Brick Walls and Bears.

I was going along so good then Bam - I hit an invisible brick wall.  What seemed to be allergies turned into something like a sinus infection.  I think I managed to cover 5 or 6 of the 7 dwarf names during this.  Not sure why Doc is pictured twice in this picture but Bashful was probably the only one I didn't portray last week.

And while that was going on and I stayed at home to sneeze and blow my nose I did work on quilting the Bear Quilt.  I first tackled the middle where the bears are, by doing any additional top stitching that needed to be done.  
Then I added this branch and some leaves.  That also provided me with the quilting design for the first two borders.  (Rust and brown with spots)  Leaves can you see them in the rust area?

On the pieced border, I did one thing for the double blocks on top and bottom and another for the single blocks on the sides. 

I did a loopy thing in the next two borders and then a type of chain for the outer border.  I wasn't sure what to do - the quilts don't always talk to me, like they should to tell me what they need.  LOL.  But then I found this roll of "Borders Made Easy" I had purchased a few years ago and so I used it.  

Here's how it turned out.  

It's hard to see because of the matching thread, but I like how it turned out.  

My Sister requested this quilt way back in 2014.  Together we gathered fabric and schemed ideas of how I would make it.  Originally there were going to be the two bears and then blocks with other animals around the outside.  But each time I tried to make an applique of the bears for the center it just wasn't coming out right.  One of the attempts even made one of the bears look like a raccoon.  Finally in September of 2015 I started "this" version of the bears at a retreat.  

I didn't even get out my sewing machine that retreat I just traced cut and fused.  

I won't get the binding hand stitched in the next couple of days to call it a finish in May.  I usually do bindings and hand work in the evenings while watching TV with hubby.  I haven't been able to get any hand stitching done. Along with the sinus infection, I managed to bruise my tailbone somehow while quilting the bears. I don't think it's from sitting too much, I do that all the time at retreats, but maybe twisting and turning different ways wrestling the king sized quilt.  So I am sitting in a leaning position on the couch and hard to hand stitch while doing that.  So the bears will be a complete finish next month.  I will post a finished picture of the whole quilt then.  

Today I'm going to sit on my little pillow and get the borders on the flag quilt for my daughter in law.  That will be my next quilt to quilt.  

Have a Blessed Day!

Lynn