Leaving it to destiny

Do you ever have an idea that seems not to let go? Keeping fabric around as long as I do might explain that to some degree, but that is beside the point. This wonderful leaf print - about 2 yards of it - has been with me longer than I care to admit. In all those years, I've tried a couple of ideas with it, but never to my satisfaction. I knew, all along it seems, it should be part of a flying geese quilt. But flying geese were always so putsy, I never wanted to commit. Now that I've learned to make flying geese in a much more efficient (and much less wasteful) manner, it seemed time to finally get this wonderful fabric into a quilt.
Unfortunately, a few sample blocks set on the fabric in the manner I've envisioned for all this time, left me sorely disappointed.

Not be be deterred and convinced that the contrast between the blocks and leaf print was too stark, I made a few blocks substituting a dark background for the light. A step in the right direction maybe, but still not all that impressive.
And so I let the idea simmer while I made a pot of coffee and threw some clothes in the washer. With a fresh cup in hand, it occurred to me that dropping the long-held notion of having the leaves serve as dividing strips might be the answer. Covering that one row of leaves with flying geese provided my answer. The leaves weren't meant to be stripes -- they were meant to be a frame.


All the pieces are cut for a throw-size quilt. (I had a day of vacation on Friday and managed to get a ton of cutting and marking done.) In fact, all the light background geese units, as well as a good portion of the dark units, are completed. I'm not kidding you or myself: this won't be done in a week. But what's the rush? These leaves have been waiting a long, long time to meet their destiny.

Anniversary Waltz

The Anniversary Waltz, a flannel quilt for Kit and Violet is finally finished. I picked it up from the longarm quilter last weekend and finished the binding this morning. After taking Paul to the doctor where his cast was removed and replaced with a walking cast, I was excited to have a lovely winter day to catch a few quilt pictures outside.
You may recall the mention of following a couple quilting blogs. Those blogs have artsy photos of quilts. Lately many of those photos have been outside, even in the snow. If they can do it, so can I, right?
Did I mention that this quilt is flannel? And big? And heavy? Giving it a good shake to have it billow out before gently fall to the earth in a perfect fashion didn't work so well. Not factoring in this morning's brief snow didn't help. Fresh wet snow. A heavy flannel quilt. Big old footprints all around the quilt to disturb the pristine (at least in my imagination) setting.So it's settled, I am not a photographer. But I am a quilter who is very excited to give her son and daughter-in-law a quilt made with lots of flannel ... and lots of love.

Warning

That opened bag of marshmallows in your cupboard ... the marshmallows that are probably from last summer, but you tell yourself no, it can't be that long ... belong in the garbage. They will not just puff up nicely when you think you'll finally use them up in some some Rice Krispy treats. They will turn into a clump of marshmallowy glue. Adding butter in hopes of transforming the gooey mass into a pliable, even suitable marshmallow base for the the snap, crack and pop will not work. Aggravating your already tender tennis elbow by stirring in just a cup or two of Rice Krispies will not be worth your while. You will not be making treats. You'll be making gluey sweet glop. I'm just saying ...