Prayer Quilt Surprise

This is what I spent most of the day quilting.

 It's a prayer quilt pieced by Judy.  It makes wonderful use of a striped fabric.

 Although the fabric is very consistent, the quilting is almost a sampler.  It should be interesting to the recipient.

I like the quilt a whole lot better now that the quilting is done.  While I was working on it, I wasn't so sure.  Now that it's done, it's beautiful.
I received an e-mail from Judy last night saying we are having a quilt dedication in church tomorrow.  Although we have only around 20 quilts ready, we are almost out, so we'll dedicate what we have. Maybe the small number of quilts will help people realize how much time even these quilts think.  With a few rare exceptions, I think it usually takes about seven to ten hours per square foot, although some people may be able to make them faster.  Even at that rate, it's much faster than hand-quilting, which is what I used to do.  Even with machine quilting, I will never have time to make all the quilts I'd like to make---the ideas just come too fast.
If I had known we were doing the dedication this Sunday, I would have budgeted my quilting time differently this week.
I did finish quilting a couple more that Ruth had started and then decided were in need of more quilting.  I'll post those later.

Our MUMC Jugband had a lovely hour singing for the residents of a nearby Beehive Home.  But I can tell I haven't sung much for the last month!

If my dad were still with us, he would have turned 93 today.  I kept thinking of my paternal grandpa this week, and it took a while to connect those thoughts with Dad's birthday.

I'm tired from all those hours of quilting, so I'm about to change sheets, have a soak in the tub, and take a lovely pot of tea and some knitting into the bedroom.  Might do a little reading too.

Happy quiltmaking...and knitting,