THE ROSE QUILT AND ROTARY CUTTERS

 The past couple of weeks between Christmas baking and a creative slump in the sewing room left me with little time time spent on doing anything that really was accomplished.  I pulled several projects out, vetoed them and kicked stacks of fabric aside into messy piles in corners.  Finally I took some time to find something interesting to make and happened on to C & T Publishing that offers all sorts of free patterns.  And I found something that finally caught my interest.  

I have tons of scraps in several wire bins and I love appliqué.  This pattern checked all the boxes for a perfect project to make.  No need to shop either, so I felt it was a great solution to getting me back into the sewing/quilting mood.

For me there is great satisfaction in pulling out piles and piles of scraps and blending something together.  This background really ended up being a wonderful several hours of fun.  Cutting, choosing, and getting them all together was just a great adventure.  

Before I knew it I had the center done along with the first border and had laid out the second pieced border.  Now I am off to the appliqué preparations. 

Recently I discovered that when doing a lot of fabric cutting my thumb would ache and throb.  The Fiskars rotary cutter has been my tool of chose for many years.  I have been watching Alex Anderson on her weekly Utube programs and she mentioned the Quilters Select rotary cutter.  It is a good deal heavier than a normal cutter so not as much pressure required to cut through several layers of fabric. I figured I would give it a try.  It has been a real cure for my thumb issue.  I spent several hours over the last day or so cutting fabric and normally would have been headed to the Tylenol bottle for relief.  It really has worked for me.  It has greatly reduced the amount of pressure I have to apply when cutting through four layers of fabric.  A real plus for me.  

Over the week before Christmas I did a good deal of baking with my granddaughter.  These are two samples of baking goodies she gifted us with along with helping me make two large trays of Baklava.  The girl is gifted.  No she is not a professional baker, she teaches Advance Placement English at a local high school.  Just a hobby for her.  

For those of you that have asked about Snowball's recovery after her encounter with a coyote.  Yes, she has been returned to her rooster and sister hens' family.  My daughter spent a good three weeks with her in a cardboard box in the house treating her wounds.  Obviously, as you can see she was not a very appreciative patient.  Never the less she has recovered fully!

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