Friday, November 11, 2022

Catching Up

Somehow I've managed to drag it out to a solid two weeks between posts again. My dryer broke down, my good Bernina has been having problems and oh yeah, we left town to attend a very good friends funeral. Ughh. That pretty much knocked the wind out of me as she was very close to my age. Such a good person. We were friends for years starting with the fact that I happened to share the same name with her mom. Then our husbands were wild and crazy friends and somehow that brought about an introduction. We got married the same year, had kids in the same timeframe, etc. etc. So many shared life experiences. Sometimes the world is just not fair.

4-Block Tulip Medallion quilt is a true blue finish!
In the realm of quilting, which I know you're really all here for, things have been plodding along in fits and starts. Finally got the 4-Block Tulip Medallion all sorted out and finished up. Yes, the flowers in the baskets are much more 'Carolina Lily' than tulips, but the outside flowers are more tulips than lily.

Loving the plaid basket
I can't find the exact starting date to this quilt, but it was probably in the year 2019. {The top was finished up last year}. The fabrics were stacked up and waiting for love for at least two-three years before that, so yeah, it's an old project. Goes with that old fashioned vibe, right? Totally don't regret putting in the time though. I am in love with the end result. So sweet looking.

Lots of older fabrics used up in this quilt!
I could always tell that there was just too much goodness in that mix of fabrics to give it up completely--as I randomly do sometimes. It's not uncommon for there to be 10 or more stacks of fabric marinating all at once in the quilt room {sometimes 15!} and how can I possibly get the point of using every single one of them? After a long period of time with zero action taken, then I often find myself questioning the potential for ending up with something amazing. This time my reluctance to give up was a good thing.

Still happy with the graphic-look border addition
I've been especially slow this year in brand new quilt starts so I know it's probably time to throw a couple of those percolating stacks right back into the stash. Must make time to dig through them all and start second guessing how good some of those ideas are. I'm just not sure if it's the fabric stacks or the endless amounts of distractions slowing me down recently. Will look through the stacks soon and see which ones still have sufficient zing in them to continue taking up prime real-estate in the quilt room. And in my brain? No sense pondering for ideas if the fabrics aren't doing it for me anymore.

Tulips are never a bad idea
This quilt looked so good hanging out in the quilt room that I almost didn't get the binding on it right away. Such a cheerful view when I first walked in. Too bad it's not smaller or I'd definitely be putting it on the wall! I wondered about putting the year '2021' on the quilt top when finishing up last year, but I'm not unhappy with it at all. Just gives it a nice little folky touch.

Sometimes I just wanna take a nap in my quilting room
We had also had made plans to fly out to Oklahoma to visit our daughter before everything got sidetracked. Totally a bummer that isn't working out for right now. I was well on my way to getting the applique prepped on the #AHIQColor Palette challenge though, thinking it might be a good visiting project. Oh well. I probably wouldn't have gotten much done anyway, other than in the airports!
Doesn't look like much, but it's a start!
These blocks are quite large and so I kept raiding the newspaper basket for templates. At some point my husband noticed and offered up a roll of protective sheeting he occasionally uses in his construction business. Umm, really? This could be a mistake when he can't find the roll where it belongs in the garage! It's a super nice product though and worked really well for my purposes. Who knew?

These flowers will NOT be brown
One of the highlights of the past two weeks was this package that arrived in the mail one day. Terry from California sent me oodles of perle cotton #8 and #12 for use in my quilting. Some partially used and lots of them brand new. Apparently she has moved on to using another thread and offered these up if I was interested. Uh huh. VERY interested! I'm telling you, it was like Christmas, I was feeling so enthused. Just couldn't quit smiling that day! Thank you Terry, you are the best!!

Quilters are so generous!
A while back one of my nieces posted a pic on Instagram of her new decor in the hallway of their new-to-them little house. I'd always sort of worried that this quilt might be a bit 'too yellow' for gifting, but this just made my heart sigh with pleasure. Now I want a sunny quilt hanging in my hallway too!

This is one of the reasons why I gift quilts to 
the right people. She did not do this for me!
There's currently two quilts with the binding machine stitched down and ready for the hand stitching effort. One of them will be gifted fairly quickly after finishing up, but there's no rush at the moment. I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons of doing another set of quilt meetings at our church, starting in January 2023. It feels like a ton of extra work, but I always come back to the camaraderie involved. That part is fairly irresistible. I'll probably try to find out what the level of interest is before I wade in too far.

Getting closer and closer to the finish line!
My daughter almost talked me into making a spur of the moment baby quilt in the last couple weeks and thankfully I resisted. After working on the beginnings of the #AHIQColorPalette quilt and dreaming up all the applique motifs, it dawned on me that this is what I need most right now. Something new and challenging, open-ended and bright with possibilities. Nothing made to order or any pressure to please. Crossing my fingers for enough time to get something interesting going!


