Hand-quilting again !

I don't really feel like taking the time to make a long post tonight, but I've realized that I haven't been faithful in posting much at all.

I thread-basted my aqua and whites Orange Peel quilt last Thursday, and I immediately began handquilting it.   I quilted for atleast 5 days, maybe six, and have taken a break today as my under-the-hoop fingers are pretty tender.

But atleast I have some pretty progress to share. 

I was stressing over what to put in the white 'border' that goes between the peels, so I started my quilting out near the edges rather than in the center like I usually would do.  I just happened to have a stencil that fit well in the area, and I'm really happy with the look of it.

Lottie is enjoying the new addition to the house (Marley Jo),  and Marley Jo is fitting in really well. 

I still don't know what I will quilt in the final border, but will probably settle for a cable design that fits.

Introducing the hexes....

....my old hexagons, that is.  These girls were in a pile of offerings when our quilt guild held a little garage sale many years ago.   There were 20 of the blocks, with just a center hand-pieced to a first ring of hexes.   Some of the fabric looks like polished cotton, while some seems to be feedsack material, as they are very coarsely woven, and each flower has a piece of orange solid staying consistent in each block, for the center hex.

 I adopted them, took them home, and promptly hand-appliqued each one to a 6 1/2 inch block.  I had it in mind to sash them or use them in the empty blocks of an Irish Chain quilt.  They got stuck away with other UFO's (un-finished-objects), and I visited them every few years, laid them out, and carefully put them back into storage. 

A couple of days ago, JoAnn mentioned that she was wanting to make a baby quilt, using the Double Irish Chain pattern, and, to finish it off, she wanted to applique a ducky to the bottom of the quilt.  I guess it was the words "Irish Chain and applique" that struck a chord in my brain, and I went to see if the hexagons for MY Irish Chain would possibly coordinate with this current little quilt I'm making. 

Well, the colors weren't what I would hand-pick, but with such a neutral background, I could see that they would spice the quilt up just a bit.  I weeded out the blocks that had too much purple, and came up with 11 hexes that would work nicely.   So I set about UNappliqueing those blocks, and basting them onto this top. 

The sun was out yesterday morning, and the call was just too strong.   I had to sit down in my chair on the back porch and applique just one flower before I could even come out of my robe and gown !   The rest of the day was spent busily elsewhere, watching Christopher and Allysia for awhile, and whatever else seems to take us away from what we REALLY want to be doing, but I got back to them today, and stayed with it until all of them were properly appliqued and beautifully pressed.

Honestly, the prettiest picture turned out to be the one I used in my banner, so I think I'll add it at the bottom of this post (because I know that I'll soon change my banner again...YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE !)but I think that it will be a lovely quilt when it is all quilted and claimed !

I ain't drivin' today !

Looks like I'll be walking down to the nursing home around lunch-time !

I don't mind so much......just have to be careful that I don't fall too.

But tomorrow morning I have an important appointment at 9 a.m., and it's not quite as close.  I can still walk it probably, if it's not raining or the wind blowing 90 mph.  I'll just have to bundle up really well. 

The neighborhood doggies all come over to see if Piper has anything to eat......and would share?  Piper watches them from her front window while they play.

This morning was produc-tive in that I got the borders sewn onto T.J.'s quilt-top, atleast !  Now, I have to figure out what I want to do for a pieced back.

Sewing

I got to see hubby do some of his physical therapy, and had nothing but praises for our LORD's healing power.  He looked very good pushing that walker down the hall.....nice to see him vertical again for a little while.

I finished the planned blocks for the quilt, but am definitely not loving it.  It's not symmetrical, and while I love things that are wonky/purposely asymmetrical (am I spelling those right?), I'm not getting that good vibe right now. 

I tried this to balance it, but ehhhhhhhhhhh. 

Yuck, looking at it here, I think that this is about the ugliest quilt I've seen in awhile !  Ugh.......I just want to get to the quilting !

I think I'll have to change my plans and maybe add some vertical strips or something. 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr !

Yep, we got it !

Atleast 6 inches of snow here, and sleet balls have been coming down on top of that for atleast a couple of hours now.

But we're snug as two bugs here in our little nest, as long as the power stays on ! I haven't heard yet whether our daughter's flight is still on time, so we'll wait it out this evening hoping for word. We just got a call from Kelley, and they're staying overnight in Washington, D.C., waiting for OKC's airport to reopen and let flights in. Praise the LORD, they've reached the homeland safely !
Thank you for the many prayers on hers and her little family's behalves.

I didn't get alot of quilting done today.......not sure why, as I started fairly early. I did go outside to sweep the porch hourly or so, and I took the time to make that pot of bean soup today, so I guess that took its toll on my quilting progress.

Still, the quilting on this, even if tediously unending, is very SWEET....... which is to say that the fabric (muslin) is very soft, and the batting is a nice, thin polyester low-loft, so there's no painful push-and-squeak, as in some cotton battings and stiff fabrics.

What quilt are you currently hanging?

I just took down my big Christmas quilt, and put up my "Wear Warm Clothes". It'll hang for the winter months, until Springtime gives me a yearning for flowers and sunshine again.

Some of you may remember this pattern, as it was put out by Red Wagon quite a few years ago.

Members of my little quilting group and I all started our own version one year, doing it together for moral support.

I changed mine a little bit to more closely reflect my life at the time. I put in the spatterware coffee pot and cup because hubby was collecting campware at the time; the black boots are ones that I was wearing, and the socks and house shoes are very similar to ones I had.

Remember those ragg socks? Of course, we all had the skinny, magic gloves that looked like they were supposed to fit a 3 year old child.

I was really into Roberta Horton plaids at the time, so most of the pieces of fabric are from her collections.

The wood stove and coal oil lamp were added as homage to my 'growing up' years.
And, at the bottom, I embroidered a paraphrased version of a line from a favorite Merle Haggard tune, "If We Make It Through December".........I added, "there's always January !"

I had a lot of fun quilting this one by hand, just adding whatever suited my fancy at the time.