A Little Early

This Baskets of Plenty quilt was the focus of my One Monthly Goal for December, specifically, to sew the horizontal sashing and cornerstones together, sew them to the rows above and below, and sew the side borders.  A little goal for a busy month and it's done -- a little early!  There's plenty more to do, for example, the applique in the cornerstones and bottom border, finish the angel, and sew the top and bottom borders to the rest of the quilt.

I have an ongoing discussion with myself about the angel.  She's too large and overtakes the blocks.  She's just right.  What's the point of an angel at the top of this quilt?  Does she contend with the baskets?  And on and on.  But still I work on her as if she belongs and is staying.  I suppose she will probably stay....  I just hope she won't be a distraction.

Her wings are nearly ready to be stitched together.  Then I need to applique them to the upper border, but before I can do that I need to decide on her face fabric and arrange the center of the wing fabric so it doesn't peek out above and below the star.  Little details.

Choosing skin fabric is always hard.  I tend to think that my skin looks pinkish but when I put those pinkish fabrics next to my skin, they seem a little light or too pink -- sometimes, but not always.  And sometimes I think my skin looks a little tan, but not always.  The fabrics below are the only ones I have that come close to skin color but I'm having trouble deciding which to use.  What color skin do angels have, anyway?  Is it rosy cream, or tan, or...?  I actually think a shot cotton with pink/peach and tan would be great, but I've not seen one.

If I'm able to do more on Baskets of Plenty before the end of December, I'll write another post (which didn't happen) so I'll link this post to the One Monthly Goal December Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts when it's available.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

This has been a strange and unusual year and this Christmas season has been no less strange than the past 9 months.  I hope you're being kind to yourself and kind to others, too.  Years ago I was praying about something and received the inspiration to "Be a blessing."  There are so many ways we can bless others.  A few that come to mind are giving the benefit of the doubt when there's a misunderstanding or contention; being gracious to someone who offers less; not taking offense; not judging another based on our own situation or our perception of the other and her situation; offering kind words, encouraging words. And just loving others.  I think it requires mindfulness of others, an art I haven't completely mastered yet, though I keep trying.

If you celebrate Christmas, I wish a Merry Christmas.  I also wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year.  It has to be better than 2020, doesn't it?

--Nancy.