Worry or Quilt?

Well I've had a very successful quilting day today, although not for the best of reasons. My daughter and grandson have had a very difficult day and there was nothing I could do to help except wait and pray, and quilt to keep my mind occupied. Finally all turned out well for them.

I started on a quilt I have had in my mind for a long time, based on a trip to Wester Ross in Scotland (where my quilting guru friend lives). I am using Jodi Barrows "Square in a Square" technique for the first time http://www.squareinasquare.com/ It's a good system, producing accurate results but it seems to use a lot more fabric than I would otherwise.

You can see the fabrics I've got for the quilt, they represent the colours of this area of Scotland, the mauve heather, the greys of the birch trees, lichens and rocks, the greens of the leaves and mosses, and I also have a black/green for the deep waters of the lochs. I want to add crystals for drops of water and some beading for wild flowers but I'm still thinking about that, so watch this space as they say! And of course I couldn't resist a little bit of "tartan"!!

Thank you for your prayers today, it was really appreciated and they were answered. God bless you.

The Bargello fest continues

An excellent day's sewing yesterday and, inspired by my recent bargello work, I decided to tackle the bargello block in my Sampler Quilt. A long, on-going project using the great Lynne Edwards' second sampler quilt book, New Sampler Quilt Book, which is great for learning new techniques and trying things I never fancied before - I actually enjoyed the Celtic Knot, to my surprise (although I did cheat and buy the bias tape ready made, and iron-on!!) and will do some more of this style of work soon. No sewing today, except for salad seeds, I really must get out into the garden...weeding, beans and courgettes to pick, potatoes to dig up for this evening, it's a lovely life, we are so blessed.

Bargello selection

I've just had a lovely few days in Norfolk and, because of the poor weather, I had more time for sewing than usual. I finished the BQL July challenge which was a bargello project. This was really fun to do and the method was much more straightforward than the last time I attempted bargello. Then it was only the second quilt I had made, and for my parents' Golden Wedding Anniversary so maybe it was all rather ambitious. I was pleased with the results (and they were thrilled) but, as ever, there are lots of things that could have been better....I wonder if any quilter is actually totally satisfied with a piece of work?

I've also used the technique to create a journal quilt for my 50th birthday project (two pieces done so far, ten more to go!) While I was in New Zealand last year I went on a hot air balloon flight over the Canterbury Plains, this little quilt commemorates that lovely day. The other one I've finished is to commemorate a really important series of events during my 50 years - the space race and the Apollo moon missions. This is that photo - Earthrise - taken by astronaut William Anders on the Apollo 8 mission on 24 December 1968.