Pulling out the Old Machine {& WIP update}

My poor Sapphire (yes I named my sewing machine) is sick and in desperate need of a trip to the hospital. But, just like a real doctor the next available appointment was over a week away.  At least I know that Sapphire's doctor is an expert and will take good care of her, sending her home ready to get back to work. 

In the meantime I'm pulling Ms. Janome off the shelf and praying that she won't be as difficult and temperamental as she was the last time we tried to work together.

Ms. Janome

To entice her into behaving herself, I took her apart, cleaned out some fuzz and gave her a drink of oil in all those strategic places laid out in her care manual and prayed for the best. 

Praise the Lord! 

So far she is producing some beautiful stitches and working amazingly surprisingly well!! 

Here's what Ms. Janome and I have done so far this morning.....

Craisy Daisy Baby Quilt

I am a bit concerned (and maybe it's just me) about my choice of the solid Citron Green pieces in the quilt...seems a bit harsh or overwhelming to me, so on the design wall it went.  I needed to see it all laid out. After laying it out (as seen above) I do like it a bit better than I thought I would. 

I'm thinking that using either a light pink or white thread for the quilting and adding some stitched daisies in the Solid and light pink squares will bring it all together in a satisfying way.  

Any thoughts? Should I scrap the solid green and find something different for those pieces? 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! 

Happy Stitching &

Many Blessings,
Marcia 

A Quilt of Forgiveness

As I began to get into quilting, I was given an unexpected opportunity to participate in an act of Christian love.  It was an act of love that was easier for some than others. During our Wednesday evening prayer service,  we prayed for a specific family and as we prayed the Lord laid it on my heart to make a baby quilt as a part of how our church would be reaching out to the family.  I knew I had to obey and do exactly what the Lord was asking me to do no matter how hard I felt it was going to be.

I knew He was going to be using the process of making this quilt to  bring not only the healing I needed but also to "sew" seeds of forgiveness in my heart.

 

It was with a bit of trepidation that I moved forward with picking out just the right fabric. Through every step of the process, I was praying first for the baby who would be receiving the blanket and then for the adults in this little ladies life. 

The back

The Lord worked in my heart as I prayed, removing both the bitterness and unforgiveness left in my heart. He made it possible for me to close a painful chapter of my life without any lingering poisons left in my heart.

Front

 I learned long ago that my forgiveness of another is never dependent upon their seeking my forgiveness, or even admitting that they did something needing forgiveness.  Forgiveness does not say that what was done was okay to do. Instead it says that I will not allow myself to be held captive by chains of hurt, bitterness and unforgiveness. Nor, is forgiveness an automatic restoration of a relationship. There are some relationships that are toxic and shouldn't be restored, until the Lord does a work and changes the toxic-ness of that relationship. For a relationship to truly be restored the offending party must repent and actually seek your forgiveness.

Quilt Label

A forgiving heart is something that comes as one walks closely with the Lord God and seeks His ways. It is in an attempt to have a "heart after the Lord's own heart," that the Lord fills the heart with a desire to forgive.


 I once heard a Bible teacher relate a story of being hurt by a friend and asking God to, "Get her Lord, give her what she deserves."  And the Lord answered in her heart, "Really? Should I also give you what you deserve?"  Immediately her prayer for the lady changed from, "Get her Lord to, Forgive her Lord."

A quilt of forgiveness

My hearts desire is to be like my Savior as He hung on the cross. He cried out to God, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  My cry is the same for those who have hurt me, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Today I'm singing the Lord's praises for using each stitch of this quilt to change my heart and for giving me the desire and ability to forgive.

May Your Day be Greatly Blessed!
Marcia
Little Pink Rose

A Special Baby Blanket

This order all started with just a quilt top received as a baby gift that needed to be quilted.  From there the question came, "My youngest doesn't have a special baby blanket of his own, could you make one for him?" Of course, I'll say yes to most any request for a quilt, for me it's the perfect excuse to spend even more time sewing and piecing a quilt. Then there's the added benefit of getting paid to do it, that's just the icing on the cake for a seamstress/quilter. As soon as I saw the brother's quilt, I knew right where to turn, Sew Scrappy Vol. 2. I knew the quilt, "Rhymes with Baby" I had seen when browsing through it would be perfect for this request.

The Inspirational Source

The Inspiration Pattern

 Then it was off to shop for fabric, with a few ideas in mind, I decided to go with a train theme all in flannel.

Vibrant, Beautiful Fabric

The progression of a quilt is an amazing and beautiful thing.  It all starts as just  a pile of yards and yards of fabric that's cut into much smaller pieces, manipulated into different shapes and sequences all in the hopes of making something beautiful.

For the center piece I used Print Shop on my computer and then printed the design on printable fabric with an inkjet printer. After allowing it to dry completely I used a dry iron to "set" the ink into fabric.
Then trimmed the printable fabric to a square and added a border to make the block the same size as the other blocks

Looking good so far.

 After adding the sashing strips between the blocks, I sat back in satisfaction at the life these pieces seemed to add. At this point I absolutely LOVED how this was turning out!

 Then I added the train border.........and I have to admit, I didn't like it as much anymore. It was still okay, but I thought it was so much better before the border was added. But I forged ahead, deciding that I'm my own worst critic and others will love it, especially if I keep my dissatisfaction to myself (so much for that).

 Next came the quilting. It took me quite awhile to decide how to do the quilting, in the end I decided to go with part of the same quilting pattern that the original inspiration piece had. I have no idea what it's called, but I like how it turned out.

Almost finished.

The back.

Lastly came the final step of adding the binding. This simple step completely changed the personality of the quilt. I just shook my head, amazed at what a difference something so simple (and seemingly small) made.

Finished.

LOVE what the red binding did! 

Here's the reveal of my brand new label.

Happy Sewing,
Marcia - The Little Pink Rose