Hopeful Homemaker

Early Bird Quilt

October 15, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Another quilt finished!

Almost two years ago I posted pictures of my Early Bird quilt top , and it’s hung in the closet ever since. Until last month, that is, when I summoned the courage to try an all over free motion quilting design on it. I actually quilted this quilt before quilting my On a Whim quilt , because I wanted to practice on something I wasn’t as attached to.

The quilting went far better than I anticipated and I succeeded in making myself love it all over again. In some ways this quilt feels more “back to school” than just “fall”, perhaps because of the ruler prints in it. Either way, it’s perfect for this beautiful time of year.

For the backing I used a solid green with a couple of strips of pieced scraps for added interest. I love how well the flower quilting shows up on the green.

Another favorite detail on this quilt is the zig zag edges on two ends of the quilt. It makes me smile.

The whole thing makes me smile, actually, and fills my heart with joy and gratitude for the privilege of creating things. I am grateful for the talents of others and the beauty that blesses my life, grateful for the opportunity to make things that I can wrap around my loved ones to warm them. Grateful for useful, beautiful things. Grateful for the opportunity to learn new things, try things we’ve never tried, and to improve. Grateful for that small place deep inside me where determination lives. For color, texture, design and pattern. Grateful for all of it.

A simple red print from my stash was used for the binding and I’m very pleased with it. Pleased that at last it’s finished and in use around the house.

Stats:
pattern:

Merry Go Round by American Jane fabrics: Early Bird by cosmo cricket, and some Tailor Made quilting: allover flower design, taught in Free Motion Quilting by Angela Walters (Flower Power is what she calls it.)
size: approximately 65 x 74 inches

26 comments abundance, quilting

Laundry

October 10, 2013 jennifer Musings on Life and Beauty

Today I am racing around trying to get things done around the house. I wrote on Sunday about how it feels for me to be out of the house more lately and I feel like if I run a little faster I might be able to fix it?

I was talking to a friend and she mentioned laundry. It made me laugh, because at our house the first sign that we are out of balance is the laundry. Not that it doesn’t get washed; I don’t have that option. But the concept of laundry as a beautiful process that contributes to order and tidiness goes right out the window while the clothes land on the floor.

I’ve said before that 15 minutes can work wonders, and I got a lot of folding done in 15 minutes… just in time to walk out the door for 2.5 hours of carpool driving. I have a feeling it took my 4 year old much less than 15 minutes to undo the neatly folded stacks of clothing I had waiting for several children to carry to their rooms and put away. Sigh.

I’ve worked so hard on routines since school started, trying to help my children improve their habits, and many days I’ve felt good about what I’m accomplishing, but sometimes sights like this make me wonder who I was kidding. The past few days are making me humble and sending me back to the drawing board (my knees).

Another tell-tale sign? My kitchen counter… the end of it, where the papers stack up if I don’t deal with them right away. That hot spot needs attention as well.

Do you have a spot that always goes first when life spins out of control?

One comment life

Fireworks Quilt Blocks

October 9, 2013 jennifer Quilting and Sewing

Months ago I made my first block of Camille Roskelley’s Fireworks quilt pattern , then got busy with other things and most of the year flew by. Hoping to finish a few things before 2014 rolls around, I pulled the Bloomsbury Gardens fabrics back out and made a few more.

I think this second block might be my favorite so far. The floral print looks so pretty in this pattern!

Blocks three and four are the reverse of one and two. At first I planned to mix them all up but then decided to just reverse them. I think it will look great.

The four blocks together:

I am now 1/4 done with piecing the blocks. Working on them got me excited about the project again and I hope to find time to make a few more in coming weeks. While these blocks seem to take more time than I expect them to, they are very pretty when they come together.