Anticipation


I couldn't stand the suspense. I had to know if it was straight enough to quilt. I had it in my mind that if it wasn't quite right I would take it apart again before going on to the next top waiting for quilting time.

I got it on the machine and started stabilizing it. When I got to the center it was straight enough to continue. YES! I'm doing the snoopy happy dance.



There are still some areas of fullness and loose threads.... but those are minor irritations. I can pick out the threads as I'm quilting along. I can work out the extra fullness in certain areas with the quilting.

After getting all the stabilizing finished, I started quilting the large open areas. I had premarked these with a stencil design that was similar to the sketches the original owner had with the pieces. The markings were there before I took it apart.

As you can see in this picture the design is a little off center in an area or two. That's from cutting the pieces to fit after it was marked. It won't matter when all the quilting is finished. It will be much less noticeable.

A couple of people asked me if I was getting paid for the extra work put into this quilt. No, I'm not getting paid for it. I could have given it back to the daughter and said I couldn't finish it because of it's condition. So why didn't I?

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It's like this. I like doing charity quilts whenever I have some extra free time. It's been many months since I was able to piece a charity quilt. It feels like something is missing in my life when I can't do an occasional charity quilt. I sign my charity quilts with the name.... A. Nony Mouse (anonymous)

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I believe that charitable giving is a very big part of life's success. Especially in these tough economic times when so many are suffering. The more we give to others, the more blessed we are in return. The daughter is not a quilter. She will never understand all the extra work I put into finishing this quilt..... but I will know.

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Sometimes I feel the need to look beyond the money I'm getting paid and do what feels right. The extra work in this quilt won't help me financially but my heart will swell with pride knowing the work is finished for the original owner. Almost like I can hear an angel whisper in my ear.... thank you. This quilt won't get crumpled up in a bag and stored in the back of a closet waiting for the day it winds up in a landfill or a thrift store. It will be finished and lovingly enjoyed by the person it was intended to comfort.

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I can only hope that someone returns the favor when I leave this world someday. I have a lot of unfinished tops. My daughter won't have a clue what to do with them because she is not a quilter either.

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No, I can't be doing charity work on every top I receive. I still have to pay the bills. It's only the occasional memory top brought to me that gets extra attention and work. It has to feel right before I do the extra work. Hmm.... speaking of work... I best get started. I'm anxious to see how it looks after it's quilted.

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I also forgot to mention in yesterday's post that I used a piece of masking tape with the measurement written on it on each of the sides. This is how I was able to closely match up the sizes of the sides when sewing the star points back together. I lay them all out in a circle then moved them around until I was happy with the matching pieces before starting to sew.

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