finishing another

I have missed posting on my blog this spring -- guess I was just too busy playing-err-working-&-teaching my Toddler class.  It was an awesome group of a dozen little ones with an amazing co-teacher!  Such a fun time spent every MWF with them this year .... and meanwhile, at home, I've still been stitching and sewing and creating.

So this is my official jump back into the blogging world. 

This quilt has been waiting for a binding to be stitched on to officially complete it for many years.  I do not understand why I struggle so with finishing projects (such as this one), but here it is -- the binding is being handstitched into place and I may stitch it once more by machine, just to add to the security of it staying stitched down, as I plan to gift this to a dear friend later this summer.  More on that in another post ....

Can you see the peekaboo of one furry critter who likes to be nearby when I am sewing?

I've missed the linky at the beginning of the month (as well as last month and perhaps the one before that ...) but this is for the final linky for May in "A Lovely Year of Finishes" even though I did not post my goal at the beginning of the month ... sigh.  However, it's never too late to finish something!

Join this monthly challenge group "A Lovely Year of Quilt Finishes" at any time.  In the first few days of the month, you post your goal for the month, then in the closing days of that same month, you post your successful completion.  It's that simple.  To keep it fun, there are prizes awarded randomly - woo-hoo!  I am linky #14 on the completion posts (almost got the prime number #13... but missed by seconds....sigh).

an idea begins ...

Sharing the beginnings of a new series ....

First, the germ of an idea is flushed out with the help of construction paper.

I am using the hamsa as the focal shape of this new series of quilts, small quilts (quiltlets) that will be given to three pairs of friends who have recently been married.  They are all faculty of the religious school where I teach Kindergarten.  Our theme this year is "Peace, Love and Music", hence the three shapes in yellow.  Question:  which way do the fingers of the hamsa point?  or does it matter?

          This is what I learned when looking for this answer:
The hamsa, meaning five fingers (or digits) of the hand, symbolizes luck and prosperity. The hamsa is sometimes referred to as the Hand of God and is also known as Hand of Fatima, or the Hand of Miriam.  One source stated that the hamsa hand conveys a message to the devil, so upwardly hamsa is good against the 'evil eye' and a downward hamsa is an auspicious sign of prosperity and success. However the hamsa is displayed in either direction.... I may have to look into this further.  

For my project, I have decided to place the fingers downward.  Next step is to select the backgrounds and the hamsa fabrics for three different quiltlets.

 

 

After appliqueing the hamsas onto each background, my next step was to use reverse applique to attach the Peace sign, the heart and the musical notes.

Stay tuned for further developments ....