Wait, one more

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Looking at this again, I may overhaul the entire thing. Lol.

Isn't that often the way, in quilts or novels; the end appears on the horizon, a joyful swell of anticipation and relief that said project is ALMOST DONE. Almost is a word fraught with uncertainty, because until something IS DONE, it's not finished. This is what I thought days ago after completing the forty-second block of my quilt. Number forty-three is nearly wrapped up, and here's its little tale.

I had laid out the blocks, as pictured above, but one was missing. Literally moments before snapping that shot I had four spots left and four blocks in my hand. Then suddenly one had slipped away! Frantically we looked around, and for twenty minutes I was convinced another block would need to be stitched. Fortunately I had eight extra squares, an idea for the inner petals, and the assuredness something appropriate would turn up for the center octagon. Picking up all forty-one blocks, I stacked them in order of rows, deflated to think about basting shapes, then sewing another block together.  However, as I stalked past the sofa, there was the errant block, blending into the quilt underneath it, draped over the back of the couch. Okay, I though, then grimaced, wondering if the missing block would fit where I had left a place for it, although I couldn't immediately lay it on the floor to check. I pulled out my phone, examined the photo, then sighed. Too many adjacent blocks with low volume squares would require me to rearrange the blocks, but if I used the extra squares and made a new block.... Voila! I could employ the errant block on the back, use up those spare squares, and we could all live happily ever after!

New block! A mashup of collections, but this is a scrappy quilt, hehehe.

After our guests left yesterday morning, I cut fabric for the new block, then spent much of the rest of the day stitching. I'll probably finish it tomorrow, as I still need to cut fabric for the outer diamonds (as well as scrounge up eight more diamonds, lol). Then will begin the slow process of sewing blocks together, basting more squares (didn't I just write all about this procedure?), sewing those squares onto the rows.... Funny how some quilts (and books) JUST DON'T WANT TO LET GO OF THEIR CREATORS, AHEM. Yeah, occasionally a project wraps its arms around (and teeth into) us, unwilling to be cut loose. And at times these needy projects aren't ones that drive us (or me) to distraction, but those I love, ones I have savored, projects that have given my soul such pleasure that perhaps subconsciously I'm not ready to cut the cord. Did I really need to sew one more Cornflower block? Couldn't I have immediately displayed all the blocks again, refitting that missing one into a better slot? Yeah, I could have. But something about these blue squares demanded inclusion. I acquiesced, and in a few days maybe I'll proffer another shot of said layout. In the meantime, I have hand-stitching to sort, a lap quilt to bind, another in desperate need of a back. The holiday season is full of crafty notions, certainly no shortage of those here. On this fourth day of Hanukkah, enjoy the lights that signify God's blessings, as well as this second Sunday in Advent, celebrating the peace of God's love.

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