Chapter 3 - Tali – Lots of Stars
Ziva laid the half-square triangle star squares on the cutting table. She was trying to get them laid out in an eye-catching pattern for Tali's quilt top. Nothing was working in her opinion and she was getting frustrated with the whole thing.
"Hey Ima," Anthony peeked around the corner of the sewing area in the master bedroom. "Can LJ and I have a snack?"
Ziva glanced at her watch, "You may. Are your sisters home yet?"
The almost-teen shook his head, "Nope. Just me and LJ." He walked over to the table where his Ima was rearranging squares of fabric stars. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Trying to arrange these stars for Tali's quilt. I just cannot seem to find the 'right' combination," Ziva sighed. "So far none has leaped at me to say, 'this one.' I do not know…"
The son took a block in his hands, "May I?" When his Ima nodded, Anthony moved several of the blocks around on the table, making the resulting overall pattern a gradient of color. "Light to dark," he explained as he showed his mother.
Ziva smiled at her older son, "I like that idea; that works better than any that I have tried so far."
"Anthony!" LJ burst into the room with a bag of chips in one hand and a container of ranch dip in the other. "What did Ima say about snacks?" He stopped when he saw his mother and brother gazing at star-themed squares in shades of red, purple, and blue on the table.
"You may have a snack with your brother," Ziva turned to her youngest. "Anthony got distracted helping me arrange the squares of stars for Tali's quilt."
"Oh." LJ put the bag of chips and the container of dip on a smaller table. "I think this one should be in the middle." He moved the darkest purple star to the middle of the design, shifting the others but keeping the gradient of colors. "What do you think?"
Ziva and Anthony grinned as the mother swapped out two of the dark red stars. "That is it!" Ziva exclaimed with a high five to each of the boys. "Toda raba."
"What are you going to put on the backing?" LJ asked as he opened the bag of chips to share with the others. "We both had a single fabric with a printed design."
Anthony spotted an open book with the carpenter's star pattern on the table where Tony had been moving squares around to make patterns. "Ooh… you could do this one with all purples… Tali's favorite color," he pointed to the picture on the page.
"I am going to ask Tali to help choose a fabric or design for the other side of her quilt," Ziva informed her sons. "You two can help me think of what to make for Abba, if you want."
"Okay," they replied together. LJ grabbed a quilt magazine with patterns while Anthony continued browsing through the book with the carpenter's star pattern after marking the page for his Abba.
Ziva checked the blocks laid out for Tali's quilt a final time before beginning to sew them together. LJ watched his mother as she made the seams to join the blocks, noting how she lined up the edges with a mark on the plate by the feed to the needle. Ziva noticed him watching her.
"That mark is for a one-quarter inch seam, the usual for quilting," she explained to her curious son. "When the seams are straight seams, the marks make the alignment easy. Would you like to try it?"
LJ nodded as Ziva moved from her chair; she helped him place two blocks right-sides together to make the next seam. He sat in the chair and looked at the sewing machine's various parts. He grinned as he pressed the foot pedal and guided the fabric to the needle.
"Abba showed me how to do that with my quilt," Anthony reminded his Ima. "It was kinda fun putting the pieces on to make the color contrasts with the yellow. Ima, is it okay if I make a quilt too?"
"Yes; do you want to make a small quilt like these or a larger one?"
Anthony thought a minute, "A lap quilt for Katie so when she comes to our house to watch movies with us, she has her own quilt. And then I want to help with the one for Abba."
"Me too; I want to make a quilt for Grandpa," LJ declared with a smile. "This is fun making a design from pieces that all fit together like a puzzle. From the books and magazines, the colors are just as important as the shapes and how you put them together. It's like making a mosaic with fabric."
Tony and Tali came into the room as Ziva was showing the two boys how to sew the seams.
"Just had a text from Riv; the twins and Gibbs are stuck in traffic. There is an accident at the light coming out of the parking lot for the gymnastics center," Tony brushed his lips on his wife's. "Riv said nothing is moving and that she'd text again when they are."
Tali watched her brothers sewing the squares together, "Will you show me how to sew the blocks also Ima?"
Ziva nodded, "Yes, you can help with the back of your quilt. Anthony and LJ are sewing the blocks for the front. In fact, if you want, you may help me choose a pattern and the fabric for your quilt's back." Ziva pointed to the totes of fabric and the shelf of books and magazines with quilt patterns.
"I found a pattern called carpenter's star," Anthony added as he finished sewing a line of blocks together. "I think you might like to make it in shades of purple. Let me finish this and I'll show you."
Tony grinned at Ziva, "Who would have thought that this would turn into a family hobby?"
She grinned back at him, "Well, three of five so far. The boys really seem to like quilting. LJ has an eye for putting the colors together, but then again, I am not surprised given his talents with art. Perhaps we should purchase that machine you were researching online with the longer arm. Especially since we now have the kids sewing as well."
"It would make the quilting part easier with the longer arm," Tony replied as he pulled up the web page with the machine's specifications. "I can order it online now for delivery in three days."
"Yes."
"Done."
~Quilts~
Tali decided that she liked the carpenter's star pattern and chose a deep purple solid fabric, a mostly purple floral print, and a lilac and white gingham check for the color scheme. She helped her mother cut the half-square triangles in the chosen fabrics and lay out the design. Tali, LJ, and Ziva sewed the triangles into squares and then into the pattern. LJ came up with the idea of making one quarter of the design in four sets and then putting the four parts together into the final pattern to make the large star for the back of Tali's quilt.
By the time the front and back were assembled for quilting, the new machine had arrived and been set up for use. Ziva tried the new templates that Tony ordered for stitching the designs for the quilting of the piece. She liked the stitch rulers but found that free-hand quilting was more her thing.
Tali was quite happy with her double-sided stars quilt; it had truly become a family project.