something old and something new

This past week I have spent time sitting under the + & x quilt. About 43 of the center blocks have been quilted in the ditch.

With that quilting there is a lot of stopping and starting and I have left long threads around the outside of the hoop so I can continue as the hoop is moved.

I have been asked to make "something" as a gift for the Women's Conference speaker. Since the conference is the end of January, it was time to get going on that.

I purchased this panel for the center.

The kanji says, reading top to bottom, right to left, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

I went through my scrappy stash and my two-inch tin and gathered together some fabrics that might suggest the seasons.

At first I thought the scraps were rather bright for the somewhat sophisticated panel colors and fabrics. After I laid everything out, though they were bright, the kanji itself is rather fun with pictures used as some of the strokes ... a bamboo shoot and cherry blossom on spring, a fish and some peppers and watermelon  on summer, eggplant and persimmons on the autumn, and a shrimp and maybe an acorn on winter. The more I mess with arranging the blocks, the more I think it will work out. I plan to use a dark blue binding.

I'm not sure how this will be used but it could be a table runner or hanging. I can add a sleeve just in case she wants to use it that way. I plan to quilt the gold lines around the kanji and the border blocks. I also plan to quilt in the words, "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven".

I have not showed this to the committee. I hope it will meet with their approval but I don't think I need too much input. Sometimes it is easier to say, "Here, this is what I came up with". I am a person who hates last-minute work, so the time has come to get my show on the road. Since this is a little under 2 x 3 feet, it will make a good take-along project. My big quilt will still be in the hoop on my lap while I am home.

The blue and white runner waits in the wings  to be finished and replace the holiday runner. We can just celebrate the holidays until it is completed!