What's Happenin'

When I'm teaching, the time really gets away from me. On Monday I taught week four of five lessons with 21 first time quilt makers. They learned how to bind a quilt.

On Saturday I led an all day free motion quilting workshop. Fifteen students learned about batting, threads, quilting needles, and straight line and free motion quilting.

As for my own quilting activities...

I've been quilting these fat quarter-sized samples of what can be done with backing fabric that has a distinctive pattern. Quilters who use such a print will need to make the quilt sandwich upside down (quilt top face down on the table, batting, then backing), but how nice to just follow the fabric pattern to get an all over design on the front.

This backing is bubbles, and makes a pretty design on the quilt front.

Love this "Drawn" fabric by Angela Walters for Robert Kaufman. She calls her wide-back fabric designs "training wheels" for quilters. This one quilts lovely feathers. I showed these samples to Saturday's class, suggesting such fabrics as an option for practicing FMQ.

After running out of beige and green solid fabrics in December, I ordered more and was able to return to this Mini Trees quilt, a free project from SewKindofWonderful using their new mini quick curve ruler.  It was a fast project to sew together. 

Now my 36" X 47" top is pin-basted and ready to quilt. Note the green batting? That's Quilter's Dream select loft batting made from recycled plastic bottles. A 46" X 60" batt was only $8.95, so I thought I'd give it a try. 

Our Hogan is doing great! He visited the vet last week and after Dan and I told her about his dry cough, his nearly incessant paw-licking, and showed her a couple pink-looking spots on his tummy, we agreed that he should be on steroids again. Once he started them, within two days he stopped coughing and licking.

He's acting like he feels good, though being 12-1/2 years old, he sleeps a lot. The sarcoma is still there though, in the muscles on his right front chest. It will inevitably return as a small, then larger, visible lump. We're hoping that's months away. In the meantime we're treating him like a king. For the first time, he ate green beans (from the farmer's market, and steamed) and loved them. He also likes popcorn fresh from the popper (unsalted), braunschweiger, and peanut butter, and I've been baking "cookies" for him that he practically salivates over. We know we've created "a monster," but we consider him a much-loved and deserving one.

In January, using a Blog2Print coupon, I prepared and had printed my 2014 and 2015 blog posts: FlourishingPalms Volumes 6 and 7. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

Though these books are fairly expensive, I'm glad I can save the thousands of words I've written, and hundreds of pictures I've taken over the past seven years.

Three upcoming medical appointments are on my mind, and make me grateful that I unintentionally scheduled a teaching break from February 9-29. During that period, I'll have two tests and a procedure. While I've been feeling anxious, I've been trying to focus on the "light." The Holy Spirit led me to this verse from Psalm 112:4:

Even in the darkness light dawns for the upright,
for the gracious and compassionate and righteous woman. 

Linda