Humidity being extremely high I found yesterday a hard day to do any needlework but found time to work in some crochet on the second chistening gown and later last evening worked on some hand embroidery for a full sized quilt that was put aside, for what I refer to as, too many choices.

When you start a project, in particular, with this one, it was on a pre-stamped square by a reputable company with both dmc and anchor colour numbers listed. They chose a colour scheme that they like and a pattern that goes with it and you then pick up the colours and start to stitch.

Well, if you have only ever used basics in colours and had never seen a quilt top like the one I am quilting for Sher and Ken, you would never realize the beauty when you stray from given colours and techniques. Ken's grandmother used every colour imaginable and evern combined blocks from different sets. She used metallics for ribbon bows and verigated threads for flowers and vines and leaves and it is truly gorgeous.

I like the way that no two blocks are the same. There are two distinct patterns, but she changed the colours of each block and that is where I am headed with the project that I had started to blog about.

I have twelve blocks. I have twelve baskets. I have tried at least ten different colour arrangements on each block to start with and now I feel I have reached a plateau where I have found the threads of choice, not because I am smart like Ken's grandmother and used what I thought looked beautiful, but because I have a variety of threads to chose from and found that mixing them gives me the pleasure that I truly enjoy. And to think, I have eleven more blocks to pick new colours for and to pull the old colours out that did not please me. Oh, the life of a self-proclaimed perfectionist.

I will post a picture of Ken's grandmother's quilt top in progress, as I have the honour of hand quilting this one. I will be so pleased when this is done so that I can let them take it to " Bessie " and have her picture taken with them and the quilt. A true labour of love is when you make a quilt from scratch., and that is embroidering, selecting colours, and then working each block, one at a time and setting them together. Now, it is honoured by being handquilted.

" Life life one day at a time, but make it a Masterpiece".