When the boys were little we loved the “I Spy” books. We would examine the photographs intently, looking for every little thing mentioned… “here’s an anchor”; “there’s the fourth safety pin”, “ah! found it! the fox playing a flute.” Such clever assemblages.  Such fun and care taken to devise each scene.

Recently, D. and I had a nostalgic interval while waiting outside the cast-removal area (it is gone! – the cast, that is, not the room).   We got through an entire “I Spy” book.  Even though it is one we have at home and probably read 40 or 50 times, we “read” it again with relish.

Seeing the book put me in mind of the tradition of making “I Spy” quilts for children.

Just to name a few things to be found here:
two whales; two zebras (one, a baby zebra running next to her mother, I just noticed today while quilting the stripes!);  a butterfly; one tattoo; two stores; two snakes; four tortoises; one horse; one dog;  one reindeer; three antelope; four fish; two ships and one Hawaiian boat; one pirate; a treasure map; ginkgo leaves; a passionflower; green and ecru leaves, a red daisy, two stork-like birds, four cows, two trees, one door and one large red house.

The thought of a young child “perusing” this landscape makes me very happy.

This quilt was commissioned by  Wendy Golden-Levitt.