The Most Amazing Quilt

Matthew got a lot of Hanukkah presents this year-- one or two for each night--but I'll admit that not all of them were winners (On the first night, I got him an alarm clock to put on my side of the bed, and told him the gift was that he would no longer have to turn off his alarm for me! Clever wifey, indeed!)  But one gift has been a long time in the making and was the star of the festivities.

And every star needs a dramatic unveiling. We invited a couple of wonderful friends over for latkes with all the fixin's (I had to make the applesauce, as it is not a commercial product here dispite the fact that lots of apples are grown in the UK... what's up with that? But I digress). Anyway, we drank bubbly, lit the candles, gorged ourselves on all things oily and sweet (the hallmarks of Hanukkah) and then Matthew got his prize...

...the most amazing quilt!

Over the summer, when we were going through all of our worldly possessions and deciding what to bring across the pond, we came across a lot of stuff that we couldn't bear to part with, but didn't really want to store in a box for years... Matt had a collection of tee shirts that dated all the way back to his high school days. Momentos of concerts, sports, travel and school. Shirts he either couldn't or wouldn't wear ever again but that still meant something to him.

I asked him if he'd like a quilt made of these special shirts and he was all about it. I looked online and found a few sites that made some cheesy looking t-shirt quilts. Ones without any real quilting or fabric borders (basically just the shirts sewn together- not quite what I had in mind). But on Etsy I found exactly what I was looking for... Jane Haworth from Happy Quilt Designs. Her quilts seemed so well crafted. I messaged her with a ton of questions and she was really great answering them all (i.e.- could you ship the finished quilt to Scotland?) So, I took the scissors to the shirts Matt had chosen... Cutting out the best bits,

because they were not all usable!

I mailed off all the bits to Jane (in California) and told her only two things- the first was that I really liked the look of patchwork quilts, where nothing really lines up perfectly and it looks like a big cozy hodgepodge. The second was that I thought Matt would prefer more traditional-looking prints when it came to the border fabric. She took these two points to heart and then added lots of her own creative vision. Before stitching it all together though, she sent me a photo with it all laid out. I loved it! 

Soon after, I got another email from Jane telling me that the quilt was finished! She was placing a patch on the back and I could include a message if I'd like. This was the hardest part for me. A message?! I took days (maybe even weeks?) trying to come up with something that would live eternally on this wonderful quilt. A little love note? A lyric from one of Matt's favorite songs? A quote? Just... For Matthew? Oh man. I totally over thought about it. Until I picked something silly and cute and emailed it off to Jane before I could change my mind again. With the "message" complete, she could send us the quilt.

I took a peak as soon as it arrived, it was so soft and pretty! I wanted to put it on the couch right away (you can always use another blanket in Scotland!) but I saved giving it to Matt until the Hanukkah party. He loved it-- seeing some of his favorite memories all stitched together! And he took a long while looking closely at all the detailed quilting. Because Jane didn't just sew the shirts together with extra fabric, she quilted around each shirt's design.

And the message I chose? I went for a little tidbit from Shel Silverstein... 

So Happy Hanukkah my dear! May you be cozy and warm in your shirt quilt for many Hanukkahs to come!

(our famous Nessie the Loch Ness Monster menorah)

And Thank you Jane Haworth! You made a beautiful quilt that we will get lots of use from. It is so much nicer than just stashing away a box of shirts that we'll never see again. Thanks for emailing me along the way, being patient when I take forever to get back to you, and for sending it to us overseas! It is already a household favorite, as you can see--

And just so you know, this is not a sponsored post or anything. I just really love the quilt Jane made for us and if it sounds like I am trying to tell you that they make the best gifts and that you all should order one... then you're right. Because they do, and you should. You'll love it. I promise!

Experiencing Scotch Whisky

Being married means doing things the other person wants to do from time to time. Last week, Matt escorted me to a Harry Potter-themed Ball. I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the top of his list of things he really wanted to do, but he went and he had a good time. And because of that, I had a blast.