16 comments:

  1. Another lovely quilt to enjoy and how wonderful to see your yellow quilt hanging in the hallway. I'm hoping that my young nieces will do the same to my quilts after I'm gone.

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  2. don't you just love it when blog friends send you thread! that has happened to me a couple times - I got a box of YLI hand quilting thread from one and some thread for piecing from another - so nice for you with that big box of thread. I'm so sorry you lost your friend - I think I barely even try to make friends anymore after loosing 3 friends right after another when about 15-20 years ago now - I feel like if I make another close friend now at age 70 it won't be for long. I love the quilt you show - great job!

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  3. I was just thinking about you today and wondered what you were up to. I love the pieced sashing around the lily basket blocks. When I see your appliqued borders it makes me wish I was still into handwork, but my hands don't cooperate. Hand sewn bindings are the only hand work I do now and only on about half of my quilts; the rest are finished by machine.

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  4. I'm sorry for you, losing a friend. Thats hard.
    How lovely your tulipquilt turned out.
    And then such a great gift. We're blessed with blogfriends all around the world. Kind tegards from the Netherlands.

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  5. It is so difficult to lose a longtime friend--I hope the good memories you have about her will help to warm your heart..
    I just think your tulip quilt is so beautiful...I love that little basket on the bottom--so sweet. Take care and I am sending heartfelt hugs out to you Julierose

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  6. I love your blue lilies quilt. Too big for a wallhanging? What size is it? I'll bet it would look nice in your hallway! Your daughter is a genius hanging that quilt down the hallway. It's so nice to give quilts to people that appreciate them. Puts a song in our hearts!

    I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It always hurts. Remember all the good times and always remember that you have tons of quilty friends to lift you. I bet you'll agree every time you look at that box of perle cotton!

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  7. Your lily/tulip quilt is gorgeous, I'm fascinated by the borders.
    Sorry your friend passed away, your loss her gain.

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  8. Your Lily/Tulip quilt is lovely! It's a sunny quilt too :0) As always your handquilting texture is marvellous. I'm so sorry you lost your friend. Quilt meetings at your church sounds so fun! I miss having quilty friends to stitch with. Love the photo your niece took!!

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  9. Audrey tu nuevo edredón es maravilloso todo en el me gusta, me alegra tanto ver como tu sobrina disfruta de su regalo, cuando regalo alguno me emociona ver que los disfrutan. Siento mucho tu perdida, perdí tres grandes amigas , especialmente Marga ella decia que eramos "almas gemelas " ya que nacimos el mismo día, mes y año, la recuerdo cada día .

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  10. So sorry for the loss of your good friend. It's always difficult no matter the age.
    The tulip medallion quilt is just outstanding; I especially love the pieced sashing around the blocks. Your niece has a good eye, the yellow quilt is perfect for her hallway, makes me wish there was at least one hallway in this house so I could do something similar.

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  11. I am so sorry about your friend . . . loss is so difficult. I do love the first quilt you shared today - I'm glad you stuck with it, too. And how grand to receive that box full of Perle cotton! Quiltdivajulie

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  12. So sorry to read about your friend Audrey, too young to leave this world!
    4 Blog Tulip Medallion is a winner all round - it truly does have that beautiful old fashioned look to it, mellow colours with the tulips standing out in the darker.

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  13. Losing a friend is always difficult. I'm sorry for your loss. I love your Tulip Medallion is beautiful.one of my fave. It does look super snuggly. It probably is worth the time to sort through your stacks. Interests can change. The yellow quilt in your niece's home is sunshine and lovely.

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  14. Such a sweet finish. I'm sorry to hear about your friend passing away. I just marked the one year anniversary of a good friend passing away.
    We graduated together and I always thought I would see him again someday. 50 years passed and I never did. Makes me sad. So interesting about your stacks of marinating fabric in your quilt room. I guess I'm too matchy-matchy. I seldom have actual groups of fabric sitting around saying "Me! Me!" in my sewing space. But, I always have them sitting around in my brain. I love that yellow quilt in the hall. I'm going to have to rethink my hallway. Look forward to seeing what's next.

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  15. I'm sorry you lost your friend. We know life can be unfair, but that doesn't make these losses any easier.
    I think, if you are a bit stuck, that a new project, "open-ended and bright" sounds just the way to go. And that yellow quilt! Best hallway ever.

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  16. your new finish is charming and the quilting texture is wonderful.
    Wow! that is a lot of perle cotton - lucky you - and how fun it is in prize bubbles.

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