Back to sewing

 

I settled into my big cushy armchair yesterday planning to spend many enjoyable hours hand stitching these 20 pockets onto an envelope quilt for Juniper. I'm using this pattern,  "Letters From Home" by Crimson Tate.

I had already pieced and (minimally) quilted the whole thing, with the blocks looking like this:

I could have stopped there, but I wanted to add a pouch to each envelope so she can tuck little notes or other treasures into them, like this:

But within minutes of starting the hand stitching my thread had twisted and knotted several times, then I stabbed my finger. I cut off the knots, rethreaded my needle and started again but the same thing happened. I decided this was not going to be enjoyable, so I machine stitched all the pockets on and it was much more fun.

 

I had a lot of fun choosing fabrics for the outside and inside of the envelopes, trying to pick bright colors Juniper will like. I could probably make a hundred of these quilts with fabric from my stash and still not run out!

I found background fabric that says "Create Your Own Sunshine," which I love. Juniper is my sunshine.

I've been sending her postcards and letters since she was born and my daughter is saving them for when she learns how to read, but in the meantime she looks at the pictures. I hope she'll put them into this quilt when she's older, but for now I envision her tucking her little toy treasures into the pockets.

My daughter sent a picture of her this week playing with the neighbor kids. You know she's having a great wild child summer from her untamed hair, bare feet and elbow bandaid!

Have a colorful day