Reconnecting With An Old Friend!

Have you ever clapped eyes on someone & from that first moment there's a connection? There's an instant bond, something drawing you to each other. You introduce yourselves, get to know each other & the connection strengthens. Suddenly, you're glued to each other's side, you miss them & think about them when you're apart. You can't wait to set eyes on them again. You spend all your free time together. You're inseparable.

Then ... Things change. Suddenly you're not quite as in tune with each other, you start to frustrate each other. You no longer want to spend all your time with them. Your attention is diverted, you find new friends to spend your spare time with. You never talk about it, but you drift apart & you tuck them into a corner of your memory.

Then years later, something will remind you of that special friend ... A comment in passing, a photo ... & you realise how much you miss that friend & decide you want them back in your life. You nervously make contact, tentatively reach out. You agree to get together over a cuppa & see where you're both at. You discover the special things about them that drew you in the first place are still there ... & the friendship is renewed ... You've reconnected with an old friend.

This has been my experience recently. Let me introduce you to my reconnected friend ...

It's a quilt designed by Leeanne Beasley called "Butterfly Garden" & I started it about five or six years ago ... I think. :0) Insert sheepish grin, as I can't actually remember. I absolutely LOVE this quilt with its combination of simple patchwork piecing, embroidery & appliqué. I was also drawn to the lovely soft shabby chic/cottage colours. So ... I decided to tackle it. I made the first two blocks ...

And as my narrative said ... My attention strayed to other 'friends' ... New design ideas to work on, mostly. Then recently I was chatting to the Fabulous Fiona & somehow this quilt was mentioned & she encouraged me to drag it out of its confinement in my sewing cupboard & start working on it again. So ... I decided to make it my Friday Night Sit N Sew project. And since we have one of our mini retreats coming up soon, I decided to prep a couple of blocks so I can work on the hand stitching at the retreat. And ... I remembered why I had put it aside ... It's a LOT of prep work!! There are nine blocks in the quilt & each block is made up of nine mini blocks. That's a LOT of cutting, measuring, matching & rearranging for each block.

Step one ... Drag out all suitable fabrics ...

Here's the audition ... I've actually dragged out more fabric since taking this pic. I'm doing this in a scrappy style from my stash & I've decided I'm slightly OCD about colours & placement. :0) However, after quite some to-ing & fro-ing, I managed to make a start ...

During the process of making mini blocks. I don't know if you can read the selvage there, but it's showing the basis of my fabric choices ... The Aviary range by 3 Sisters for Moda from quite a few years ago.

... And here are my three blocks so far. The first two are my starting point & the one on the right is the one ready to stitch at our sewing retreat. Now are you seeing the SLIGHT problem I discovered? HINT: check out the bottom edges. Ah ... Yes ... Something just isn't quite matching up. Uh! Oh! I know what the problem is ... The first two blocks were made before I discovered that my quarter inch guide I was using on my machine was a bit BIGGER than a quarter inch, which meant that the original two blocks were an inch too small  up & down as well as sideways. HMMMMMMMM .... 

AAAAAAAHHH!! Problem solved. I added extra borders to the side & bottom of both blocks & they now measure up. Maybe my old 'friend' & I can work out our differences after all. :0)

Do you have any old 'friends' lurking in your sewing cupboard you need to reconnect with? I'd love to see/hear about them.

Right now, though, I'm off to find some more ice for my drink ... It's a wee bit warm here today ... 38 degrees. Even us hot weather chickens are seeking shade & cool drinks in front of the fan today. :0) Hope you're having a fantastic weekend & that your week follows suit. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

P.S. Don't forget to sign up to be part of OPAM 2018. Lots of fun & encouragement to be creative ... & some surprises to be revealed along the way. :0D