Real life, and a bit of quilting

Real life has a way of demanding our attention from time to time. It has certainly had my attention lately.

A dear aunt passed away on Valentine's Day. While she never married or had children of her own, she had a great many nieces and nephews. I decided that as the oldest of those nieces and nephews I should speak at her memorial service. I struggled last week with the writing of that eulogy. The quick trip home last weekend helped me realize that the words themselves were not as important as the love we all had for an amazing lady.

In early February our dog Tessa had surgery to remove a growth from her leg. She had to wear a restraint collar while her incision healed -- unless one of us was able to watch her closely. I spent a lot of time 'watching' her during her recovery. A biopsy revealed the growth to be a malignant tumor, and she had a second surgery yesterday, which we hope will improve her chances. I see more watching in my immediate future.





I have also done a bit of quilting. There is a fairly new little guy in my daughter-in-law's family. I have not yet met him, but I want to be ready when the time comes.

My local craft store, Michaels, used to sell all sorts of fat quarter bundles, like these, which I then used to make projects like these.

I had never thought to use them in a larger quilt or throw until I made this. It is larger than a baby quilt -- more like a child's quilt. I started with a disappearing nine patch block and then did a little trimming.

I know that many of you are enjoying spring-like weather. More snow and very cold temperatures have put our dreams of spring on hold. That's life, I guess!

Sandy

Well begun is half done

Aristotle gets the credit for the title of this post. This quilt was well begun over a year ago, but I am happy to say that today it is finished. It started out as a Fons and Porter kit. The original quilt was made up of 100 paper pieced log cabin blocks. My smaller version consists of just 64 blocks. I have to admit that I was not 'in love' with some of the fabrics in the kit but I decided to use them all anyway. I am glad I did.

The quilting itself is pretty basic. While I love the look of densely quilted art quilts (and wall hangings and table runners as well) I prefer the softer look and feel of a lightly quilted blanket that will be used for warmth and comfort.

While some of you have wonderfully creative muses who encourage you with every project, it seems that I am stuck with a nagging voice reminding me that I need to finish what I've started before I can move on to something new. Maybe today I can finally visit my local fabric store. I understand they are holding a big sale!

Sandy