With needle and thREAD

I'm joining Elizabeth again this week for needle and thREAD.

 

Today I quilted the front of a pillow I am making it for my son's girlfriend for Christmas. I have very rarely quilted using free-motion quilting, but because my squares are rather small on this pillow I wanted to do something besides stitch in a ditch. I had fun making swirls. I used one of the squares for inspiration, and the back of the pillow will be a luscious soft purple minky which has the same swirls.

My son's girlfriend loves cats and the color purple, so I hope she likes this pillow and hopefully it will be a bright spot on her bed when she has an apartment at college next year.

My swirls are not perfect, but then it IS a handmade gift. I love what Elizabeth said in her blog post about homemade gifts. I do find that many people, including members of my own family, look down their noses at homemade gifts. But that doesn't change how I feel about the gifts I give. I feel I should give the gift I want to give and not the gift the recipient wants to receive. After all, it is a gift. Hopefully those who are receiving handmade gifts from me, and have in the past, will someday see the love that is sewn, knitted, or wire-wrapped within.

I didn't get a picture of my current read. It's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, a fascinating story about the culture of women and their place in 19th century China. I'm only a few chapters in, but's a page-turner. I only just now realized it's a film -- just shows how disconnected I am from Hollywood!