The Big Reveal

I promised to share my version of the Kim Diehl pattern that Wendy Reed (constantquilter) and I swapped once she received it.  Well, much to my surprise, the post office delivered it likitty split (spelling??).

Here is mine!  



Here's a close-up of the center.  You see my imperfections more easily-- the strip across the vase is crooked!  And one of my stars isn't close enough to the trunk.  I also ran out of the orange thread while in New Zealand and had to substitute something else!  I notice all these things AFTER they're sewn down and I figured I like my projects to look handmade (=imperfect!)...  I also had a heck of a time with the machine quilting.. machine issues, operator error until finally my trusty Bernina 1130 was called into action and performed beautifully.  For some reason my Juki wasn't behaving.

Since I received Wendy's before I finished mine, I was able to photograph the two pieces side by side.  I did wait until mine was done before I opened hers so here you go!  I love what she did;  and don't believe a word of what she says about her limited ability to sew down wool... her buttonhole is fabulous!  And the threads all match!! HEEHEE!!  Mine was a bit of a hodge-podge and I love variegated threads. So there you are.

I eliminated the very large leaves used at the end of the stems and substituted various flowers;  I also embroidered french knots on a few and did embroidery on some leaves and the tulip, to jazz them up.

This was a great project to undertake with two people doing the same pattern but interpreting the pattern to our own tastes.  I think I'd love to do this again and will be looking for another victim partner to join me.  Any interest?  This one turned out to be much more work than I anticipated so next time I'd do something smaller and less intricate.

We are back in California tonight with much trepidation.  I left Oregon with my mom in great turmoil over her move to the memory care facility on Friday;  I also have a brother who hasn't been very involved in her care but feels the need to muck things up so that's been a bit stressful.

Also, I haven't mentioned this but our 30 yr old son decided to pursue a dream of his and is joining the Marine reserves officer training for the next 18 months.  He is leaving on Saturday for Quantico, VA for bootcamp and then who-knows-where for the rest of the time.  Sadly our daughter in law is taking little Eli to Germany for the next 3 months while Ben is in bootcamp... and, imagine this:  she is not allowing me to come visit.  GASP!~!!   How will I survive??  Seriously, it's quite an undertaking and we are very proud of our son's determination while at the same time, sad to see him go.  He's very excited to be a Marine, and I can't fault that!   I'll keep you posted.

I am truly heartfelt at what a wonderful group of bloggers I've met and I wish everyone a very healthy, successful, and happy 2019!

Much love,
Randy