Several posts have referred to the busy-ness of life right now and here’s one of those projects that have been a work in progress and finally accomplished because of that…now mind you the heir-apparent to this cuddly quilt, Lawson, was three months old when I finally got it done, but still, he can enjoy it for a considerable amount of time, so a little grace here eh?!

If I remember right the dimensions of the finished quilt are something like 72 x 54.

A couple of things I learned on this project that will benefit the next one are:

1.)  Start early!  A project like this needs lots more time than you think!
(Doesn’t everything come to think of it?)
2.) Don’t try to quilt following seam lines when you haven’t sewn one in
how many years?? Even though 90% of all those corners matched
really well, the 10% that didn’t quite match up were pretty
conspicuous when quilting in the straight lines…diagonal lines or
shapes within the squares would have been much preferred.
3.) No matter what the directions call for, always buy ‘EXTRA’ lengths of
fabric because when you need more and go back to the store, guess
what?…they’re sold out! Trying to match a fabric with what you’ve
previously bought is time consuming and difficult and can affect the
overall color scheme of the whole project.

Traci has worked for my sweet hubby for nine great years and we have watched her grow and mature and now she and her husband Jason are parents of a sweet little boy that they adopted. Just like our son Brandon, I know he will fill a special place in their hearts and lives with much love and joy that come with all children. If others should come, they too will have their special places…that’s why God made the hearts of moms and dads like stretch pants…one size fits ALL! LOL!

I hope you’re having a wonderful month, thanks for stopping by!
Katherine

The other day, Tuesday in fact,  my dear friend Barbie and I enjoyed a frantic time of running around Waco, finishing up errands, fixing mishaps, and generally “I can’t believe we’re ever going to get on the road” kind of day as we were trying to leave town for our monthly girls-day-out Tudor Rose Sampler Guild meeting in the Dallas-Ft Worth area.  Now keep in mind we usually leave around 9:30-10:00ish for a day of shopping and lunch followed by fun, sharing,  and stitching a bit at guild that evening and returning home around 11:00.

This month however we were both stressed by the busy-ness of our lives and, to make matters worse, we had decided to participate in the Christmas Ornament exchange at guild, which meant stitching and finishing an ornament suitable for peer review at guild.

We did finally make it to guild and at the end of the day we had a wonderful trip as usual.  I was very delighted to end up with an ornament that complimented a piece I had stitched back in 2001 for Christmas that year.

You can see how the two go together so well.  I’m looking for one of those curvey stands to hang the ornament from so I can keep the two of them together.

All-in-all the experience has taught me that I need to make that extra effort to de-stress my life and, maybe plan things out a little better, and possibly lower my expectations of what I can get accomplished in a given time frame.  I’m hoping to get a picture of the ornament that I created from the sweet gal who ended up with it…since I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it!!!

Oh well, in spite of our protestations to the contrary, life goes on!  I hope you’re going to have a great weekend and remember to enjoy the simple pleasures of the season, the music, and the crispness in the air, the shining faces of the children.  But,  remember most of all to tell them of the story of the One who made it all possible!

Blessings to you for stopping by!

Katherine

I’ve had lots of you ask how my Williamsburg Remembered stitching project is coming, and here it is:

I have one more bar of stitching and this side of the outer case is finished! I think I’m doing pretty good in moving right along. I need to start practicing some specialty stitches that are challenging on the front cover rose arbor. I’m sure that will slow progress a bit over the summer, but I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I’ve started a piece for my darling hubby for Father’s Day that has my attention right now. You’ll have to wait till then to get a peek at it, but I think you’ll love it!

Remember what your grandmother used to say (at least mine always did!). . .”Idle hands are the devil’s play toys!” so keep busy!

Katherine

I was so excited Monday evening that I was able to finish, completely FINISH one of my needlework projects. Thanks, mostly, to my stitching buddy Barbie, (without whose help it’d still be waiting to be finished)!

When we talked on Sunday afternoon (Apr 26th) she asked me what I was taking for show & tell to guild on Tues. (May 5th). After lamenting that I didn’t have anything finished she urged me to get out the Milady’s Acorn Box that I’d purhchased on our last trip. I decided to take up the challenge and set my other work aside and started stitching in spare moments ending in a marathon finish Monday evening in a hotel room in Dallas, stitching, glueing, twisting, and finally hitting the sack at about 1:30 a.m! It was so much fun, although I wouldn’t recommend it. Barbie was so patient with me.

Never having done any finish like this, I truly didn’t know what I was asking when I’d asked her to help me achieve this. We’ve long wanted to get to the final stages of assembly with one of my projects, but never in such a frenzy.

I tried to have everything we needed but didn’t realize that I needed to serge the edges of the box top for lacing. She galantly took up needle and quilt thread and did a button hole stitch around the piece. She showed me how to assemble the pieces and the lacing technique, tucking in corners and finally gluing the twisted cording for a final touch. While I did the lacing she applied the twisted braid to the scissor fob and the project was complete!

My sweet hubby & I had to be in Dallas Monday (May 4th) for an all day meeting so I got the bright idea that instead of riding home with him and riding back to Dallas Tuesday morning that Barbie ought to drive up Monday after work and we could have a girls’s night out! Well, as you can see, it was actually a girl’s night IN! It was great fun, but I promised not to ever do that again!!!

The designer, Gloria Moore, is a member of the guild and it was a special treat when she praised our work. So, now it’s back to my other projects for a while; Catherine Theron’s Williamsburg Remembered…see previous post…the Alphabet is now complete and I’ll post pictures and updates on that next week. Then I have to finalize the layout for the last meeting of my Scrapper’s 10 group this coming Tuesday evening. We’re taking my husband’s mom to church Sunday if she’s up to it and I’m cooking lunch for everyone at her home in Winters, TX. Much to do as always.

I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful friend! One of many great friends that the Lord has blessed me with. I hope that you have sweet girlfriends who you can share your passions with, it really helps make life so much more enjoyable. May your week be a glorious one!

Katherine

Project particulars:

Milady’s Needle Designs by Gloria Moore
Milady’s Acorn Box
Fabric: 40 Count Pearled Barley (Lakeside Linen)
Threads: Crescent Colours Red Fox and Rustique
Design is stitched over one with a single floss