While I was working on quilting the "Red Barberpole Twister" quilt for my friend Wanda in Sacramento it occurred to me that perhaps I should document the fact that it was really ME that was doing the work on the quilt and not some fairy godmother.  LOL

So here's a selfie of Wanda's friend hovering over her quilt while it is loaded in Lily Aurora. How did this college friend from the 1960s become so elderly?

Can't wait to see the wonderful results!

Thank you, Mel. Just doing a meander pantograph so it is not going to be anything very dramatic in the eyes of another quilter.

I suspect that my friend Wanda might go ga-ga over it since she is a watercolor artist and knows very little about quilting.

I love simple meanders. It leaves it more flexible and airy, and cozy!

Looking good, Judy!  I'm anxious to see you holding the finished lovely quilt.  Does your friend know it is coming or will it be a surprise?

Total surprise!

Once I have the binding on and the quilt has survived a trip through the washer and dryer I will send Wanda an email asking if she will be home to accept a package from Fed Ex because I want to send her a surprise. That will get her all riled up.

Then I will be able to start on what appears to be a fun kit ... look at these perfectly cut little 2.5" squares that just arrived in my mailbox yesterday!  (The kit is for a dark colorway, not the pastel colorway shown in the photo.)

Oh, what lovely fabrics!

well hello there friend!  What  nice surprise to see your face this morning.  which gets me thinking, we ought to start a thread of good morning pictures.  We so rarely (if ever) get to see each others faces.  Might be fun.

oh that is pretty.  how fun.  Hope you enjoy making the quilt as well.

another block done.  the only small block left is the embellishment on the nutcracker including his eyes.  Will probably tackle that tonight.  I finished his teeth last night - embroidered separately and they look ok.  I used the method to embroidery exceptionally small pieces that I saw on simply quilts eons ago by Becky Goldsmith - basically you leave a large piece, sew one side down, then trim away the excess from underneath - worked very well.

I needed to soak the glue out before I did any more embroidery on him, so he was wet last night.  While I was waiting I started prepping the leaves & berries for the long garland that goes on the top.  They are larger and so go very fast, but I will need to do a long bias strip for the brown stem.  I tried a different method of the berries that a friend showed me last week - involving using a rubber band wrapped around a circle template.  But I have decided really prefer using a gathering stitch best - at least if the berries are large enough (bigger than 3/8").  That way the gathers are even and the chance of a point on the circle less - and really I don't think it takes any longer by the time you fiddle with all the other methods. 

I also think I've decided to do red on the frames instead of green. I just don't like any of my greens and there is so much green in the quilt already with all the leaves.