Old As Dirt

A few years ago Jane made a birthday cake for her friend Ed that included a toy dinosaur and the words 'old as dirt' tucked in between the candles. It cracked everyone up and still makes me chuckle. Well, last weekend dear Jane celebrated her retirement and a wonderful milestone birthday, so my lovely and talented niece Julia created a great set of custom 'old as dirt' mugs for her, adding in '...and loving it!'

(I got two so that Jane can share a cuppa with Ed 😉). She had a good laugh when she opened them.

There's also been lots of 'secret squirrel' sewing hiding in the blog shadows in anticipation of the big day and I can now let the cat out of the bag. I had The Pumpkin Patch at Midnight machine quilted and finished it up to gift her.

This is one that has been in the works for a while. I gave her the flimsy a couple of years ago and then promised to machine quilt it for her. Well, long story short, I chickened out. I just didn't want to wreck it. Roberta of Cocoa and Quilts to the rescue!

She has done just a perfect job of the quilting - so much better than I could ever have done. The spider web stitching is ideal for the improv webs...

and this wonderful little pumpkin pattern stitched throughout the border sets it off perfectly.

I still love the pieced triangles that join all of the spiderwebs with their shards of colour. Roberta stitched 1/4" in from the edge of each triangle and then used a lovely swirl pattern to soften things up.

The backing is a little funky too. These great pumpkins combined with the orange and black harlequin print add a little fun. The quilt is about 5 feet square so it can be used either as a wall hanging or a tablecloth. If she wants to hang it I added a split sleeve to the back (Roberta showed me how to make a split sleeve that is stitched into the binding- the first quilt sleeve I've ever made). And a Hang It Dang It was included if she is keen to have it on the wall.

Jane is the Queen of Halloween and, much as I love this quilt (I think it's one the most favourite items I've made), I couldn't imagine it going to a better home, especially one where I have a good chance of having visiting rights....M