Wild Rose out of Season

I’m midway through several projects and I’m not feeling the drive to complete anything (she wrote, stamping her foot in defiance). Languishing in my sewing room, I have these items:

• A Little Bit Shorter Tree (sadly still missing it’s top)
• The Paddle Wheel quilt (I need to buy some more black border fabric)
• Drops of Rainbow queen size scrap project (whew– lots of little pieces)
• True Blue (I need to schedule a marathon cutting session)
• A lovely Kim Diehl-designed table runner for Easter (lots of hand work required)
  

  Tree in Progress

  

  Paddle Wheel Quilt

  

  Drops of Rainbow — Maybe 1/3 done?

Meanwhile, Cindy currently has custody of two completed but not-quilted-because-I’m-a-chicken projects:

• The dresser scarf for my red-painted dresser (Ugh, discovered some lower quality fabric inserted into the pieced top, now have to un-sew it and replace it).
• Violet pillow (which will now morph into a mini quilt)

Cindy has these last two items because she has offered to machine quilt them. I mailed her the pieced tops this week. I can’t wait to see what she does with them.

So, instead of doing what I should be doing (you know, actually finishing something), I decided to start something else.

When I created the violet pattern above, I had the idea to make similar patterns for all of my favorite wildflowers on the farm. But there is a problem: I have this crazy notion that I can only make these patterns in their proper season. But this week, I needed to break out of my early spring funk (the April showers and gray skies atmosphere are bringing me down, man). As a result I gave myself permission to stray from the season. The result: the beginning of a wild rose pattern.

Growing up, I loved the wild roses that grew in the tall grass near where dad stores his machinery. The flowers pop up in the early summer and as the temperature heats up through the season they fade away. Wild roses grow close to the ground and they do not have thorns. Since the mailbox is close to the machinery shed, I used to pick up the mail, then search through the grass until I found a flower as I wondered back to the house. Wild roses have an unbelievable, delicate scent.

As I decided to relax the self-imposed quilting rule about what can be designed and sewn when (Crazy! Shocking! Avant Garde!), I got started on my pattern.

I drew the design on freezer paper, traced it onto heat and bond, then roughly cut out the shapes. I auditioned fabrics, then ironed the pattern pieces on to the wrong side of the fabric. Next I cut out along the drawing lines.

 

Finally, I’m ready to select a background fabric. I’m kind of excited about my wild rose. Maybe Cindy will quilt this one for me too (hint, hint)?