Foster Quilt Mom

Or, an apt subtitle would be "One Very Special Quilt."

The back story:  The brother-in-law of one of the ladies at our church is a missionary in Liberia.  Over time he met a lady named Georgina, who makes her living, like many African women, by sewing.  Georgina made all her items completely by hand, having no sewing machine.  Our ladies group raised enough money to allow the purchase of a sewing machine for Georgina a couple years ago.  Early this year, Georgina presented her missionary friend with this gorgeous queen size quilt, completely hand appliqued and hand quilted, that she had made for the ladies group of our church.
We were amazed at this gorgeous gift of gratitude, and while postponing any decision of the quilt's final disposition, we agreed that we would take turns keeping the quilt in our respective homes for a few months.  And so, yesterday this lovely came to reside on the guest bed at our home. 
I absolutely love how Georgina softly gathered her appliques, allowing them to puff out when she echo quilted around each applique.  I've tried to show the marvelous texture she achieved and her wonderful hand quilted design that gives this quilt such definition.  She used a light weight but thick batting which serves to accentuate her quilting even more.
Here are some close-ups of the blocks:

Gorgeous, isn't it?
On another note, I finished baby Zachary's quilt late last evening, and will post some photos soon!
Happy Halloween for those who celebrate - we're lucky enough to live in a remote area where it stays quiet and peaceful, although we do have five feral cats, all jet black, who visit the outdoor kitty feeding station every evening!

Now Where Did September Go?

Here it is already a couple days into October and I'm still in September mode.  Weather unfortunately is more late Novemberish here in northwest Oregon with well over 5 inches of rain in less than a week.

Anyway, reporting in to Cat Patches for the September NewFO Challenge, what did I accomplish in September?   I hate to say it, but my one and only true NewFO was a set of receiving blankets for my new little grandson Zachary who was born on September 21!  These blankets were begun on September 30 and finished yesterday. 

A few months ago I was the lucky winner of a Berenstain Bears layer cake and had begun making pinwheel blocks with some of them.  We have a friend whose daughter had a baby in September so those blocks were quickly stitched together and a quick FMQ in the Jester's Hat motif produced this little quilt.

 For the first time I brought the backing fabric to the front and folded it over for the binding, since I didn't have anything in my stash that went with any of the bear fabrics.   It was quick and easy but I'm not especially pleased with the end result, and don't think I'd use that method except in a pinch. 

Close-up of reverse side.
I'm continuing the hand quilting on little Zachary's first quilt and hope to have it completed when I head to the east coast to visit in a month or so.  And that's about it in the quilting department for September.  Spent a lot of time in the kitchen canning tomatoes and salsas - both red and green.  The heavy rains have pretty much put an end to the tomato harvest as we're seeing lots of them splitting as they begin to ripen. 
Plans for October include starting a round-robin quilt for our local guild challenge.  My center block involves a huge vintage crocheted butterfly and some really ugly fabric.  Stay tuned ...
Linking up with Barbara at Cat Patches where you can see what lots of other quilters started during the month of September!