For a Friend

A block for a quilt being made for a very sick friend who lives far away....

Loved drafting this one and how it turned out.  The center's a little bulky and was tricky.  Wonder if a different piecing approach would work better?  Hmmmmm....something to consider playing with more, but all-in-all...a fun block to sew.

p.s.  Oh how I love that black print from Paula Prass's Summer Soiree!  I had two strips from a friend'ss stash that I used here.  I wish I had yards and yards of it, but alas, it is not to be found anywhere.  Why must lovely, lovely prints go out of print???  Anyone have a secret stash they want to share?  :)

"Good Measure": A Finished Quilt and a Giveaway!

I love it when a project evolves organically, revealing itself to you a little bit at a time.  I started this quilt as a thank you gift for a dear family friend last fall with nothing more than a block idea and a color scheme.  I sewed block after block, unsure of the final layout.  I thought about adding a border, in part to easily make it larger (let's be honest!) but also to frame the blocks somehow.

Then after a trip to the Met a few months ago, I just knew I wanted the blocks to spill out into the borders.  It's funny because no specific piece of art evoked this.  It was more like seeing all those other uses of color and space sparked an image in my brain of what this quilt was meant to be.  I kept imagining the colors pouring across the quilt like water and overflowing the edges.

Then, as I was quilting it up, I kept wondering what I should title the quilt.  Something to do with water?  Something with fullness, wholeness or abundance?  After several days of wondering, the phrase "running over" came into my mind.  I knew it was a phrase from scripture and hunted it down.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Luke 6:38

A scripture about generosity pouring blessings back into the heart and life of the giver?  Loved it!  It captured exactly what I'd like to wish for this dear friend! 

(A peek at the back, because I LOVE this fabric.  It's from Jennifer Sampou's "Fiesta" line.)

And now that the process is complete, might you be interested in using these few leftover blocks?  

 

Let me know and I'll gladly send them away! If more than one person is interested in the blocks, I'll draw a winner Monday morning.  Let me know if you only want one set or both.  If the winner only wants one, I'll draw for a second winner!     (The quilt blocks have been claimed by Sarah!  They'll be on their way soon!)

And I'd love to know....do you have a favorite serendipitous creative moment?