Gentle Winter Mornings

I'm already reading it online - people yearning for the arrival of spring. It seems each year as soon as Christmas and New Years have passed there is a general feeling that winter should be over. I find I enjoy the fragile wintertime mornings when the sun shines with a gentleness not found during the other seasons of the year.

Quiet tablescape

In my sewing loft I have been quilting away on the green & blue Faith Circle log cabin quilt - and making good progress, too! Every time I get to the point of actually quilting something I remember how much fun it is to free motion quilt, but it's also quite a workout for the arms and shoulders. To take a break from the quilting I wanted to do a little sewing, but didn't want to begin something new and add to the already robust collection of unfinished projects. I went through my various stacks and bags and came across this small mat I had begun using fabric from a mini charm pack I'd received as part of a swap.

Basting the small mat onto a batting scrap

When I first received the mini charm pack I had no quick ideas of what to do with it, so it sat on my shelf for quite a while. Then, while online one day I came across a photograph showing a layout similar to this where the fabric colors flow from one to another giving the illusion of merging squares. The mini charms would be perfect since there were a good variety of colors and shades within the package. Then it sat unfinished for just over 2-1/2 years. Last night I pinned the mat top onto a batting scrap and basted around it. Then the extra batting was trimmed away.

Mat pinned face down onto backing fabric

Next this was pinned, face down, onto a fat quarter that was to be the backing. I stitched around the shape again using a quarter inch seam. I left a three inch opening to feed through so it could be turned right-side out.

Small opening to turn piece right-side out

I carefully clipped all of the points and corners and used a pointy stick to get them all turned nicely. Them I ironed both the front and back so it would flatten out nicely. Finally, I top stitched all the way around to secure the top and bottom layers, and close up the opening.

Completed table mat

The soft, gentle colors in this mat remind me of the fragile winter sun in the early morning. Quiet, peaceful, contemplative. Let's not rush headlong into spring and miss this opportunity to enjoy this special time of year.