Magical Forest DONE

At 45" x 53"  it was finished at 3:45 pm, and I need to leave for the Bee holiday party at about 5.  So a whole hour to get everything wrapped and food packed and camera in hand.

The back has nativity pictures surrounded by a different evergreen forest.

Hope my Secret Sister has a place to enjoy this.

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Now to answer Julie's question about the Advent wreath quilt.... How do you add more flames as the weeks progress?

The flame and the aura are fused together and left detached from the quilt.   I simply keep four of these in an envelope, and then PIN one more each Sunday above a candle. The aura has sparkles in it, so the pin heads mostly look like just another dot of white from any distance.  At the end of the season the quilt is retired with just the candles on it, and the flames are returned to the envelope.

This quilt hangs on the kitchen wall opposite the big window to the driveway.  I can see it reflected in the window while I'm at the sink, and also when I drive up to the house.

We also have a "real" Advent wreath on the dining room table.  We use only that candle light for dinner each night.  Getting a good deal brighter now that we have three candles lit!

Sara

Gratitudes:

Rain, not snow today
Spoolspinners party tonight
First experience with cortisone shots to the knees went well

Magical Forest pinned

I finally decided that what the forest needed was some stars in the night sky.  As I worked away, it began to seem that five was the right number, less than the columns of trees.

I began looking for the backing fabric.  I was lucky I didn't find it right away, because I found this one instead!  I had sent a snippet to BumbleBeans, and had quite a chunk left.  Perfect!  My Secret Sister can use the backside for the Christmas season and then turn it over to the front for the rest of the year.

Then into the kitchen to clean off the peninsula counter for layout and pinning.  It didn't really take very long, but now my back is aching.

I'll have a "sit down" until dinnertime and let my unconscious work out the quilting design for this middle.

[After that's done, I'll add the star border and maybe a bottom border and quilt them separately at that point.]

Sara

Gratitudes:

A retired husband who does some Christmas shopping
Watching the birds at the feeders
A comfortable recliner

Magical Forest center

Well, the center at least is all together for my Secret Sister.  I am struggling with what to do next.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Getting some more Xmas presents purchased
Leisure time for reading
Can afford to pay for cleaning help!

Magical Forest coming together

Couldn't face the idea of 350 HSTs, so I am putting together the blocks I received from Block Lotto earlier this year.  This will be a gift to my Secret Sister at our December Bee meeting.

I have about 34 blocks with the black as background.  And same reversed.  I have the black ones put together for a center, and now I need to decide whether there will be the opposite coloration on the outside, or simply end it somehow.  It's the "somehow" that takes a lot of time.

Concert tonight, need to take:
vestlike robe
cookies [chocolate covered pretzels]
tissues
cough drops
water bottle
stool [to stop my arthritic knees/back giving out]
cheat sheets, to study right up to curtain time

Wish me luck!  But actually we're pretty awesome.

Sara

Gratitudes:

Drugs for pain and congestion
Enthusiastic and talented singers
Confidence because my section leader is standing right behind me!