Granddaughter N is another year older!

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I hope that you have a wonderful day.

The mister and I wanted to do something fitting for our oldest granddaughter. Living back in Hawai’i she is enjoying the warm tropical days, passing showers and subsequent rainbows, the warmth of the sun and days at the beach. She has embraced the beauty of Hawai’i and its aloha spirit.

When we last saw her in September we took a tour of the U.S.S. Arizona memorial. In the gift shop she spied a mini surfboard made of wood and she instantly fell in love. It suited her and she looked charming carrying it around, but it was not to be. Mister bought his granddaughters some cute earrings and away we went to lunch.

Some months later we began discussing what we could make these girls for their upcoming birthdays. Of course my mind jumped right back to that day in September and I asked the mister if he thought he could make something similar. “Sure can!” he says without hesitation. I love that about him.

We chose a design reminiscent of an original longboard with light and dark woods like Duke Paoa Kahanamoku would have used. Old Hawai’iana. Classic. Clean.

The mister purchased and planed the boards. Then glued them up and I drew a pattern for the “tail” of the board. We were winging this….no templates or patterns….just ideas and trial and error to achieve style and symmetry. Then I took over. I painted three hibiscus flowers on the upper margin and embellished the board with her name. I did some touch up paint and sanding and then sprayed the board with three coats of polyurethane. I finished the project with two coats of carnuba wax and a bit of elbow grease. This gift is for display purposes only….that is unless granddaughter A’s American Girl doll steals it and dashes out to the surf!

Apologies for the image quality!

Now for my gift

Of course I decided that my granddaughter needs a new quilt and pillows for her bed. Picking something that suited her personality wasn’t difficult but it is hard to find nautical themed fabrics that aren’t either very masculine or so kitchy and tacky that you wouldn’t want them. I was excited when I saw Tula Pink’s Salt Water line come out. I knew I HAD to have it. I mean, how could you resist those delightful octopi? The colors were nice and I knew that I wanted a light turquoisy (yes, I made that up!) watery blue for a border and backing with a pieced binding from the remaining fabric. I had the whole thing worked out in my mind before the fat quarters ever showed up on my doorstep.

My sister’s quilting friend Carol has been so generous with hints and help but she has also kindly shared several patterns with me over the past few months. I have actually made one of these twice. A Walk On The Wild Side by Ro Gregg was a great choice for a beginner like me with larger pieces and a bit of “forgiveness” built into the pattern. Both times I was more than pleased with the end result. Easy does not equal ugly, it was a great pattern to sharpen my quilting skills.  As always, I did make some design changes by eliminating the second border and adding blocks at the corner. I stitched in the ditch over the main part of the quilt, stippled the border and did a circular design for each of the corners. FUN!

I made the first one for granddaughter A, but you will have to wait until another posting to see that one. This is about granddaughter N today…on her special day….her birthday!

Me ke aloha, a hui hou kakou little wahine!