When The Universe Laughs at You

Have you ever been working on something and you look over and see something so freaking perfect it was as if it was MEANT TO BE and your only job is to put it together and take the credit. It might have been sitting there all along nudging your brain, but you had decided X and this was most assuredly Y and you were NOT GOING THERE because you had ALREADY DECIDED.

Well. The universe decided to have some fun with me the other day.

I was cleaning up in the studio and part of that is finishing some things so I can get them out of the way. The easiest thing for me was to prepare the gray fabric for the back of the Partly Sunny quilt of HST's that Julie had made. I got the backing ready, and then spread it out on the floor to trim the excess. Then I got up and took a look.

oh.

"Wouldn't this have made a pretty border?" I texted Julie. "But it's too late now. This is the quilt lying on top of the prepared backing."

"Why is it too late?" Julie replied, "Looks fabulous."

This was not what I expected Julie to say. "So you like it as a border? Right now there is 6" all the way around. I actually like it that wide. Let me try adding a bit of yellow in between..."

While I rummaged in the studio Julie texted back, "I like it at 6", now it looks finished."

I slipped some yellow behind the quilt and on top of the backing. As soon as I saw it I knew it didn't belong there.

"Nope" was Julie's response when I sent her the picture.

Glad we were in agreement, I went into the studio and cut up my backing and added 6-1/2" wide strips to each side of the quilt, making sure to line up the pattern on the border fabric so it all went in the same direction, giving the illusion the triangles are floating on top of it.

It's the strangest thing, though, how that wide gray really sets the quilt off so beautifully. Julie and I agreed that the binding would have to be the same as the border so it would disappear.

NOW all I have to do (you know, that pesky little "all") is find a backing for this and then I'll be good to go. For the record I loved the quilt before, but I REALLY love it now.

A Little Something

You have all read that the red curtain in the bathroom didn't work. While cleaning yesterday, I moved the old curtain to the living room. Actually I tossed it on the back of the plum colored wing chair I have. The fabric is in good condition, and I planned to put it in one of the scrap bins. A few hours later I walked by, took a look at it and stopped. Then I got a brainstorm.

The wing chair is upholstered in violet ultrasuede.  Sitting right next to it is a red-orange upholstered chair, and on that chair was a small purple fleece pillow. The pillow was coming apart at the seams and was covered in cat hair. (Fleece = cat magnet)

So I decided to recover the little pillow.  Check it out.

and here...

Some would say it's serendipity.

I think it's Karma.

Red Sticks

OK, Here is a photo of the completed Red Sticks quilt. It's bright sun out, so I can't hang it on the fence just yet.  Everybody who sees this quilt loves it, which kind of surprises me since most folks don't name RED as their favorite color.  Anyway, I'll post more photos of this quilt as soon as I can.

Several people asked me yesterday if I am REALLY going to donate that quilt to the victims of the Colorado fires.

The answer is YES.  I was the recipient of the generosity of a lot of cat lovers when they raised money to send me to my goddaughter's funeral several years ago.  Donating a quilt is a way to repay that generosity.  Plus, it's just the right thing to do. I have an extra quilt that won't be doing anything, and there are dozens of families who have lost EVERYTHING. It's the least I can do.

Perhaps you can join me and donate a quilt of your own.