Ireland's Irish Chain

This quilt has been a year in the making. We purchased the fabric last summer and needless to say, it took a lot longer to complete than I envisioned. It's hard to tell from the picture, but Ireland's piecing was far from perfect (and neither was mine on my first quilt!) but the quilter turned it into an absolute masterpiece! Ireland chose Ravenclaw colors and the quilter took that and ran with it. The blank squares have all kinds of Harry Potter motifs including Hedwig and the sorting hat. Ireland's favorite is the Ravenclaw crest. She stitched Wisdom Wit Learning into the fabric and the light blue border is replete with Ravenclaw. I mentioned Ireland's patronus is a dolphin and so she stitched those into the dark blue border. Ireland was thrilled and she loves this quilt. When we finished the binding I told her tradition holds that as you make the quilt, you leave pieces of your soul in it. When it's complete, you sleep under it to regain those pieces. She said, "But what if I want this to be my horcrux? Fair point. Of course she wanted to show it off to a fellow Harry Potter fan.

Nick is Ireland's "boyfriend." I use quotes because they are more of an intellectual match than a romantic one. Our faith discourages dating before the age of 16 as well as exclusive relationships but Brent and I decided to take this on a case by case basis. Not every relationship is the same and kids mature in different ways. We've both met Nick and his parents and I dunno, maybe we failed on this particular parenting point but we aren't too concerned about it. 

Nick moved into the school district for the gifted program and became fast friends with Ireland. When Ireland tells me she scored well on a test she immediately follows it up with how well Nick did- celebrating a bit if she beat him by a point or two. They are kind of like Anne and Gilbert that way. Competitive friends but also supportive. They've agreed they aren't supposed to kiss until high school and his parents also have a rule about no members of the opposite sex in the bedrooms. I floated the idea of stopping by Nick's to show him the quilt and Ireland lit up. She carefully planned her outfit. Nick's mom was pretty enthusiastic as well, as he's an only child and can get quite lonely.

Before we even made it to the front door he rushed out and gave her a hug, crying "IRELAND!!!" We laid out the quilt and talked about it for a bit. Nick's mom promised to send updates and I left for what I thought was a two hour hmmm, I don't think I can say playdate- hangout? I received a text asking if Ireland could stay for lunch and I'm told Nick insisted on packing a picnic. They walked to the school and ate it on the playground and then took a walk through the woods in the back. 

I happened to run into them while I was headed home and when I stopped to say hi, Nick said, "Does she have to leave?" Apparently they needed some more time! I received yet another text asking how late Ireland could stay and I have to be honest, I was sure they'd be sick of each other by then! She finally did come home and I asked what they did together besides lunch and chess. "Talk" replied Ireland. "About what?" I queried. "Everything" she deadpanned. Turns out they both had scout camp in a week and then trips with their grandparents after that. Ireland seemed relaxed and happy after connecting with her boyfriend and I'm told Nick was pretty darn happy too.