No quilting tonight...

Well, it's Thursday night, and I didn't quilt at all.  Bummer.

But, I didn't quilt because my son was performing with his choir at a retirement home where an old friend lives.  I went to listen to Jonathon (especially since he has a few solos) and I wanted to hook up with Gayle and his wife Millie.

Gayle and Millie weren't there, but I did enjoy hearing my son sing.

On another note... As some of you may know, my wife and I recently adopted a 10 year old girl, and we just learned this week that the doors are finally opening for us to adopt her 16 year old sister as well!!  We are very excited, but my weekend plans were just scrapped in order to get a few things done around the house before the state comes to do their home inspection required before we can renew our license to adopt.

My wife has a bunch of stuff to do all day Saturday, so I will do the weekly vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning, etc.  Maybe, I'll get to do some sewing, I hope so!  I am going through withdrawal.

As always, Thanks for Reading!

Until Next Time,

Paul

Easter Sunday...

I generally keep my blog posts on this blog related to quilting, but on this day, I must venture into a more personal area...  You see, this day is extremely special to me for two reasons.  It is this day that defines my spiritual being, for on this day some 2000+ years ago, my Lord and Savior rose from the grave after literally going Hell and back for me.  He Conquered death so that I, and each of you could spend eternity with Him.

This day is special for me too because it was my Grandmother's favorite holiday.  Grandma would wake up every Easter morning long before the sun rose and she would head to church where she always read scripture during the sunrise service.  She always participated in every other service on Easter morning as well.

It was Grandma who taught me to needle point at a very young age, which I admit I resisted... "Boys don't needlepoint", I told her.  So she said, "Why Not?"  When I couldn't give her a good reason, she handed me a little piece she had started and began to teach me what I needed to know to finish it.  I really did enjoy it, and that year I made a pin cushion for her for Christmas.  (The year before she died, she gave it back to me.)

Needle Point Pin Cushion
Made by Me circa 1975

Several years later, I taught myself to cross stitch (not a huge leap considering I had learned needlepoint many years earlier).  It was only appropriate that she receive my first Cross Stitch project, a two panel Southwest scene that I chose because she and Grandpa had just chosen to retire in Arizona.

Cross Stitch
Circa 1990

And then I leaned to sew.  And now, I LOVE quilting...

A few years ago, Grandma went home to spend eternity with the Savior she served while she lived here on earth and I look forward to the day that I will see her again.

I often wonder what her critique of my quilting would be.  What tips would she give me?  What advice would she share?  How often would Grandma comment on my blog?

What a CRAZY Week!!

What a CRAZY week!!

I finished the top to my "Stars in Stripes" quilt last weekend and boy am I glad I did.  I have been thinking about it all week trying to identify the best way to quilt it.  And I think one of the ladies at the CMQG meeting Thursday evening came up with the best idea...

I am going to quilt it using small meandering pattern, but I am going to contain my meandering.  The back of the quilt is a solid cream, so the quilting will be pretty obvious on the back of the quilt.  So I am going to quilt inside the blue lines and blue stars with blue thread, inside the red stripes with red thread, and I may or may not quilt the cream colored areas.  I'm thinking that I won't so those prints on the cream can easily be seen, but once I get the red and blue into the first row when I have quilt on the frame, I may change my mind.

This will render the design on the front "etched" onto the back in a meandering pattern, yet it won't detract from the front of the quilt.

Tell me what you think, I'd love to hear your opinions...  As a reminder, this is the quilt...

"Stars in Stripes"
Ready to be Quilted

I also finished the top for my Robert Kaufman Kona Solid Challenge top... It too needs to be quilted... But I will apparently have to show a few photos of that another time, as the "Saving" function and the photo loading function seem to be having issues...

Thanks for Stopping by,

Until Next Time,

Paul