Got the last stitch in my mother's walker banner before 2:30 this afternoon.
Her 2:45 hair appointment was the only real deadline by which I had to get this done today, and I was so close that I kept sewing beyond my usual 1:30 cutoff time in order to get this finished and delivered.
I approached this banner a little differently in that I printed out a page of only "flames" (in 2 sizes--the Kwanzaa flames were marginally larger than the Hanukkah flames) and constructed those assembly-line fashion using pre-cut rectangles of yellow and triangles of white.
The Kwanzaa candlesticks and candlestick holders were fairly simple, being mostly straight line construction.
The Hanukkah menorah, however, had some heart-stopping moments. How, for instance, could this possibly be right?
But I put my faith in the 1/4" seam, pinned like crazy . . .
. . . and wasn't "mad" at the results:
I basted the two sections in case I needed to tweak, and I did tweak the middle sections a little before sewing the seam for good, but I'm not sure it made a bit of difference.
The top halves on the design wall with the bottom halves:
and before long a completed block was born:
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| "From the back of a galloping horse...." |
The Christmas block was a very simple FPP pattern in comparison. Once done and all the blocks assembled and ironed for the last time, I tacked down some plastic lights I'd bought decades ago.
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| "No", to answer your and The Loud's question: they don't light up. |
The finished banner, up close:
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| Thing One and The Loud commented on the lack of Festivus in this lineup. |
The placement of the blocks was deliberate. Most years, Hanukkah precedes Christmas, and Kwanzaa always follows. Next year, however, Hanukkah falls on the same day as Kwanzaa, December 26th. I decided to go with the usual calendar pattern of Hanukkah-Christmas-Kwanzaa and ignore the one-off of 2024. It's not as though my mother will know or care!
Here's my Festivus present to you: a superfluous picture of Wraith making sure I don't lose that newly-found Christmas wallhanging (it will float up and away without his help), and in the process giving it his Feline Seat of Approval.
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| Don't look directly into his eyes. Oops! Too late!! |
The banner turned out splendidly! And no worries about the lining-up of the menorah parts -- a little improv is just fine. Yes, I got caught in Wraith's ocular glow.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteC
It's another winner. That was one of my mother's expressions "A man on a galloping horse wouldn't notice that". I refrained from pointing out how many of those we saw around here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Caroline.
DeleteI discovered yesterday that the Kwazaa red fabric bleeds like crazy (something was splashed on my mom's side of the banner, on that block, and now all the candles are 'fuzzy'. Once this banner is retired I'll give it the "Save My Bleeding Quilt" treatment.
In the meantime, however, all that red fabric (and I know exactly which one is the culprit) will be tossed into the wash with hot water. Well, it'll be tossed as soon as I have the energy to get out of my comfy recliner. I caught a cold (confirmed by a test) this weekend and I'm spending my day off feeling sorry for and allowing myself lots of rest.
C
Save My Bleeding Quilt: https://www.colorwaysbyvicki.com/save-my-bleeding-quilt.html#/
ReplyDelete