balance (and a giveaway)

I didn't mean to worry anyone being gone so long. Thank you for the e-mails of concern, I'm fine - really. Real life has just taken more time than usual and stepping away from the computer gave me some breathing room.

Sewing also took a backseat for a long time while I recuperated from being ill most of October. Chris left his job of 13 years and started a new one (a very positive, but stressful change). We then took a wonderful trip to New York (without kids!) in early November. By the time I'd caught up with kid stuff, laundry and just getting back in the groove of being home, a lot of time had gone by without any completed projects. And really, this is a craft blog. If I don't have any projects to post, there's no point in my blathering on. Now that I'm back to sewing a bit, I'm trying to find a good balance in my life - between the "real" stuff and the time I spend here and visiting other blogs. Seems I haven't figured it all out just yet.

But enough about that. I'm glad you're here and to prove it, I have something for you:

I bought the majority of fabrics for this quilt about 2 years ago - the summer before I started blogging. I loved them, but couldn't decide on a pattern to use. They sat in a pile all this time - reminding me of one more thing I needed to finish. As the months went by, I sort of fell out of love with them, but I didn't want to just put them in the stash by color since they went together so nicely. Friendship Braid is the pattern I finally settled on (from Quiltmania magazine) and got to work cutting and sewing.

I was so happy with how it all went together technically - very proud of those matched corners! However, even when the top was pieced I didn't love it anymore. I had enough of one fabric left for binding and a good green in my stash for the solid backing. The only thing I had to go out and buy was the batting. (It's one of the new bamboo battings which I liked working with very much, but it is expensive compared to my usual cotton batting.) Jan even gave me a great idea for the quilting. It reminds me of a moving blanket:

So I'm pleased with how it turned out. It's a nice size for a baby or a small lap quilt (approximately 44 X 51). But I don't LOVE it for me. I think it should live with someone who will love it.

Here's the deal: Leave a comment and I'll put your name in a hat on December 14th. It will go to the name that gets pulled that day. I'm hoping that will give me time to get the winner's address and mail the quilt before the deadline for USPS cheap shipping for Christmas. Keep in mind that I make NO GUARANTEES this will arrive by the holiday. And if you live out of the country, I'm sure it won't arrive in time.

So go put your name in and thanks for being patient. I'll try to figure out how to make this whole blog thing fit into the rest of my life.

p.s. "Hello" to my local quilting friends! I told you finding this wouldn't be so hard : )