A Christmas Wedding

Christmas is always crazy for clergy.  Multiple worship services, parishioners ill because of the weather, wind-up parties, more often than not a funeral, even more rarely a wedding.  Add in all the personal preparations for Christmas and you have a recipe for an abundance of stress and little time to sit still in awe of the reason for the season.

Today there was a wedding.  Lovely, appropriately white and red colour scheme for Christmas.  Two 30 somethings, 14 children between them, tattoos and pretend bling, chaos and nerves.  It has been my practice to give a quilt as a wedding gift.  I had this top finished for some time, the Quilty Guilt quilted it yesterday and I spent the rest of yesterday and this morning binding it.  Turned out beeeeeautiful!  Hubby didn’t think I should give it away, but I did.  It really did turn out nice.

As usual, I didn’t have enough fabric for the back.  I pieced in an orphan block and a few other odds and sods to make a piece big enough.

It was quilted with hearts, perfect for a bride and groom.  Wrapped in God’s love in grace I pray them all the best for their new life together.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

UFO Progress

I’m being very deliberate in attempting to finish some projects. I’ve had these bow tie blocks finished for some time. I bought four charm packs of Seasons Gatherings in Fort St. John, BC over four years ago. I love this fabric, it began my love for reproduction/traditional/civil war type fabrics.

 

I had no motivation to finish this one since I didn’t have anyone in mind to give it to, and I didn’t have suitable fabric for the back.  When we moved into the new house we needed living room furniture.  A local furniture store was having a sale and we picked up a lovely chocolate brown leather couch, chair and loveseat.  This quilt compliments perfectly, recipient me!

I pieced the back with more Seasonal Gatherings fabric.  I used a variegated thread for the quilting – perfect on the solid black back.  The only drawback is a solid colour shows all the dog hair, so don’t look too close.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

In the Bulb

At the beginning of November, with the church bazaar approaching fast, I embarked on designing a nine patch quilt.  Something quick and simple to donate for sale.  I had a jelly cake roll that would fit the project perfectly.  This is the end result.

The layout reminds me of a map.  I added two other fabrics from my stash to make the quilt crib size.  The quilt was priced at $125.00, I donated my time, only wanting the cost of the fabric.  A deal!  It’s still available.

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.