Monday, February 6, 2017

January Review and The Bee Charmer's Flower Garden

Though I never officially signed on to Meredith's 17 in 2017 Challenge, I've dutifully filled out a list that now contains eleven UFO's that would love to see the light of day, if only for a brief moment this year.  On the back of this list is another called "Opportunity Quilts."  The ones that beckon us away from what we thought we were about for the day/week/month and say 'Start Me, Keep your Nose to the Needle and Finish Me NOW!'

So, January went pretty well, three of the eleven on the 17 in 2017 list are now marked off as Done, as in Finished and now have a place of honor on the page above titled 2015 and Later. Another project on the list, my Westering Women BOM, now has all 12 blocks completed and is simmering for a bit while I decide where to take it from there.  And the first squirrel Opportunity Quilt is also now officially finished, and was posted here.

So, February started off with our quilt ministry needing three additional quilts (that we know of at the moment).  Two are for members of our congregation who were just commissioned as associate pastors.  I think ministry quilts should bless those in need as well as celebrate special events in the life of the church, don't you?  Anyhow, I began this celebratory quilt for our youngest associate pastor.  Her grandfather passed away recently and at his memorial service we learned that she inherited the grandfather's beloved beehives!  So, what better name for this quilt than "The Bee Charmer's Flower Garden"? Here is the quilt, layered and pinned, with a bit of the ditch quilting started. An aside - the quilt top measures 64x64 inches; I started with a new box of 300 quilters safety pins, and ran out before finishing pinning the outer borders - sigh!

I'm happy for the time spent ditch-quilting the blocks since I've not determined exactly what designs to use for FMQ'ing the block centers or the sashings and borders. I'd love to find a honeybee motif that could be used in the daisy blocks along with some meandering bee-flight lines. Early tomorrow when our internet speed increases I'll be looking online for a suitable and hopefully easy motif.

A closer view

The back is mostly this sweet vintage farm fabric, a yard-sale find donated by one of our quilters.  I love it, and it's perfect for this quilt. There was no identifying information on the selvedge of this fabric, so I have no idea of its age or manufacturer.

As far as February progress on my personal UFO's, I've finally gotten back to working on the Quilty 365 top, and now have nearly half the circle blocks sashed, more about that in a future post.

The sun shines today, and the temperatures are above freezing.  A great February day, and thoughts of folks in these parts turn to fresh maple syrup and buckwheat pancakes on such days.  I hope your Monday is bringing you similar sweet thoughts.

8 comments:

Debbie said...

Too cute. Love the theme and sentiments you include. That gives so much life to the gift. I think I have a bee motif saved on my Pinterest board for motifs. If not, a google search will find one. A loop and curl will work well for the flight path:)

Janet O. said...

A very happy quilt for your new associate pastor. And it sounds like a bee motive is in order--hope you find what you are looking for.
Oh, your last comment brought back memories of the maple syrup my daughter brought us once from her friends in Vermont. Yum!!

Kyle said...

You've jumped on the recent opportunities that came your way. It's a bright and cheerful quilt to share.

Dana Gaffney said...

I love that you're going to celebrate events with quilts from the ministry and this one is so thoughtful with the flowers for bees :) I'm sure she's going to treasure the quilt and it will a wonderful memory of a special time in her life.

Barbara said...

Cute, cute, cute! I had some fabric kind of like that once, and I used it in a mystery quilt. I love your description of "opportunity" quilts. I've had a few like that. Usually, I use both arms to swipe whatever happens to be on my work surface onto the floor to make way for those. Some quilts demand to be made, and what's a quilter to do but obey the calling?

Needled Mom said...

That is perfect. I love the fabrics.

Ruth said...

The bee charmer quilt is perfect for the new associate pastor as a remembrance of her grandfather and a looking ahead quilt for her ministry.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Absolutely perfect quilt for a deserving recipient. I need to catch up on my 365 circles too! :)