Night Sky quilt

I finished the binding on the Night Sky quilt. Its such a beautiful piece and another one I learned so much on as I quilted it. I did a stitch in the ditch along all the borders first, then did each house with an individual machine stitch. I wish I had done more of an overall pattern on the quilt, but still love it. Since working on this one, I did find other suggestions for how I may work the next one. It seems that I have to release what I see as patterns the fabric makes and do a different finishing layer.

As a form of generative spirituality, each quilt I make is one where I focus on the recipient and put into the quilt all the positive energy I can generate.  

I read the other day that someone turned 36 and decided to make 36 quilts in that year to gift to people she knows. What a huge undertaking! Then I did a count of the ones I made for 2013 and I am over 20 right now.

When I thought about the finishing layer of machine quilting, its helped me see that there is more to any story and not to be afraid to find it.

When I quilted each of the houses in this one, I could not see a bigger picture but was caught up in the smaller details. I was letting those small details govern my actions and in the end, those small details served to separate each house rather than to make them part of a community.

I wanted to make another quilt with this pattern right away so that I could correct what I did or do it differently. It was as if I was suddenly responsible for world peace. I'll hold onto this pattern and may create another one at another time. I like working with the house blocks for some reason and maybe there is a deeper meaning for me to discover along the way.

This need for placing the essence of peace in this quilt became a metaphor for the my relationship to the quilt recipient. Could I let go of the smallness and welcome into the relationship something that held greater good, offered connections? 

It will stay in my home for a few months now before getting shipped out. It will be a prayer for peace and that evolved in the making.

My project list for this year is shrinking. And there should be a delivery from JoAnn's that will provide the finishing material and batting that I need to complete these.  

Today, I pulled out the fabrics for Winter in the Woods and got more of it cut so I can feel more secure about returning the book to the library. I cut the larger trees for it yesterday after sorting all the pieces, and was surprised at how large they are. This pattern didn't give the usual block measurements, and I only know it will turn out to be a twin size. I sit here smiling at how I am still not seeing the pattern.

This book taught the use of templates; I never glued paper to cardboard, and pieces cut fine. All trees and houses are cut for it. I decided I wanted to cut all doors from the same fabric as the first border, so it now becomes on of my PIGS (project in a grocery sack) and will wait til next year to complete. I plan to read the book yet, again to make sure I haven't left anything out of my copy. I've pinned the parts together and wrote notes on the pattern for the next time I pull it out.

Cutting is a long process and now all the scraps need to be re-stored. That's my day today with quilting.