Quilt therapy at last

The new year came ... ready or not!

Stuff is still piled up everywhere.

Plenty of sorting left to do.

The first day was spent serving the homeless the special New Years meal ... well, I wasn't serving really, as my job was washing the dishes. So, I started the year with very clean hands.

The second we visited with friends, taking the special meal with us. (our house too messy for guests)

The third was church activities ... choir and all.
And that evening, our little family gathered along with Paul's sister. I need to learn how to photo-chop because that will be the only way to remove the piles of stuff.

By Monday afternoon I was really needing a quilt fix. I have the gift for the Women's Conference speaker to do and I had not even begun. I had a panel I had bought for my own use years ago. I dug out the tin of three-inch blocks and went through to find floral prints. That was not hard because probably half of what was in the box was floral print squares.

I couldn't think of a way to separate them so they would look good in a border so I decided to set them on point.

That meant I needed to add an inner frame around the panel so everything would fit. This is a real trial and error job.

The size is 30" x 56" so I think that is a bit too big for a wall hanging. Maybe it could be used as a table runner or chair runner.

Usually the speaker is unknown to me but this year she is our pastor's wife. The topic is about tending one's inner garden ... thus the flowers. The butterfly is a symbol of the "Hidden Christians"in Japan about 385 years ago.

The color is really dark blue. (The photo was taken on the floor under my dining room table ... the only open flat space big enough to lay it out.)

Tonight I pin-basted it and can now begin to put in the quilting. I will use gold around the butterflies and I plan to quilt in a bible verse at the top and bottom. I have asked the speaker for her favorite verse and will decide how to use it.

I know this is just a small bit of quilting but once I had those pieces drawn on the fabric and cut out, I began to feel so much more relaxed. I was actually surprised how quickly these pieces went together, even without a machine.  After so many weeks without any needle in my hands, this was the therapy I needed. Stuff is still piled up and there will be sorting to do again tomorrow, but now, when I need a break, I will have something meaningful to do.

What color binding? Shall I add a hanging sleeve just in case? I don't think I will stay awake worrying about that yet. Right now I am feeling a lot more content.