Hi! Last Friday of April! Yay!
Sad but true, quilters fall out of love easily, discarding once inspiring projects, moving on to the next and the next. I fell in love with Silent Night via Pinterest, years ago.
I was so enchanted with the juxtaposition of the classic blue and white Stars quilt and the adorable wintery scene appliqued on the base. It was unattributed and it took me ages to find the pattern, I shouldn't have been surprised--it is by my favorite designer Jan Patek.
I began the project I think in 2020---and it shows, all the stress and confusion of the early Covid years and my sudden vision problems. [lest you think, Oh Covid, what's her problem?--remember I am immune suppressed and was told by my doctors that if I got covid, I would die , forced onto a ventilator, left isolated and alone in a small room, with no one to visit me or care for me. I Would Die. It was sudden and shocking, then soon followed by vision distortion and some vision loss. This was my world but I carried on with my planned winter projects anyway, in this case Silent Night, aka Midnight Clear. ]
I was thrilled to find a snowman fabric group from Primitive Gatherings, not a designer I usually choose. Snowmen and stars and snowflakes--light and dark twin prints to form the stars. The tiny snowmen looked, to me, just like the big snowman of the applique.
There's a Primitive Snowman Gatherings each year, the newest, out in July is HERE Scroll down for the fabrics.
Adorable, right?
The bad[-ish] news--it is HUGE. And the bottom applique scene was hard to hand sew on the partial border, so confusing. I did all the hand applique except the children that first summer. Whyever did I think all those stupid stars would be a cakewalk. Nope! I've worked on it every winter since. This time it has taken me ages---month!--just to figure out where the heck I was going with it, when set aside last June 1st, '23. Chaos.
For example: Why is this section removed?
(I was going to make it narrower].
What are these precut squares of all sizes, none of them what is needed. (Attributed to stress and poor cutting technique.)
I've worked on it since setting aside BB1 late March. I need 24 white Stars, of which I have made 11, or maybe 14---see how easy I forget!
Time is running out. If I don't get the Stars done and top center pieced by mid May/ June 1, I will again set it aside. I think this time for good.
Because yes, I no longer love it. The workmanship is mediocre. The indigo blues are too dark. I hate the Lancaster blue stop border; I had meant it to be red but forgot, obviously. The lighter blues mixed in are according to pattern photo, to add interest and depth, I assume.
I look at the Stars, recut the mistakes, trying for one or two Stars per day. Realistically, will anyone ever look at it, or notice how the stars are mostly made up of twinning positive negative prints?
or care? Wonder why some are not twinned? [out of blue snowflake print/ miscut.]
Notice I snuck in the sandpail stars "Nantucket" from Penny, to make myself smile.
Will anyone notice that the children in their pompom beanies? Or realise these are my children, who adored snow days and sledding and starry night walks when the skies cleared?
Poor Silent Night, in Ennui limbo.....it's uglier in person, by the way.
Today is too cold and windy to garden, despite the sunshine. But soon my hour of daily sewing will be spent on the deck, hand sewing with my now ''senior'' pug. We both deserve these hours together, he no longer sits with me in my sewing room. Mo is afraid, though I don't know why. He has a bed outside the door so he can be with me as best he can.
And if Silent Night isn't done by then, into the dumpster I think.
We wennt over the bridges yesterday, mostly to Trader Joe's but also to enjoy the much more advanced spring on the mainland. So many pink and white trees in bloom, even on the marshes. And delicate green grasses, baby leaves on trees.
Trader Joe's had so many wonderful flowers I couldn't choose.
Even this delicate shade of lavender, in tulips and roses both. New to me. And note the peonies, tho I didn't want white.
I got my favorite cheese.
And a new one to try:
And a potted daffy or two.
A gifted azalea from last Easter, below. I snuck it into the common planter with the ugly locust tree and some tulips. Tiny but so sweet, a little bit of joy.
Have a great weekend!
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️
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