Quilting Phrases

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"Better late than never" is a phrase that has been around forever and it's a phrase that seems to populate my life. My DH has turned  "When you see it, buy it. Don't wait" into a mantra for me. Or another way of putting it is "He who hesitates is lost". That last adage applies very much to my fabric buying habits, although it's not always apparent to me at the time. The quilt you see is very unusual for me. It's an "out of the box" quilt meaning I had never worked with such fabrics or colours before and I wanted to relate its story to you.

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Awhile back I went to my local quilt shop with nothing particular in mind. I was wandering aimlessly when all of a sudden I spied the "Dick and Jane-1940's" fabrics line. They just lept out and stirred something inside me. I have never, ever had that happen to me before. I felt transfixed (odd but true). I felt happy to the point of giggling, to the point of saying "be still my beating heart". I had no clue as to what to make so did not know how much to buy. Since I had  fabric stored at home (don't we all)  I felt I needed to be prudent and only purchased 1/3 yard pieces. The car could not get me home fast enough. The "rush" was still with me when I started cutting. I had no pattern to work with so just cut squares and hoped for the best. Please understand that I am not the type of person who rushes home from the store and sits down to cutting and sewing. This was all very unusual for me. Suddenly my world came crashing down. I did not have enough orange fabric for the sashing. I went back to the shop the next day to find they had sold out of everything. For 2 years I searched off and on for more sashing fabric and had given up. As luck would have it I finally found some 2 weeks ago and was able to finish the quilt. As I was photographing it I thought this quilt does not look finished. What do I need to make it look complete? Does anyone have any ideas? In the meantime, you now know that "Better late than never" and "When you see it, buy it" are part of my quilting life that I am trying very hard to change.
 I want to apologize for Thursday's unlinked blog. I am still new to the computer/blogging business and I thought I had done the job correctly but found out after I published it was not. It took a while to get resolved and I think I now know how to link (I hope) so that it will never happen again.Thank you for understanding.

Nature's Quilt

As yet the trees in my area have not changed colours but I thought I would share some old photos and memories with you. Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year. The changing colours make me think of a sampler quilt created by Mother Nature. It triggers fond memories of when my DH and I were dating.  One of the things he loved about me was that I enjoyed doing the "simple"things like going on a picnic in the country. The sunny weather and beautiful fall colours made the picnics extra special. The fall colours also trigger another happy memory for me.
The road to our country home is lined both sides with huge, ancient maple trees. I'm assuming they are a type of sugar maple because there would be a glorious riot of colour during Indian summer. Brilliant oranges, reds, and yellows would greet me as I drove up the road. I would always stop at the top of the small rise in the road to survey the lay of the land and  give a silent "thank you" to the farmer who planted these maples over 125 years ago. Whatever troubles I might have had during the day were melted away by those majestic trees engulfed by their colours somewhat like having a quilt wrapped around me. A childhood memory recuring at this time of the year has to do with Horse chestnuts. As soon as the chestnuts were mature a bunch of us would throw small rocks and sticks up into the trees to coax the nuts down. Just picture it. We were only about 8 years old and could hardly throw that high but we tried with all our might and were elated when we succeeded. Next I had to figure out how to get the nut out of  its shell without hurting my little hands. When I had enough nuts shelled I would string them together to make a necklace. That part almost got the better of me until I figured out to use my father's hammer and nails to make the holes in the chestnuts without him finding out I used his tools. I was forbidden to go near them in case "I poked my eye out". Once the necklaces were strung we all wore them around our little necks as if they were a badge of  courage. Each year when the trees change their colours these memories always come back to me and make autumn "special" for me.