Catching up... Again!

Well golly! Last time I wrote here, we were just heading into the holiday season for 2017. Can you believe it? I hope everyone had beautiful holidays and wishing you all a wonderful New Year.

I made some resolutions right after Christmas, for the New Year. I'm leery of making resolutions because... well, you know. How many actually get accomplished? I am pleased to say that I have achieved one of my resolutions already! Yes! Yippee!

The wool applique quilt that I started last summer is now done... the top is done--I'll get to the quilting in a second. I had set all quilting aside late last summer; the autumn came so quickly when it arrived and one thing after the other kept me from piecing or applique. I hand stitched all the applique. I am more than pleased with how the top came out.




Now it needs to be quilted. I brought it to the local quilt shop last week to have a chat about possibilities. The consensus is that I should hand quilt it. !!! Come again? "Hand quilt it." Well, so be it. I currently have some layers of cotton and batting on a hoop and I'm practicing hand quilting in preparation for--what seems will be an enormous task--the quilt. Quite a bit of sputtering going on, some favorite curse words. It's tricky! It is definitely a knack to learn. I know I can do it, I've met harder challenges before, it seems to me. If my fingers can survive all the stabs they are getting while I learn, the coverlet may well get finished. All in all, I'm pretty excited about the prospect of quilting this piece by hand.

The other resolution I made was to finish the "Celtic Solstice" quilt, and that will be coming downstairs this week. I do all my piecing on the dining room table. I don't think it will take too long to finish, it is more than 3/4 done already.

Music has been exhilarating. We performed Handel's Messiah again in December. I played another Salon a few weeks ago. And most exciting for me is I'm learning the Debussy Preludes, Book 1. Oh, I love these pieces. I played number 2, "Voiles" for the Salon. I recorded it the following morning here at my place. Unfortunately, my piano is extremely out of tune at the moment, but if you can put up with that, here's the recording:



I'll be posting again real soon. I will try extra hard not to let this place lapse so long in between posts!