Getting Myself in Trouble

About two years ago, when I started getting excited about quilting, I created a problem for myself!  We usually exchange birthday gifts in our small discipleship group at school.  That year, instead of giving gifts to three of my friends, I gave gift certificates that I created myself.  The certificate promised a quilted handbag, and asked the receiver to tell me the color combination she wanted -- I would do the rest.  (Note to self: Never do that again!)  They told me the colors, but I got busy with other things, put their certificates aside and forgot about them.

A few months ago I found the certificates, but was no longer feeling creative. I have to be in the right mood to do this!  As you saw in my post in May, I finally got creative again when I made the French Braid quilt.  So I was inspired to make the handbags at last.  I started with Shelby's bag, made from pieces of fabric that I bought the last time I was in Thailand.

The main part of the bag was an inexpensive shawl, and the design on the front was a beautiful cotton handkerchief that I cut apart and attached to the front.  I had fun doing it -- the creativity is back!

Shelby was happy with it, and I felt I was back in business.  So I started on the next one, for my friend Grace.  She had requested a combination of dark blue and light blue.  I wanted to experiment a bit more with traditional quilt patterns, so I used the "friendship star" design, which they say goes back to the 1700s in colonial America.  But I did it with an Asian twist.  The dark blue fabric is from India, the medium blue is from Korea, and the dark print on white background is from Indonesia.  I'm pretty sure there is no other bag quite like this one on the planet!  Here is Grace's bag.

Grace was delighted, I was pleased, and now I am working on the third bag.  I'll show you when I'm done.  Next time, if I feel like making a gift for someone I won't tell them about it until it's finished. I've learned my lesson!

Loving Every Minute

The last two and a half months have been a wonderful gift from God!  We have loved having Jim and Michelle and the kids here. 

Announcing Claire

 

All My Chicks Under My Wings

February was a special month for us!  Jim and Michelle and the two boys came from Papua New Guinea to stay with us and wait for the birth of their new baby (due in March).  At the same time Matt and his girlfriend Adela came from Vancouver to spend their spring break.  And so we were all together for the first time in five years!  It was a wonderful week.  Enjoy the photos!

The whole clan

 



Here we are with our "original kids"

 

With Matt and his girlfriend Adela

Daniel James, age 3

 

 Joshua Levi, age 17 months

French Braid Quilt

I've shown you some photos of quilted handbags I've made in the past few years. The bags were sort of "practice projects" for a wall hanging I wanted to make, but didn't feel confident enough to try.  I had seen a book called French Braid Quilts and I thought the quilts were beautiful.  I even bought some pretty green batik fabric for the project, but couldn't quite figure out how I wanted it to look.  About two months ago, I  decided to jump in and start.  I just designed it as I went along.  Now it's finished and I'm just delighted with the results.  It hangs on the wall of our porch, where I can see it every morning. It reminds me of mountains, of Asia, of creativity, and it makes me smile.