Beginnings

I have been thinking of doing this for a long time, but have been shy about starting.  I've finally decided just to jump in and see how things look. My initial idea was for this to be a way to chronicle my various needle projects, and still plan for that to be a big part of the blog.  But nothing, including needlework, is done in a vacuum.  Life influences everything.  So this will also be a personal journal about all the other things that make up my life and determine what kinds of projects I work on and the design choices I make.

For example, I made this quilt last year as a gift to my father-in-law.  He bought a condominium here in Austin and I thought a quilt would be a nice way to welcome him to his new home.  I had long admired a quilt of similar design in Roberta Horton's book on scrap quilts and thought this a good opportunity to try it out.  I picked bright, but not feminine colors from my stash.  I was amazed at all the odd sorts of fabrics that I could work into it.  I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed hand quilting this piece.  I did all of the geese and the long bars between them by hand and used the machine for only the border and in the ditch between the columns of geese and the bars.

I think the other reason I have hesitated to start a blog is that my daughter has a blog of her own and I suspect that hers is and will be far better than mine.  She is just such a darn good writer!  But, I am finally going to post this because I think it is important to try things in spite one's misgivings.  And, she has encouraged me to do this, partly, I believe, because she wants to know what I am thinking and partly because she wants to get even with me.  I have been sharing her blog with friends and family and she wants to reciprocate!  So there, my dear!