Ah, much better!

I am working my way through a long list of preparations for the annual NQF meeting three weeks from now. I will be teaching my Branch class in which I will be showing a few different ways of finishing the project. I have 4 samples, and 3 of them are now officially finished. It has taken close to a year which often happens when I don’t HAVE to finish the samples. They sure look much better though, and I’ll get pictures soon.

Another project that also got finished this weekend is the tree from this post. It doesn’t belong to this class as such, but I needed another finishing sample, and it fit perfectly.

It never looked right, it was too light and the quilting didn’t show much, so it was always meant to have some more work done.

First I traced the outline quilting with red thread, and it got a little better.

Then I couched red yarn around the edge.

Then I auditioned some small white buttons, but nah.

Then I found some Dazzle thread which I picked up from the WonderFil stand in Birmingham, and thought I should have a go at bobbin work. I had to guide the thread by hand while winding it onto the bobbin, but other than that, no problem.

Ah, much better!

I added some more bobbin stitching around the edges,

and now it’s done. Right?

The house has been ever so silent as I have had it all to myself for a few days, and it has been totally bliss. No matter how much I adore my family, they do keep me busy and a little solitude is just what the doctor ordered. This past week we have had a sick little man, a young man on winter break, someone had surgery, someone came home from the ICU abroad, someone was on a business trip, and someone held the fort. Although a bit exhausting, it was also lots of fun, like the two separate lunches with the boys at the local Chinese restaurant.

(ice cubes only, thank you very much!)

(our young conversationalist)

All righty then, time for bed, thanks for stopping by!