Finished quilt top --Spot in the Middle

I have been laying this one out for DAYS, arranging and rearranging, trying to balance the lights, mediums and darks.

I even tried to add borders to bring it up to a bed size, but alas, that wasn't my vision.

Unfortunately, the finished product leaves me longing to make one without so much contrast.  I love the very lights, lights and light-mediums together, and would love to see one made BY ME with just THAT.    Maybe I'll try that in grays.

Notes of interest (only to myself, probably). (FACTS FROM MY DAILY LIFE FOR THE JOURNAL)
1.  I just had my first eye exam since the Spring of 2009.  And my distance vision has actually improved just a bit.  Our little town's optometrist retired years ago, and I have just put off getting my eyes checked anywhere else.  We now have a facility to do the exams, so I got off of my rear and went.  Glad I did.........he said that my eye health looked excellent.  I'll probably use my prescription to get myself a pair of prescription "readers" for now, and make do with the glasses I'm currently using for driving.  That's about the only time I use them, and they are sufficient.  On the other hand, the over-the-counter readers that I use for hand-quilting are leaving me frustrated.  Now I know that that is because the two eyes are measuring differently in what they see.

2.  I'm having this year's screening mammogram tomorrow, LORD willing.  Last year was my first one in a long time, due to the fact that I finally had insurance.  As for every time before, they sent me for a second mammogram.  That's just the make-up of my breasts........there's never been an actual problem found.  I'm just hoping to get 3 in a row on record for comparison so that I won't have to keep having double tests every year.

3.  I ate a double cheeseburger today WHOLE....the WHOLE THING together, AS A SANDWICH .  Actually it was a McDouble from you-know-where.  The reason I note this is that since my surgery in 2013, which damaged my swallow and killed a nerve in my tongue, I haven't been able to manage burgers in buns.....there just has not been enough cooperation in my mouth to process.  I'd buy a burger and just eat the meat, or the meat and the top or bottom of the bun .  But today was a banner day, and I praise God for the progress !

Oops,a FINISH.... I missed one !

Somehow, I seem to have missed blogging about this little quilt that I pieced back in August of 2019.

It was inspired by the quilt in this post....
https://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/2017/01/zip-top-completed.html

Nice and crinkly, post-wash and dry.

It is a baby-quilt size, finishing somewhere between 35 and 40 inches square.  (It sold at Christmas-time.)

Before laundering the quilt.

I was really happy with the border that I ended up adding to the quilt.  I think that it set it off just right.  Lottie had no complaints.

This whole series of quilts by her are a lifetime of inspiration to me....
https://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com/search/label/solids%20on%20prints%20series

FINISHED—Looking Toward Spring !

It is finished !

See previous post....  https://dollyshome.blogspot.com/2020/02/two-new-endeavors.html

Two New Endeavors

Recently I was approached to do a commission for someone......I gave the standard answer, that I rarely accept one, and that it has to be something that I really want to do, AND that I am expensive to hire.

But this turned out to be a little bit different case.   A friend  had gotten halfway finished on a quilt that she was making for a family member, and then she lost the ability to use her hands that way due to neuropathy which developed as a result of chemo treatments.  Okay, I'm in.  Her design called for minimal quilting paired with a puffy polyester batting (so pretty), so with her being so far along on it, I really didn't have much to do.  I finished it within a week, and she and I both felt blessed for the effort. 

Her handwork in cross-stitching the panel blocks is just beautiful.....some of the best that I have personally witnessed.

The project fell into my lap when I was between personal works, and I really didn't know what I wanted to make next.  So I spent the quilting time thinking on it.   I gave her this quilt on Tuesday, and spun my heels for another day and a half.

Then yesterday afternoon, I got out some charm packs that I have had for a good while, and I started playing with one in particular.  At first, I just threw a bunch of them up onto a background of dark solid brown, with no specific order to them.  Many of the squares were very floral.

Then, the more I studied them, the more I wanted to portray the idea of a tree, and grass, and bushes covered in pink blooms.   Late yesterday evening, after a dozen or so photo trials, I came up with a design that I was happy with, and I started piecing.  I finally had to make myself go to bed at 11:30 p.m.

As soon as I got the chance, I was back piecing again today, and I am happy with this finished work. 

It sortof has the look of peering through a window, or a lattice, or garden gate.  I could have pieced it to look more like attic windows, etc., to be more realistic; but I really didn't want that.  I wanted to keep it more abstract.   I can envision this hanging on the wall of my sewing room on dreary, gray Winter days, promising Springtime's burst of color.  Yep.....I like it.

I hope you like it too.  The charm pack's name is "Sultry", by Moda, and is well over 10 years old. Top finished around 39 inches square.