You Are My Sunshine ~ Handprint Quilt

Every once in awhile I get a great idea.  In its early stages it’s very vague.  Usually the main idea is clear but everything surrounding it is…foggy.  So, I tackle the part that is clear, chewing on the next part.  Often I will need to set it aside for clarity on the oncoming steps.  In the end I am, most of the time, pleased with the results.  Nothing was different about “You Are My Sunshine”.

You Are My Sunshine

The handprints came from my youngest daughters Pre-K class last school year.  They were so happy to print happy yellow hands!!  I then took a picture of them and that is the middle block.

Handprint Close-up

Each handprint is labeled with the childs name.  I did swirls around each handprint for the sun rays.  More swirls in the sashings and a fun star quilted in each of the stars.

Back of the handprint

It was a lot of swirls.  Because this quilt is being judged at the Innovations Quilt Show I’m a bit concerned about some of the things I find to be…not quite…right.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve come to accept my imperfections as purely human.  But there are things my inexperience simply didn’t take into consideration.  Oh well…it’s all a learning experience, right?!?  Next time, I tell myself, I will do such and such differently.

I’m proud of my work though.  It turned out quite nicely!

The satisfaction of a completed quilt which people enjoy…it can’t be matched.  Makes me think of how my Maker must’ve felt about me when he finished his work.

I’ll let you know how it did in the show!

Happy Quilting1

Great Quilting Books

I came across two really good books recently.  Both of them I picked up at the library.

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick ~ I so enjoyed this book!!  There were moments when I kept thinking, “How did she know that is exactly how I feel about quilting?!?”  The story is about Evelyn Dixon whose husband divorces her.  In her grief she goes on an unexpected road trip and ends up in New England.  The adventures that she faces there left me thinking that this is the way life is meant to be led.  Opening ourselves up to others, allowing them access to the sore, hurting parts of our souls and giving back.  Amazing things can happen when we do that and this story shows what that can look like.

The Lost Quilter by Jennifer Chiaverini ~ this is an Elm Creek Quilts Mystery and it is brilliantly written.  How do I write about this book without giving anything away?  Okay…so I can’t so here’s the link to Jennifers web site and the book  http://elmcreek.net/index.php/main/book-detail/coming-in-april-the-lost-quilter/.  When I was a kid I often wondered what it would be like to live in a different time.  I was, and still am, fascinated with period books.  Jennifer does a stunning job portraying life as a black slave in Virginia and South Carolina just before the Civil War breaks out.  Her ability to describe the cruelty of the slave masters, the feelings of the slaves, helped me to realize in a new way the hardship these heroic people endured.  I highly recommend you pick up this beautiful book.  By the way…it has a wonderful ending that exemplifies the resiliency of the human spirit.

Happy Quilting!