A weekend to finish things.

On Friday, I sent a reviewed pattern to Edyta.  It was the last one in this series and I got to send an invoice for my services with it (woo-hoo, money to do what I love to do!!  She should just pay me in fabric).  That was nice and it's a beautiful pattern and I definitely hope to make this one.  It's called Cottage Rose and I have the perfect scraps to make it with. 

I woke up Saturday and decided to power through and finish the needlepoint garden.  I really wanted to finish this before I got into anything else.  I'd been playing with the hummingbird, but I felt guilty because I wasn't finishing this. 

We're going to display it on Linda's needlepoint stand, in a corner of the dining room.  That stand is a little fragile for me to use.  I used it for this, but I saw the beginnings of wear that I'm not ready to happen.  I'd rather use mine and use Linda's to display my work.  The book won't stay, just wanted to show the chart I was working from.  There are a lot of mistakes.  You cannot see them.  And, I will not be pointing them out.  ;)

Then, I worked in the yard a few hours.  It's a winter perennial garden, so it's mostly died back, but where there is still life, it is beautiful.  I spent time cutting dead stalks and moving plants for this year.  Normal January garden maintenance here. 

Later that afternoon, I pulled out my new quilting book by Angela Walters, where I had already picked a pattern for the border of the flower quilt that got set aside for me to do other things late last year. 

I got all the way around the border, but I still need to fill in some spots I missed.  Places around the edges.  But, for the most part, this is done and almost ready to bind.  (Okay, now that I'm looking at it, I might have to put something in that narrow batik border to take up some space.  The dense quilting drew the center in, making the borders bigger than the center.  It won't lay flat if I don't add some more quilting somewhere.  That's why quilt judges look at whether the entire surface of the quilt is evenly quilted.)

Sunday, after grocery shopping and cooking, Rob and I had our weekend date.  We went to see The Wizard of Oz as part of TCM on the big screen.  It was wonderful.  There were grandparents who had brought grandchildren to see it and other people our age and a few younger people and a mostly empty theater.  But, it was a great date.  And, at the end, when Dorothy cried about how wonderful home is and how there's no place like it, we held hands and cried a little...a reaction neither of us expected.  It was recliner seating and we folded the arm rest up between us and basically had a sofa to sit on. 

Then, I came home and finished the hummingbird.  All hand applique, using a pattern and the method of David Taylor. 

I'm pretty sure this is the technique I'm going to use to make the Ruby McKim flower garden quilt.  I love the technique.  I started out using silk thread, thinking it would be less visible.  It was okay.  Then, tried what David used in his class, which was a 50wt 2-ply.  Even though that is a heavier thread, it was so much easier to bury in the folded under seam allowance.  This was a kit and I am considering taking off the larger wing and replacing it with a different fabric that contrasts with the background better.  It really went fast, and I could do that in a couple or three hours.  We'll have to see.

And, then it was bedtime and the weekend was over.  It sure felt good to get so many things done.  I wonder if this productivity at home has something to do with my productivity at work.  It does seem that I'm productive at both at the same time, and unfortunately unproductive at both at the same time as well.

Everybody have a great week!  I'm already thinking about my next quilt to finish.  Which will it be?  There are plenty to choose from.

Lane