It Is Finished...at Least The Piecing

Now the real fun begins. My Seeds of Kindness quilt has finally been finished...the piecing anyway. Five hundred twenty-five apple core pieces with just a few repeats. I have also turned the edge under 1/4" and hand basted it down. The next step is to see what would be the best way to use the fabric for borders for appliqueing the wavy edge down, backing, and binding. I have a six-yard piece of apple print fabric, so I want to use it the best way possible. Susanna has already said she'd hand baste it for me so I can hand quilt it. It measures 58.5" x 70" right now. I want to put a 4" border all around to make the edges straight rather than wavy. Like I did with this Grandmother's Flower Garden runner.

Speaking of gardens, I weeded and raked for a couple hours today. I'm feeling it tonight, too! I usually get sick because of seasonal allergies after being outside for more than an hour or so. My delight in the task was hindered by the allergy mask I wore. It made it very hot, and my glasses kept getting steamed up. I'm about halfway finished with the chore. I had three 5-quart buckets FULL of onion grass. At least that was nipped in the bud. Tomorrow I hope to tackle the half-circle bed around our mailbox. We've had so much rain the past few days that the weeds come out with very little encouragement.

I was so encouraged and excited to see baby shoots on my hydrangea bush. A dear elderly lady in my church gave it to me last year. It had the most fantastic blooms. Bright PINK! When I cleared the leaves away from its base, I saw that the old dead wood was GREEN under the outer flaky bark and there are new shoots coming up in the center. Aahhhh...green!!

My lovely assistant, Rachel, with a new short haircut...



I hope to get my figuring finished for the borders and have the hand applique well started on this by tomorrow night. My enthusiasm for this quilt has not wavered. It was just dormant for a while. Like my hydrangea bush!

Someone made a comment lately (a non-quilter, as if that isn't obvious). I was working on my Seeds of Kindness and she asked, "Didn't you just make a quilt?" My family members who overheard just kind of rolled their eyes a little as if to say, "Does that matter?" It made me think of one of my favorite quilt quotes. It's by Alice Berg, one of the owners of Little Quilts..."..."Making a quilt is like giving birth...You're excited when you buy the stuff, then halfway through you think, 'What have I done?' but by the last stitch, you're already thinking about the next one." If that doesn't describe ME in babies and quilts, I don't know what does.

Good night!

~Joan