So, in the interest of fairness and loving-wifely-duty. I took Matt here:

The Scotch Whisky Experience is really close to Edinburgh Castle, and it is geared quite a bit to tourists. In honor of St. Andrew's day, though, they allowed "locals" to take their Silver Tour for free (so long as they pre-booked a space in advance). I got an email saying as much and thought it would be a nice treat for Matthew, especially during his final week of this first semester. I thought I might as well check it out too, seeing that it was free and all. Also, since we live in Scotland and since I generally like boozey things, I figure I ought to know how the national drink is made.

Little did I know, that you get to go on a ride! Seriously! The tour begins with a ride through the whisky making process, starting with rain and ending with the stuff in the glass. We took it all in aboard large whisky barrels on a moving belt (think Haunted mansion in Disneyland)

And funny enough, our ride ended up with us in the tasting room... where we were schooled (quite literally, there was a presentation with slides and everything) on the distinct Scotch-making regions of Scotland and their main characteristics. The Lowlands, with their mildest flavors and hints of citrus; the Highlands with tones of heather and vanilla; Speyside, the fruitiest of them all; and Islay (pronounced eye-luh) with the manliest flavors of smoke and peat.  (While I can appreciate the blazingly obvious differences between some of them, for the most part, they all just taste like incredibly strong alcohol to me...)

I went for a taste of the Speyside pour. Matt braved the Islay...

We took our drams into a meandering room, where each wall, from floor to ceiling housed the world's largest whisky collection. It is permanently on loan to the Scotch Whisky Experience from it's owner. I forget just how many individual bottles there are, but it is a ridiculous amount. There are no repeats. None of them have ever been opened. And there are loads.

That's right, loads!

And some of them are quite old. The oldest dating back to 1897.

The place must be interested in superlatives, because it also has the world's largest bottle of single malt Scotch whisky in the world.

And the tour dutifully ends at the whisky bar, instead of in a gift shop (although they have one of those too). Matt had another dram (well, two, if you count the one I tried to drink). The staff is very knowledgable and talked him through their vast selection. I find that just about everyone in Scotland is willing to talk at least a little about Scotch!

But don't say cheers as you raise your dram, say Slainte Mhath... which isn't pronounced at all like it looks. It comes out sounding a lot more like slan-ja-va.

PS- As soon as we were done with our tour and extra credit drinking, I forced Matt to the restaurant in the basement. It actually has lovely arched windows and overlooks the hill above the Grassmarket. My delicious cup of lentil and carrot soup and sandwich were especially appreciated, since we skipped both breakfast and lunch before hitting the whisky. Perhaps, that's the real Scotch Whisky Experience!)

I'm thankful for...

Matty
Linus
Sherpa
Obie (usually)
my family that is far away
all that love
my friends from a long time ago, and my friends that I have just made
our good health
Scotland
my new job
my passport, my visa
central heating
the view from my flat
the sound of Linus' meow
all the good books I'm reading
music
the health food shop down the road
the chippy and the liquor store on the corner
my bathtub
Skype
my eyes, my heart, my voice
my time
the smell of the pumpkin pies baking in the oven right now
the election outcome
my safety
tap water
people who are dedicated to making the world better
the endless possibilities!

Happy Thanksgiving.

source

Fat & Handsome

Matthew: A Rear in Verse

In,

Out,

or peering through doors.

Playing the green,

or checking the scores.

 A stroll through the mound

or by water that's flowing

on colorful ground,

and near things that are growing.

sometimes clear,

and sometime blurry.

Sometimes he's moving in such a big hurry!

down,

up,

 while having a chat,

  

heading for school,

or with a boxed cat.

 Quite often, it seems, I see Matt from the rear,

at times he is far, 

and others he's near.

I'm not sure of much, but one thing I know...

I hate to see him leave, but I love to watch him go!

(Thanks for being a good sport, my love! And thanks for your derriere extraordinaire!)

GOOD LUCK TODAY!!!