Finished by Friday - Focused!

I know you can't tell but this is actually green thread on this embroidery. I participated in a BOM stitchery of herbs which began a couple of years ago from Patches in St. Charles, Missouri. There are 16 of these blocks, plus a four piece poem that's part of the border of this quilt. I have completed 13 now with Aloe and Basil the two I've done this week. I need to do 3 more plus the poem before I can put the quilt together. These are small, maybe 3" or 4" square of embroidered area and only take a couple of evenings of television to complete. I should have finished months ago but put it off when I started Winter Wonderland. I'm back on it now and hope to get this finished soon so I can start Nice People, Nice Things.



Oops, first I need to make a redwork Christmas stocking for the coming grandbaby. I've made one for the other seven and even though this child won't be born until December 31 (his birthday is on the schedule!) he is a very real, very eagerly anticipated child and he shall have presents from his grandparents. :)

This is an Alex Anderson pattern called Shadow Work. You can't see in the photos but the hearts and flowers are done in red and inside the heart in thread the same color as the background are words. One says "the purpose of love is love." I've had these blocks done for some time and couldn't decide how to use them. Finally I decided I wanted something simple that wouldn't take away from the hearts at all. I have so much redwork that I'm thinking about filling one wall in my bedroom with just wallhangings - a sort of collage.




This little angel is a Lynette Anderson design that is free on her website. Since this is my life motto I couldn't wait to stitch it. BUT it has a problem I need some help in correcting. First of all the binding didn't act right - I don't like the way the corners mitered so I'm going to take that off and redo. But after I put it up to take a picture I noticed that the half square triangles aren't right! In the upper right corner two print fabrics are together...somebody who has an eye for these things tell me how to correct that!

Last week when I took the class from Debbie Maddy she gave us a brochure with her patterns in it. She had one that used a fat quarter and simply framed it with borders. I decided I didn't need a pattern to do that (sorry Debbie, but that's money saved for more fabric) so I tried it this week. This fat quarter is directional so I trimmed it to 18" square and put a 1" yellow border, then a 3" print one, and finally a 5" red one. It's now 27" square and a good size for a baby quilt. This is just the top and I don't have it quilted yet but I'm sure some little one will like it. What color binding do you think I should use? I have plenty of all three borders left.

I had this piece of Christmas fabric in the top of my closet and I couldn't remember buying it. :( I'm sure I did because there are no fabric fairies making deposits in that closet. If I know me, and I do fairly well, I probably found it on sale somewhere after Christmas 5 or 10 years ago. Anyway, I thought it would make a cute apron with that border on the hem. I didn't use a pattern for this one, and I definitely should have. I've folded the waist back but it's considerably larger than it looks. I'm large but it will comfortably fit someone a good bit larger than me. :) I had a little leftover fabric so I made the pockets to match the border. It's a fun apron, don't you think?

No you aren't seeing double! I have actually made four of these table runners because a) I love them, b) they're easy, c) they're fast, d) I can quilt them myself, and e) they make great gifts. These are #3 and #4 even though I called them Americana #1 and #2 on my sidebar. That's ok, I often call my children by the wrong name, too. If you look closely you can see the quilting - wavy lines (like the wind) down the stripes and in the border, and I also outlined each of the three stars

I had this house block that was supposed to be 12 1/2" square. It ended up being 12 1/8" on one side and 12 1/4" on the other side. Don't ask...I have no idea what I did. So I just trimmed the darn thing to 12" added a border and a snowman on the door and a snowflake for the doorknob and made a small quilt/wallhanging. I thought at first I'd make a table runner but then I regained my sanity when I realized people would see it up close and personal while eating dinner.

Whew! I sewed all day on Saturday and wore myself out. But it was a good week. I sometimes am amazed at how much I can get done if I just sit down and work nonstop. I put supper in the crockpot when I got up and only emerged from the sewing room for sustenance. Do you ever do that? Then I was able to sew for several hours on Monday and again on Wednesday. Turns out when I get focused stuff gets done - who knew?

Consider the Lilies

I saw this beautiful art quilt at the Houston International Quilt Festival in 2006. I remember standing in front of it thinking it was incredible, but also thinking that's not something I could ever do. I'm a traditional quilter all the way. I love the old patterns like Churn Dash and Ohio Star and Snail's Trail. I love the old fabrics, whatever era. I remember thinking this must take a lot of dedicated time and a lot of dedicated brain power to make. Not me, I don't want to do that.

Then I saw these.



The first couple of years after my parents died (they died the same year, just four months and a day apart and that's a whole 'nother story) I bought Easter Lilies in their honor to be placed in the sanctuary on Easter morning. We brought them home after church and planted them here under this tree where I could see them from my deck. There are now way more than four lilies and they just keep spreading. Looking at them makes me wish I could make a quilt that looks like that! Not a traditional quilt but one that reflects the beauty that God put in the lily. An art quilt!

Every time I see them I am reminded of the verse from Matthew 6: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." God does such beautiful work.