All You Need is Love

"All You Need is Love" is one of my older quilts. Well, older improvisationally lettered quilts. I pieced it in January 2001.

This is a quilt that ended up looking nothing like I originally planned. I was going to have houses in here and free-pieced tulips and stars. But as I started making the wonky hearts, I loved how they were looking and all the other blocks I pieced went into the orphan bin. I just experimented with the different ways I could think of piecing the hearts, some of them more successful than others. I learned that hearts are not a good block to just slice some off if the blocks are too wide - I look at those hearts in particular and go eeeuw.

I had thought to quilt words into the different hearts just like on the candy hearts. "be mine" etc, but the hearts are just too small to make it worthwhile - the words wouldn't be legible. Instead I freehanded wavy lines, which turned out to be harder than I expected. My lines kept getting flatter and straighter so I'd have to get chalk back out and draw wavy lines. I like the look of it, but freehand fans are definitely more fun.

And here's a picture of my Lily. The fabric shelves are one of her favorite places to sleep or hide - usually there is a sheet hanging down in front.

Lily spent 3 1/2 hrs yesterday locked in my closet while I went to quilting. She loves to dart in there and usually I notice and manage to foil her or else I'll leave the door open so she's not trapped. Not this time. You'd think she'd have learned her lesson, but no, she was trying to get back in there again this morning. She just loves to explore and hide.

Yes, that's a completely out-of-character project Lily is almost sitting on. I was doing some experimenting for a local quilt shop owner on whether or not a particular flannelly fabric actually sewed like regular cotton. The answer: a most emphatic NO. Way too stretchy and annoying. Turned out it was great for doing primitive applique tho. I'll show you that project in the spring - the appropriate season for bright green.

My sweetie and I finished watching Stargate: Atlantis (ooooh no, a cliffhanger) and have now begun "House MD." House is enjoyable enough, but I hate listening to Hugh Laurie without his British accent - it's just not right. Love the character tho. Don't care much for his underlings - all rather bland.