Mrs. T's patchwork

Wednesday I went over to my non-patchwork friend's (but I shan't be calling her that for much longer) house to help her with the next step of her patchwork adventure.  I find that she's WAY~~ ahead of me!

Mrs. T is the friend who was having trouble with hand quilting because of medications.  And I had last left her with a quilting foot and suggested she practice.  And she did!

Well, I think she's got that down pat don't you?!  She had made a smallish coaster and then set to work machine quilting some illustrations.  Let's see... there is a Bible there, a couple flowers, a dove, an absolutely perfect heart and a few crosses.  I don't think Mrs. T needs any more machine quilting lessons from me and when she asked about how she might go about purchasing her own quilting foot, instead of saying she could just keep on using mine I encouraged her to buy one for her machine...  At the rate she's going she's going to get a lot of use out of it!!!

Mrs. T and two other friends have been making coasters too... to give to a missionary as presents for new Christians (written message on the back).  The three neighbors had been working on nine patches when I last was helping them...  This week I come and find they have turned out a whole collection of four patches, USING A TECHNIQUE I'D TAUGHT THE ONE FRIEND AND COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT!!!

"Tanya, you taught my daughter this pattern years and years ago.  Last week I brought it out of the drawer and the three of us took it apart and figured out how to make it again.  It is SO easy and requires very little sewing."

"Yeah?  I guess I DO remember making these little woven coasters...  But I sure couldn't tell you how nowdays."

I had to have the ladies re-instruct ME on how the coasters were made.  I'll do a tutor someday as I want to remember this project and do it with some children this year...

So there was machine quilting that was going great guns... and the coasters.

"What's this?"

"I'm getting so enthusiastic about patchwork that I signed up for a bi-monthly correspondence course.  Every two weeks I'm sent some Liberty Fabrics and two simple patterns.  One for a small ornament or bag and one for a block series for a bed cover.  There are 64 issues to get the bed cover made.  I'm going to take this bit by bit...  And if I can't finish all the patterns then I'll just let my daughter do them someday."

This is from my friend who is battling the Big C and spends every other week in the hospital doing chemotherapy.  I'd say she's doing some positive living there and if the patchwork goals are helping than I'm going to support her all the way!

As for myself... I can't imagine having these bits and pieces of fabric sent every couple of weeks to make some small ornament, just because I have all those small pieces of fabric coming out of my ears anyway.  I sort of felt bad that I couldn't organize my own scraps and projects and set my friend up from my own sewing room.  I have seen this patchwork program advertised on TV and wondered who ordered those things...  Now I know!

Mrs. T's first series project...  a small knick-knack holder.  Well, she's got the pattern now.  If she needs more fabric to make another one she can come to me!