Back to Quilting

I've been hearing the siren call of quilting again lately, and, as it happens, there is an unfinished quilt under my machine needle.  (Well, there are many unfinished quilts in my life, but this one is actually in the process of being quilted.)

This is a true scrap quilt, and contains many pieces from clothing I made long ago.  Clothing that is now but a distant memory...  And I hesitate to tell you how many years this quilt has been in the making.  Suffice it to say that I started on these 9-patch blocks when my son was just a baby (or was it even before that--hard to remember at this remove) and he is now a grown young man of 20.  So there you have it, my shameful secret of how long it really takes me to finish a quilt is out!

Anyhoo, I started quilting on this again tonight, on my Bernina home sewing machine.  I would love to have a longarm quilting machine, but for now I have to make do with my home machine.  I am far from being the greatest quilter ever, but I persevere, and I am getting better.  And after all, as quilters say, "Finished is better than perfect!"

I have about one quarter of the quilt's surface left to quilt--do-able in two or three quilting sessions, I think.  That is, if I don't get distracted by something shiny--focus, Sarah, focus!

I also worked on my painting last night and the night before, adding a retro woman image (a digi stamp--I didn't draw it myself!), and some stencilled flowers.  I think I'm going to go back in with some darks and lights on the flowers and punch them up a bit.  

I'm liking the direction this is headed now, but it's still a work in progress.