HAND QUILT ALONG: Please forgive me

My goal was to finish hand quilting ‘Wishing You Good Will’ before summer set in. I am far from that happening. With the warmer weather here, the sun high and glorious I am finding it harder and harder to sit myself down and work on ‘Wishing You Good Will’

First of all, Good Will, you are massive and bulky and heavy and warm, so warm. You  and the Sun are in a battle for my attention “Come wrap your self in my love and quilt me” Good Will calls. “Come and play in the garden with me under my spring time rays” Sun taunts me.

 

I have found so much to distract me from staying on course. You must forgive me if I decide to stop and take in the beauty around me (on my morning walk)

 

 

But I am making progress – slow but sure and the lure of your beauty brings me back to you.

 

You are the colors of this beautiful spring in the northwest ~ but

You must forgive me if I decide to curl up with a good book instead of quilting

Or if I decide to take a walk along the stream bank instead of quilting

 

Or if I mow the lawn instead of quilting

Or if I water the gardens instead of quilting

Or if I swap veggie starts with a friend

Or if I chat with a grandchild instead of quilting

Or if I visit with a neighbor instead of quilting

Or if I decide to bbq instead of quilting

Or if I put out peanuts for the stellar jays

Or if ……I simply do absolutely nothing but take time to be thankful

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This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon and Bella.

 

 

 

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Tulip Quilt: Her Royal Purple Majesty

Hidden away, folded and stashed underneath a few other quilts draped on the quilt rack in the corner – by chance, by fate, by accident , something whispered – I am here – find me.

I had totally forgotten about this Tulip quilt top, another Goodwill find, entirely hand pieced beauty. I have no idea how long ago I found her. How could I forget you?

I have shared before I am not a purple fan….shame on me!

Everything about this quilt, now named “Her Royal Purple Majesty” is gorgeous and I am excited to have this quilting project to look forward too.

Home of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival at my back door, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite festival posters too

1995 Poster Image by Jesus Guillien

 

2017 Official Tulip Poster by Trish Harding

 

2009 Official Tulip Festival Poster by Andy Sewell

 

Hand Quilt Along: Take Time To Smell The Flowers

Since last I posted, I finally feel like progress has taken hold and my ‘Wishing You Good Will’ quilt could possibly be finished by years end. But I am not racing to finish but drinking in the beauty of this spring reflected in its shadow. From my garden I photographed the amazing flowers below – they reminded me of Wishing You Good Will.

 

I tried to photograph the massive size of this beauty for you. It covers a queen size bed, draping over the foot, cascading to the floor. The sides hang over about a foot on each side. I am thinking of finishing it with a scalloped edge – but I am not there yet – what do you think?

The Rhodora

On being asked, whence is the flower?

In May, when sea winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals, fallen in the pool,
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the redbird come, his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! If the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being:
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask, I never knew:
But, in my simple ignorance, suppose
The self-same Power that brought me there,
brought you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please take time to smell the flowers along your quilting path

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This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan,  Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon and Bella.

Wishing You Good Will…Hand Quilt Along

Is it just me or has time sped up?

Since joining the Hand Quilt Along, 3 week posting intervals feels more like I am moving backwards in time and then again, time seems like it is set to fast forward. Time has never moved more quickly for me….can this be possible, moving backwards as well as forward at the same time?

So here we are again and not much progress has been accomplished on my Goodwill $3.99 wedding ring quilt top find. Spring has sprung and this winter project sits sadly begging to be finished. I am feeling a little guilty. Progress is slow.  I had hoped for completion of this beauty by the end of winter. Had I set an unrealistic goal? Time told the tale and the answer, whether I like it our not, is yes.

 

In this 3 week interval from my last posting I have decided to call this quilt

            ‘Wishing You Good Will’

 

 

Goodwill

Goodwill – Buena Voluntad – Spanish * Goodwill – φήμη και πελατεία – Greek

Goodwill – Buona Volontà – Italian * Goodwill – רצון טוב – Hebrew 

Goodwill – Bonne volonté – French * Goodwill – 善意 – Chinese

Goodwill – Welwillendheid – Dutch * Goodwill – साख – Hindu * Goodwill – のれん – Japanese

Goodwill – доброжелательность – Russian * Goodwill – Boa Vontade – Portuguese

Goodwill – نية حسنة – Arabic * Goodwill – aloha – Hawaiian * Goodwill – Dea-Thoil – Irish

Goodwill – Ugled – Croation * Goodwill – Borondate Oneko – Basque 

Goodwill – Thiện chí – Vietnamese * Goodwill – Bunăvoință – Romanian

Wishing you Goodwill this Easter and Passover holiday season 

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This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan, Jessica, Sherry, Nanette, Sassy, Edith, Sharon and Bella.

