Seeing RED

Well this isn't what you expected from that title I'm sure -- or maybe it is!

This is a scan of part of the fabric for the dragon quilt back.

I brought it home on Tuesday, washed it, pressed it (and the front -- finally!) and spent HOURS!!! yesterday marking the pattern on the back for the quilting

Wait, WHAT? Yup, I said I marked the BACK, because that is where the quilting will be done from.

Unorthodox? Yup. The deal is that the front of the quilt tells its own story and the usual way to quilt it would be to follow the stitching lines with some "fill" in some of the larger areas.

But I have ANOTHER story to tell beside the one on the front, so I've decided to quilt it into the back.

The up side of this was that once I cut it to the proper size, I could just mark the back before I put the sandwich together, which was moderately less difficult than marking on one that has already been sandwiched.

And the plan here is to stitch with a light blue quilt thread on this red back so the stitching will stand out against the back (so you can "read the story" there) and will blend in to the front because so much of it is blue.

This one will have more "close work" quilting than I've ever done before -- the figures on the back include the scales on a dragon and the feathers on a phoenix and the stripes on a tiger -- it also includes a fill stitch that is an adapted Sashiko embrodery pattern --

So, there ya go, today I'll be putting the sandwich together and using a million (well, maybe 200) little bent safety pins to hold it together, then I actually get to start quilting!!



This picture is the more usual definition of "Seeing Red"

I had baked a cake that I had planned to decorate (I had in mind a page of sheet music with a spray of roses over it) for a family gathering we're holding on Saturday.

Unfortunately, the cake had ideas of its own. Thank goodness none of last summer's wedding cakes did this!! (We really, REALLY! need a new stove, but just now its simply not an option, so we're making do)

So, after much muttering, I've decided to turn it into a trifle -- nice cake, vanilla pudding, fresh berries, whipped cream -- yummy!

When I get it done I'll take pictures and let you know when I post the recipe on Hattie's Kitchen.



Those of you that are faithful long time readers might remember that a while back I was talking about redoing my web site and trying to do new graphics, etc., etc.

Well, after a period of "I have no idea what I'm doing on this", I have begun again, so maybe before too long I can post ya'll a note that says "go look at the new site"! Meantime, I'm spending some time there.....

guess its time to get to that quilt!!