Blackberry Quilt

This top is from a kit called Blackberry Throw using Batavian Batiks. It is for someone who wanted a purple quilt, but I'm noticing that purple is hard to photograph! Also, I put the blocks together a bit different from the pattern. The backing and batting are ready to sandwich and I've designed a feathery quilting motif. Problem? Time. Anyone have a solution for that?

Busting my buttons...

Finally, Kali's quilt is finished, framed, labeled... even showed off. Tuesday, when I drove up to my home from the framer, some neighbors were out and about, so they came over and admired while it was still in shrink wrap. One wanted a photo to send to his mother, who is another quilter. I was very excited! 

On Wednesday, I took it to guild and was blessed to show it to more than 150 of my peers. One woman told me she was in the framing store this week and took notice of this quilt. She took pictures of the process and promised to send them to me. How cool is that! Another told me even the quilting made the tree look full of cherries. To top it off, the guest speaker surprised me with an invitation to exhibit it in a show on the west coast. That is astonishing. I'm pumped.

I'm also thankful to God for my granddaughter who challenged me to make this... and she says I can take it wherever, and "If you need any more challenges, I'm here to offer them..." What a blessing she is to me!

Now I need to get to work. More quilts on the go... 

Help for High River...

No quilting for this week. My hubby had meetings in Calgary so I went with him and drove out to High River for a couple of days to help my sister get organized after her flood-damaged basement dried out. She has many orders for her art prints and needed to get back to work, even though the basement is just concrete without walls. She had three feet of water... many people had far more. More than 200 homes have to be bull-dozed. 

We took a big box of quilts for the High River Quilt project. The delivery point had a large room filled with hundreds of quilts donated to restore "some sense of normalcy" to the flood victims, thousands of them. They will take bed quilts, table toppers, wall hangings, anything. If you have something to give, click here for more information. There is a shipping address for USA and one for Canada. This flood has changed the lives of many people. Some of them escaped only with what they were wearing. They lost their home, vehicles, records, everything. 

On a happier note, thousands of people have stepped up to help, including commitments by organizations such as Samaritan's Purse to rebuilt basements for three years, at no charge. My sister's church was brand new, 3M lovely building. It was destroyed. Another denomination has given the pastors' office space, a time slot for their worship services and the two congregations have combined their children's programs, only one example of the unity this flood has brought to Christians in their small city.