November

Hello! 

I hope you all had a decent thanksgiving holiday, in whatever form that might have taken. My husband and I got "Thanksgiving dinner for two" from our local grocery store. With the exeption of the green beans (which were like cardboard and went promplly into the compost bin), the rest of the meal was actually pretty good, plus we had enough left over for two more meals. All that for twentyy bucks! Then we zoomed with family, which was fun. 

Here is my mini for the month of November. Again, it is a bit of a cheat, as I made it several years ago as a gift for my mother-in-law.

Does it look familiar? That's because its a shameless copy of someone else's quilt. The original was made by Marion Edwards - though I didn't know it at the time, but who has recently and graciously given me permission to post mine on my blog today.

Below is Marion's original "Three Dolly Quilt", and the book that inspired her to make it.

You may remember Marion Edwards Dreamweaver blog, which has been inactive for several years, but you can still find her (and her adorable quilts) on instagram. 

So back to the story of my own three dolly quilt. I had initially machine quilted it, very sparsely and purposely wonky, as I was going for the "primitive" look. However instead, I think it ended up just looking sloppy. Every time I'd see it over at my MIL's house, it bugged the heck out of me. When we were there last month, I asked her if I could take it home and fix it, and she agreed. So I picked out all the sloppy quilting and proceeded to hand quilt it, IMO a huge improvement.  And ... it makes it fresh, so hopefully that means it qualifies for this month's Montly Mini? 😄

It is now ready to send back to Mom.

To see more November Monthly Mini's, please check out Wendy's blog, The Constant Quilter. Enjoy!

Meanwhile I finished my Madders quilt, which I'm now calling my Autumn Quilt. 

 

And I machine quilted my Log Cabin in the ditch around all the blocks, and now I'm considering hand quilting inside the blocks. Yes that's a lot of quilting for these poor hands, but I really like how it looks. That's DMC perle cotton, which so far handles pretty easily, and I think I'm finally getting the hang of the Big Stitch. This may take me forever.

So... still have several things to finish. I still haven't sewn together my blue 16-patch bedspread. The blocks are all done, but they need to be squared up first. I'm stalling. What I really want to do is start something new (of course!). I have several ideas brewing... stay tuned! 

love,                                                                                                           Sandy

Blessings

 Yesterday I helped out with my quilt guild’s quilt giveaway to families who lost their homes in the CZU lightening complex fires. There were hundreds of quilts sent from all over, and from our guild members. There were all sizes and styles, from the most basic utility quilts to the more elaborately made. There were even a few hand-quilted vintage quilts that were donated. 

Now I wish I’d taken some pictures of those stacks of quilts. It didn’t occur to me I would be blogging about this event, but it’s still so high in my consciousness, and I really didn’t have a heck of a lot else to say anyway. 

A month ago I gave one of my own quilts plus one a friend made, to a couple who lost their home. You remember Berzirkistan: 

The recipients were very grateful, and, amazingly, also very upbeat and positive about their future, in spite of losing everything. 

Yesterday I helped a woman who’s story was similar to my above mentioned friends: family compound in a remote location, homes they spent years building with their own hands, adult children who also had homes on the propery, also burned out. This lady was something less than upbeat. She looked ... lost. I helped her select some quilts, and talked with her a while. It was her image that I woke up with this morning. 

This whole circumstance, the fires, the loss, and the aftermath, is impossible for me to fully comprehend. Beyond that, I am truly at a loss for words.

I have to confess I’ve been going through a bit of a slump mood-wise, and I even feel guilty about that because what do I have to complain about? I need to start reminding myself of my blessings, and making a list (each day?) of things to be grateful for.

I’ve been sewing. No mini this month, but I did hang a few in my sewing room. 

I’m calling this my Indigo Corner. Please ignore the mess below. 

 

Wendy posts the Montly Minis here, if you want to take a look.

Meanwhile, I made this:

Which is my repro version of an antique quilt, and current sew-along with Temecula Quilt Co. 

I’m posting from my iPad, which apparently doesn’t let me resize my photos, but you may be able to get a better view by clicking on them. 

That’s it for now! 

Love, Sandy

Things to be grateful for:

my home

my husband 

my community 

my friends

quilting, which is truly keeping me sane