Friday, March 4, 2016

Joy comes in the morning

Hi everyone, and happy Friday!  I do love Fridays.  When our kids were small, it didn't really matter that it was Friday because the work was unending, you know?  But now I really, truly appreciate weekends.  It's one of those good things about getting old (ish).

This week I finished a little piece with free-pieced letters:



Joy!  I know that most people advocate trying your own name first, but my name is made up of stupid, pointy letters that just do not look good together.  Really!  Not that I didn't try it, but I do have to work on it to make it look better.  More on that later. . .

So I made "joy" for a couple of reasons, mainly because they seemed like easy letters (how do you get easier than "o"?), but also because it's a fun word.  You can't be unhappy when you make a little "joy" quilt.



To make this, I raided the giant jar o' strings:


I should do something about emptying that, huh?

Then I made the letters, which takes longer than you think. I was going to leave it just as a word and then combine it with some other words, but it looked so happy that I decided to finish it as a little quilt all its own.  I pulled out the strings again and just added them to the word panel, log cabin style.  I did this quilt-as-you-go style, which means that I layered the name panel with some backing and batting, then added the strings right on top of the batting, then pressed like it was a normal thing or something.

Of course, I had to stipple the name panel after that, and I really stink at stippling.  I know, I should practice more.  I do like how it makes the letters pop, though, so I should really do it more often.  The binding is leftovers from the Serendipity quilt.  I stripped off the gray side of the binding and just used the 1-3/4 inch yellow.  Its a single fold binding, but it worked great, and it used up that wonky scrap of binding.

This was my second foray into free piecing and I'm surprised about how much I enjoyed it. It does make a mess, though:


Hope everyone has a great weekend.  We are finally going to see our grandson!  I feel like I could fly there without a plane, I'm so excited!  Talk about joy!



Sharing at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Finish it up Friday and Oh Scrap!
 

7 comments:

JanineMarie said...

This makes me happy just looking at it. It's really the perfect word for you right now. Have fun snuggling that grandbaby this weekend.

Unknown said...

Of course you pieced "joy"; you are a Grandmother now! It's the best gig ever!

Bernie Kringel said...

Mari, this is so sweet. I have yet to try piecing letters. Perfect word to inspire your day. Have the best time ever with your sweet grandbaby!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Joy is a terrific word -- good for you for making letters that make you happy!

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

What an awesome word to choose! And it does look so sweet and happy there all by itself. Have fun visiting your grandson. Now there is joy!

Cathy said...

I have a difficult time free piecing. It takes me a long time to get one letter finished. I think you picked a great way to start as well as a great word. Good for you!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

Free piecing is messy. But it is a fun mess :)

Thanks for sharing your joy-full project with Oh Scrap!