I had to go all the way back to my elementary school years for this one. You could argue that I had to go back 70 to 66 million years.

My first memory of school involved the study of dinosaurs. It was the first unit of the year, and maybe lasted 6 weeks? Long enough at a young age for me to assume that this was the SOLE focus of formal education. I was on board with this. I was invested. I couldn’t wait to get to school to learn about new species and their behaviors. I could be bleeding out of my eyes and would still want to get on that bus. School was the best thing EVER! The colossal Brontosaurus (it is recognized again and not the same as an Apatosaurus), squat spicy Ankylosaurus, and elegant Parasaurolophus. Each new dinosaur was my favorite, and there seemed to be no end to them. My daily-changing love affair came to a screeching halt when I met the Stegosaurus. Those stunning twin rows of bony plates cascading down its back to a spiked tail swept me off my feet, so to speak. It is still my favorite dinosaur (despite a momentary dalliance with the adorable Compsognathus after The Lost World: Jurassic Park was released).

Credit: Dinosaur Land, Spain

The first day of the next unit, I waited all day to start discussing dinosaurs. The day ended with ne’ery a word about them, and I remember thinking what in the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is this? The whole week passed this way. I didn’t want to go anymore. Nothing in the rest of my education was anything but a disappointment in comparison. This is not an exaggeration.

I never lost my love for dinosaurs and still read everything that I come across regarding them. I would have made a terrible scientist, because if I ever got my hands on Stegosaurus or Compy DNA, I would totally resurrect them. Part of me hopes some “unethical” scientist is doing just that, and I can go see them IRL. I’ve seen Jurassic Park probably 50 times; admittedly, I have learned nothing. I never stopped dreaming of walking among these giants. In my dream world, we would be friends. They would come loping over when I tear open a package of dinosaur treats. Recent reading on the fossils found in Madagascar introduced me to the Majungasaurus, which I feature in this quilt called “Oh, Hello Sweetie”.

Title: “Oh, Hello Sweetie!”

Materials: commercial and batik fabrics, fusible web

Size: 27″ x 40″

Added: I reread my post a day or so after publishing it and noticed in the close-up shot right in front of the girl’s knee, which escaped my notice while free-motion quilting. I could have taken it down quickly and replaced it with the quilted shot, but it is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the life of a quilter. After days and days of staring at the same image for 12+ hours a day, it is easier than you think to miss a section. This was even after I had to rethread 3 other spools because I missed a tiny section on the first pass. It is authentic, and I am choosing to leave it.