cool name or what!?!?! The Bride's Father gave the most wonderful toast during the reception and said that the second or third time he met my brother, Luke and he were talking in their kitchen and when Abby walked in the room, he saw how Luke looked at her and she looked at him, and it was a love that could only be described as a love that has no boundaries - Agape.

My goal is to finish the quilt before the holidays and send it to them at that time. I already warned my new sister-in-law that their wedding gift would be a little late. And I am realizing now that finding the quilt's name was the right inspiration for the final touches!

Mary Kay needs to put the Bella quilt back on her profile that she made for her brother and his bride!! It's AWESOME!!!

Bella Bella Quilts by Norah McMeeking are beautiful copies of Roman tile floors and decore from churches and other Roman and VAtican building. She has a book out by the name of Bella Bella ... they are on my list of quilts to make. I bought the over-size foundations and been hunting up fabrics to use.

I agree this is a must make quilt

That Bellabella quilt looked strangely familiar--I believe it's a modification of a design on the floor in St. Mark's in Venice. A friend visited there many years ago, in the 1980s, and brought me pics of some of the wonderful tile floors. I thought that circular motif would be a lovely quilt, and would make pretty fans, so I drafted it (and used a lot of really bad language before seeking help from a friend), cut out all those pieces, and made it into a quilt. It has a long but descriptive name--the sections resemble Attic Windows, so I call it Venetian Attic Window Fans, a nice pun, don't you think? You can see it in my webshots pics, in the quilt album, second page, top row in the middle. It's sadly faded after all these years, but I still love it.

http://community.webshots.com/user/pknord

Pat in Rockport, TX

I am like Ruth that I have so many patterns and books, that I could never live long enough to do all that I want. But there are 2 that keep popping into my head the most- one is a bella bella quilt
http://www.bellabellaquilts.com/banaka-vr.htm
and the other is a rhapsody!!

a "not so giant dahlia". my giant dahlia was made with cardboard templates.
now I have a package of marti mitchells acrylic (sp). I have been saving some fabric for over ten years that has blue birds, hummingbirds and asst poppies and delphiniums. I want to fussy cut the motifs to give a kaliedescope look.
if it only turns out in fabric how it looks in my head....