every quilter needs a covered bridge

For my birthday, Michael made me a sign for our almost-finished covered bridge. I was a little taken aback at the name he choose: Pretty Patty Bridge.

Covered bridges typically have cute names, he told me. There’s Blind Suzie Bridge, Blow Me Down Bridge, and Turkey Jim’s Bridge, to name a few.

Our 24-foot king truss bridge, at our cabin in Wauconda, is made from timbers salvaged from all over Washington and Oregon. The recycled wood make it a “green” project. All the same, we’ll need to buy new roofing material.

Currently there are five authentic wooden covered bridges in Washington state. Upon completion, ours will be No. Six.

yukata quilt no. 1

Metro Baby, 2010, 37" x 41"

Finally I’ve made something with some of my Japanese yukata cottons. This baby quilt, made with five differently patterned indigo and white fabrics, is scissor-cut and pieced by machine. The backing is plush white corduroy.

For finishing, the machine quilting follows the valley of the corduroy wales in nine straight lines. The binding is the predominant striped fabric, on the bias.