What I've Been Working On

This is my completed square for the comfort quilt. I have now given it to the ladies who are constructing the quilt. I was told that what I had done, including the colours, would fit perfectly with the fabric chosen. I also found out that each woman who did a square chose a different Bible verse. I can't wait to see what the quilt will look like when it is finished.

And this is my progress on Sweetheart's Gate. My last photo showed the top half of the stitching, which I had completed except for the backstitch. I have now stitched all the way down on the right side (except backstitch) and last night I did the last few stitches over to the left side. Now I'll be working my way up to the top again, before completing the backstitching after all the main cross stitches are complete. Even without the backstitch you can already see the shapes coming out of the pots, basket, fence and paving of the path.

I can't believe I only started this project in Novemeber 2008. This one shouldn't take me 12 months to finish!

Comfort Quilt Square

So I guess you're wondering what this is and why I haven't got an update on 'Sweetheart's Gate'.

Well, one of the ladies in my Bible study group lost her son in the Black Saturday bushfires, so we are making her a comfort quilt as a way of support and letting her know we care.

Each of us were given a square of calico and were able to decorate it how we chose, making sure that we left at least an inch all around for stitching up. We have to include our name and a Bible verse as well as any other decorating that we do.

We did a similar thing last year when our Bible study leader was leaving - hers was made into a bag, and the squares were much smaller.

I found this pattern in a cross stitch book that I have and decided that it would be perfect.

I did change one of the colours - the yellow of the heart. I thought the original was too brown.

The stitching is actually in the top left corner of the square and I will be writing the Bible verse using a fabric pen because it would be too hard to stitch.

If you're wondering how I got the stitches so neat, I used waste cloth. I didn't get to try the new soluble one (see an earlier post), just the normal one that Mum had available. There were a lot of half crosses in the design so I had to be very careful not to pierce the waste cloth. If I had it would have been very hard to pull it out without damaging my stitching.