 

 

 

Hand Quilt Along: Take 3

 

3 weeks has flown by but I have made some progress and the pattern is beginning to take shape on the back side of this Goodwill find. I have totally abandoned the quilt stand for  hoop and lap.

Because this quilt project is so large and massive I am almost embarassed to write that I have the corners wound up and bound with pony tail hair bands…

I have never been a fan of purple but this ‘winter quilt project’ is taking me into spring and I am falling in love with the purple square centers of of the wedding ring blooms.

 

3 weeks for each update posting and in 3 weeks and I will be retiring from 20 years working at one of our local high schools as a para educator in special education coupled with an additional 10 years as a special needs para at the elementary level.

My how 30 years feels like 3 weeks

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This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan, Jessica, Sherry, Nanette, Sassy, Edith, Sharon and Bella.

Quilts: Love For Her Family Was Her Legacy

March 8th was International World Women’s Day and the month of March is Women’s History Month. I was reminded of these important days by a blog post at the beginning of March by Amy Cohen @ https://brotmanblog.com

So many strong, inspiring, beautiful, creative, empowering, courageous women in my life came to my mind; that I found it impossible to focus on just one or come up with something I wanted to post to celebrate this important day. If I listed their names and the affect on my life I would not be able to stop writing for every woman I have met along my paths journey has shaped and formed me. From the tiniest negative to most empowering positive. We are truly the sum of who, what, when and where on our path, from everything we have read, to every conversation, or visual impression we have seen.

But today on FB, a very dear friend, Mindy Coppersmith, of close to 55 years of friendship, shared a post that said “share me”

A Legacy of Quilts 

 

“Margaret Hubl passed away last July in Nebraska at the age of 89, but it’s safe to say her legacy will continue to live on.

You see, Hubl was a quilter. While some people make quilts as an afternoon pastime, she made them to communicate her love for her family.”

by Brittany Loggins / Feb.27.2017 / 11:48 AM ET / Source: TODAY

 

The entire article can be read here https://www.today.com/news/family-honors-grandma-s-memory-displaying-all-her-quilts-her-t108586

It’s all about the love we share along our path……

 

HAND QUILT ALONG: in the snow

This morning we woke to a light dusting of snow. I was so sure we would escape the rest of this winter without any. We had a little heavier snow fall back in November but the following weeks and months had me in only a heavy sweater, scarf and gloves. I never really needed to bundle up and brave the elements.

Snow: the perfect time to bundle up under a comfy hand stitched quilt; so I decided to take my quilt along project out into the backyard to capture my progress. It’s been slow going, perhaps because the weather has been so mild and has called me outside to tend and ready the gardens. I did get one full wedding ring stitched and have moved on to capture and stitch the joining ring.

I have abandoned the quilting stand and prefer to quilt with the hoop on my lap.

This close up actually alerted me to stitches pulling out. I need to go back and fix this.

Look who was across the stream watching me

 

In light of this weeks senseless tragedy, I would like to repost something that I read on Bella’s page. It spoke volumes to me in so many ways. Not only do quilts connect us to nature as in photo’s above but they have a profound affect in connecting us to the human story. Thank you Bella for permission to repost from your page.

“Our quilts have the potential to connect us with others. We can add a message to them as Mary did, then share the message with all who will listen. We can donate them to a charity and help someone else in need. We can make quilts and give them to a homeless person who might have nothing but what is on their backs. As quilters, we are creators and all creators have the potential to change lives. Mary has inspired me to do this and I hope she has inspired you too.”

The QR Code Quilt

https://createdbybella.com

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This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Deborah,  Susan, Jessica, Sherry, Nanette, Sassy, Edith, Sharon and Bella.