Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Surprise Finish

I have a friend, Emily, who began a quilt with some lovely pre-cut squares in blues & browns and she chose a gorgeous paisley print in the same colors to sash the block rows together.  She was working along and hit a few snags, finally encountering the inevitable frustration of sewing... meaning... the dreaded need for a seam ripper.  So she handed the project off to me with a smile.  I was happy to take it off her hands and the timing was just perfect!
I took some things apart, swapped a few rows around, added some borders and merrily took advantage of having a quilt top done and handy to take to a class using a computerized long-arm quilting machine.
Last Friday I headed over to Bits-n-Pieces Quilt Shoppe in Pelham, NH with Emily's quilt top in hand.  I had chosen a light cream marbled flannel for the backing and cotton batting so it would be easy wash-n-dry for her family to use.  She has boys and I know how that story goes and wanted to be sure they could use it with no worries.

These photos were taken with my cell phone - so pardon the quality.  They show the quilt, batting & backing rolled onto the frame and the computerized long-arm at work.
Close up of the back showing the quilting pattern "Flowering Fern" done in variegated (blue/brown) thread.
 Back of finished quilt.

Finished quilt! 

I used the paisley print for the binding and managed to get all the handwork done in just 3 days - which may be a new record for me. :-)  I was anxious to finish so I could give it back to Emily - which I did today and she was SO surprised!  The look on her face was such a mixture of joy & surprise... a complete and total gift/blessing for ME! 
One of the dearest gifts God has granted me in this life is to be able to make/give useful things.  I sew, I bake bread - nothing earth shattering but these are things that make me happy and seem to be blessings to others at times.  I love that! 

Make something... create some joy!
 
Blessings,