Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Stitches In the Dark...

 

Creating Comfort...

Back when it was still Winter, Dear Readers, and too dark in the evenings to indulge in the stitching of the tiny Petit-point cushions I am obsessed with, I found myself turning to the simpler exercise of sewing together tiny patches for a quilt. Some of you might remember that years ago (where does the Time go?) Daphne and Renee had embarked on a project of making a quilt from some patches Daphne had found in the attic, along with the sewing machine. And Renee had immediately taken the little piece they had started and gave it to her Grandpere for a lap quilt when they brought him to the Park in his wheel chair. As is the way of things.... this little project had not been "in the regular plan" of this story  and had been sprung on me by surprise! And I suppose you can imagine that the busy-ness of Real Life got in the way of any progress at all in this little project, and then Covid turned the world upside down and the Story itself was left waiting for the next piece to come along.... and it is waiting still. But I had cut out a "selection" of little squares to use.... and they were "somewhere..." in a pile of the not yet finished projects.... and I knew I could keep stitching the little squares together even in the poor light of a winter's night. I dug them out and decided to cut a few more tiny squares from the finest of the cloth scraps (many are old Liberty of London cotton scraps from my former Mother in Law) and so I had my stitching for dark evenings ready to go!

      Of course, it was night-time and dark, so I wasn't remembering to take many pictures either.

The squares are about one inch square... 
and once they are stitched together they are about 3/4 inch square.
 I tried to make the pattern pleasing and somewhat balanced. 
And I didn't have any idea how big it needed to be,
 so I thought I better test it on Grandpere's bed...
 

 I am sure you will think I am silly, Dear Readers,
 but the quilt looked so perfect there on his bed that I left it there,
 incomplete, un-hemmed, no backing,
 no careful attempts to make it lie flat and look realistic... 
because it looks so right!
 I can't believe how well the colors go in this room!
 

 And even though Daphne and Renee haven't "finished" it yet, 
and have not had their episode of the Story with it yet... 
I just Love the way it looks and don't want to move it at all!
 

And Grandpere still has his "lap quilt"
 which brings him more comfort than he can possibly say.
 
And I want to let you know, Dear Readers, 
that I might not be able to post very often for a while. 
My son has some extra medical needs that will require most of my attention.
I might not be able to stitch as often as I want,
 but I will be Dreaming of little patches of Comfort as often as I can.
 


 

6 comments:

  1. I hope all goes well with your son Betsy. And great work with the quilt. It really does look perfect for grandpere's room. It's such satisfying work when the result is just spot on (even if it's not 'perfect' or finished).

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  2. Betsy, what a sweet quilt for grandpere's room. I love the Liberty fabrics - they're so charming and the prints are the perfect size for a dollhouse quilt. His lap quilt also looks extra cozy. He's a lucky guy! Dear Betsy, I'm thinking of you and sending you prayers and good wishes for your son's recovery. Hugs, Michelle G.

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  3. Dear Betsy, Of course your son needs come first. I wish him full recovery. I love Grandpere's quilt. The colors are perfect for his room.
    Hugs, Drora

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  4. As I'm once more a little late to drop by I hope that in the meantime all is going well with your son. My best wishes to him for a good and quick recovery... at least he's in the caring hands of his outstanding mother.

    And now I need to calm down my galloping heartbeat again... reading the names of Renee, Daphne and seeing Grandpere made my heart jump. Would you get back to Daphne's story now? Apparently not... but seeing Grandpere's new beautiful quilt on his bed is for sure second best. *LOL* It's such wonderful work and I can only agree, the squares match so well making it colourful and friendly and this is exactly what Granpere needs.

    But what really puzzles me is that sewing 1 inch sized squares together in the poor light of dark winter evenings could ever be the solution for still crafting when doing tiny petit point stitches aren't possible. Okay, you don't need to follow a pattern... but still tiny stitches. However, it seems to be the perfect occupation for you doing stitches in darkness... and after all... the result is breathtaking even in bright sunlight. ;O)

    Hugs and best wishes for both you and your son
    Birgit

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  5. Una estupenda combinación de telas y colores. Una colcha muy bonita.

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