A little bit at a time

Three things to be happy about:
(1) trees becoming leafy again
(2) getting caught up in a project
(3) talking to yourself

Hi everybody, and look!  We have a 51st follower, hi there Terri!!  I think I agree with Wanda that when the "shadow people" follow, blogger makes them go to the end of the line.  Like a shadow.  You know.  So... that mystery's solved!

Thanks everybody for your comments on my ufo yesterday.  Marcia, I'm glad you got the package and I look forward to seeing how you and your mom finish it.  Actually the 12 blocks I made are enough for a throw size if you add a couple borders. 

This is the fabric I plan to use for borders on my Christmas quilt:

As you can see, it's the same as the 1" pieces between the panels.  My dilemma is what to do for another border?  I was thinking to frame the whole piece with the skinny strips, then place a solid color next to that, then a wider border of the stripes for the outside.  Right now I'm too tired to think about it.

Someone suggested using paintsticks for Mary's head wrap; I've never used them before but a member of my guild uses them beautifully.  Perhaps she can give me some guidance, lest I ruin the panel.

I didn't have a pattern or any kind of guideline when I made this quilt; it's sort of the way my mom used to cook -  some of this and that, and whatever else looks or "feels" right.  I decided on possible scenes I wanted to show, then I found pictures of things to pull them together.  There were other possibilities that I didn't use - the three kings, Joseph leading Mary on the donkey, a single bright star, animals in the stable -  but my layout was based on the amount of real estate I had for the piece.

So basically I got a general idea of the entire quilt (ashamed to admit I didn't sketch it out first!) then made the applique to fill out the panels.  The shepherd did come from a pattern, though.  So, that's the story of The Story of Christmas!

Sew forth and sew on til later...